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Los Lunas Cornerstone

Church of the Nazarene

Go Tell

    We have this habit in the church, of going straight from celebrating the Resurrection of Christ on Resurrection Sunday to looking forward to Pentecost when the gift of God’s Holy Spirit was poured out on all believers. We forget that there’s quite a bit that Jesus still did in between that time, even between His Resurrection and when He ascended into Heaven before Pentecost, there’s quite a bit that He did. We have this habit in the church of sort of glossing over that time period. It’s a bad habit, and when we do that, we miss out on a very important part of the gospel.
    I want us to look at this time period this morning, starting with Acts 1:3, “To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of things regarding the kingdom of God.” (NASB)
    After Resurrection Sunday, Jesus stayed on earth for a time before ascending into heaven, and this Scripture tells us that He stayed for over a period of 40 DAYS, speaking of things regarding God’s kingdom, proving He was alive after death. He didn’t just ascend into heaven right away, but stayed for at least 40 days with His disciples and friends and family, disproving the false account the guards had given to try to cover up the Resurrection.
    This verse in Acts tells us that one of the purposes of Him staying for such a length of time was to give many proofs of His resurrection, but we see something else as we read the accounts of His appearances after the Resurrection, another purpose for Christ staying for such a length of time.
    Look at the first of those appearances, in John 20:11-17, to Mary Magdalene, who was the very first person to see the resurrected Christ. “But Mary was standing outside the tomb, weeping; so as she wept, she stooped to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they put Him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and yet she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Thinking that He was the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you put Him, and I will take Him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” (NASB)
    Amidst Mary’s incredible joy at getting to see the risen Messiah, and even as she embraced Jesus, He gave her a charge, a simple job to go and do. There in the last verse I read, verse 17, He tells Mary to go to His BROTHERS, that would be the disciples, and to tell them that He was risen and was going to be going to the Father. Go and tell. That’s the first appearance after the Resurrection.
    Then we read Matthew 28:9-10, “And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Rejoice!” And they came up and took hold of His feet, and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go, bring word to My BROTHERS to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.” (NASB) This appearance was to more women, Mary Magdalene included, and once again, the appearance isn’t only to prove that He was resurrected just as He said He would, but to also give them a task to do, to go and tell the disciples what had happened. They were to tell the disciples that not only had Jesus risen from the dead, but that He would meet the disciples in Galilee. Go and tell. That was the second time that Jesus appeared after the Resurrection.
    Luke 24:34 tells us about this appearance next, when the eleven disciples were gathered, and they had heard already from the women that Jesus had risen, but had not believed. Peter ran to the tomb to see if they were telling the truth, and he saw the empty tomb and the burial garments and left wondering what had happened. But by the time he got back to the house to gather with the eleven disciples, we read this, “saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon!” (NASB) Sometime between seeing the empty tomb and meeting up with the other disciples, Peter saw the Resurrected Christ. It’s a fact that is confirmed for us again in 1 Corinthians 15:5 when Paul recounts all those who Jesus met with after He was resurrected. We don’t know what was said during this meeting between Peter and Jesus, but we know it happened.
    And then shortly after this meeting with Peter, we have Luke 24:13-32, which tells us about the two men on the road to Emmaus near Jerusalem, who also had an encounter with Jesus. We know the name of one of these men, Cleopas, but the other is unnamed. But they walk with Jesus for some time and they don’t recognize Him, and they tell Him about how they had heard from the women that the tomb was empty, so they went to see and found it empty, but didn’t believe that Jesus had risen, much like Peter. But then they share a meal with Jesus and He revealed Himself to them and then vanished from their sight. Look at their response to having seen the resurrected Christ in Luke 24:33-35, “And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together and those who were with them, 34 saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon!” 35 They began to relate their experiences on the road, and how He was recognized by them at the breaking of the bread.” (NASB)
    So the disciples were gathered and Peter has told them he saw the risen Lord, and then these two men who had also seen Jesus come and tell the disciples about how they had seen Jesus too! Their immediate response was to go and tell the disciples. They had already eaten dinner with Jesus, it was near the end of the day, and we’re told that Jerusalem was 60 stadia away from Emmaus where they were eating, which is about 7 miles. That doesn’t seem like a big deal to us, that’s the distance down to the end of Bosque Farms. But these men would likely be walking. It would take them almost two hours to get back to Jerusalem. But they went right away and why? To tell the disciples what had happened when they encountered the risen Christ.
    Then, as all the disciples are gathered, Jesus appeared to them which we read about in Luke 24:36-49, “Now while they were telling these things, Jesus Himself suddenly stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be to you.” 37 But they were startled and frightened, and thought that they were looking at a spirit. 38 And He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why are doubts arising in your hearts? 39 See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, because a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you plainly see that I have.” 40 And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. 41 While they still could not believe it because of their joy and astonishment, He said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They served Him a piece of broiled fish; 43 and He took it and ate it in front of them. 44 Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all the things that are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and He said to them, “So it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” (NASB)
    So we’ve seen already that the women were told to go and tell others, and that the two men on the road to Emmaus responded to seeing Jesus by going and telling the others. But here, now that most of them have seen the risen Christ, they’re told to wait for the promise of the Father upon them. Wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit, is what we learn in the book of Acts they are waiting for. Why wait? In verse 48 that I just read, Jesus tells them they are witnesses of Him rising from the dead in order to give the forgiveness of sins to those who repent. They are His witnesses. That means that He is going to expect them to tell other about Him, but in order to do that, they need the power of the Holy Spirit, the power from on high that God promised to them. The power of the Spirit would enable them to go and be witnesses to Christ to all the nations. Go and tell.
    Then Jesus appeared to Thomas because for some reason, Thomas wasn’t at this gathering with all the other disciples, we’re told it’s just 11 of them. When we look at John 20:24-29, we see this happen, “But Thomas, one of the twelve, who was called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” 26 Eight days later His disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be to you.” 27 Then He said to Thomas, “Place your finger here, and see My hands; and take your hand and put it into My side; and do not continue in disbelief, but be a believer.” 28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you now believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” (NASB)
    So at this point, a whole lot of witnesses have seen Jesus. Mary Magdalene and the other women, which was about 4 other women, Peter had a private conversation with Jesus, the two men on the road broke bread and walked with Jesus, and all the disciples saw Jesus except Thomas. And poor Thomas has to put up with hearing them all talk about how Jesus is alive for 8 days, all the while thinking that they must be pulling some sort of colossal joke on him. And then there’s Jesus, just there. We give Thomas a bad rap, some even call him doubting Thomas, but Jesus didn’t deny Thomas the chance to know for sure that He had risen from the dead and was truly alive. He invites Thomas to put his hand into the wounds on Jesus’s side and Thomas’s finger in the holes in Jesus’s hands. Why? So Thomas would believe. He wants people to believe, how will they believe if they do not hear?
    Jesus appeared to the disciples a third time, we read about this in John 21, when Jesus tells them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat after a long time of not catching any fish and then they catch more fish than they know what to do with. They all eat together and talk with one another, and it was during this appearance that Jesus pulls Peter aside and speaks with Peter about feeding His lambs, and tells Him, “take CARE of my sheep.”
    And again, the disciples see Jesus on the mountain in Galilee, maybe with others, as 1 Corinthians 15 seems to suggest, “and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;” (vv. 5-6, NASB). So after He appeared to Peter, then the twelve, including Thomas, at some point He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time. It was not just a handful of people who saw Him. It wasn’t just the disciples plus the women. There were hundreds of people who saw Him after the Resurrection! Hundreds!
    Then, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:7 that Jesus also appeared to His brother James after appearing to the group of more than five hundred. We don’t have a record of that appearance other than Paul’s letter, but I know beyond a doubt that it must have happened, and not just because Paul said it. James as I said was Jesus’s brother, and when we see him in the gospels, he couldn’t care less about Jesus or what Jesus’s claims were about being the Son of God. In fact, John 7:5 specifically tells us that none of Jesus’s brothers believed in Him and they wanted Him to leave His home because they didn’t believe Him. But then, sometime between the Resurrection and when the believers were gathered in the Upper Room awaiting the gift of the Holy Spirit, James becomes a believer, and goes on to write what is now the book of James which is full of His faith in what he knew to be true about his brother, Jesus. I believe James had a moment with the resurrected Christ when his whole mind was changed drastically and he came to believe.
    In Acts 1:1-11 we have the final appearance which seems to combine two distinct appearances that we read about at separate times in the gospels, and many Biblical scholars believe that they are two separate incidents, one when Jesus tells them to wait for the Holy Spirit, and another when He actually ascends after telling them their purpose as His disciples from that point on. We call this the Great Commission, Matthew 28:18-20, “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and TEACHing them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (NASB) And then, He was taken into heaven and they waited for the Spirit.
    The final thing He told His disciples was at the core of the message, the same thing He had been telling all of His disciples from the first appearance to Mary Magdalene 40 days before the ascension. Go and tell. Make disciples, baptize them, teach them to obey. Go and tell. The process of making disciples and teaching them must include telling about Christ. Tell people about what He has done for you. Tell people about your new life. Tell people about about the One who loves us so deeply He gave His life willingly to be the sacrifice for our sins. Go and tell.

1. Read Mark 16:8. This is a natural reaction for humans to have when they have news that contradicts the word of culture and society. What comfort does Matthew 28:18-20 bring?

2. The process of making disciples involves more than getting them to the altar. What else does Matthew 28:18-20 say is involved in making disciples? How are you a part of that process?

3. Go make disciples—or, on your way to going where you would normally go, make disciples. How are you making disciples of those in your way every day?

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