John 20:19-29
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
John 11:21-27
Jesus Speaks to Martha and Mary After Their Brother's Death
21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
John 14:1-4
Jesus Comforts His Disciples and Talks to Them of Heaven
1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Acts 1:1-3
Jesus Appears to His Disciples Over a Period of Forty Days
1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
Jesus had died, and His Disciples had not seen Him for three days...They would be grieving for Him...Seeing the death of one you loved is very difficult...You naturally miss them and their presence...But after Jesus' death, three days later, He appeared again to His friends...He would change their view of death forever...They knew that He had died on the cross and was buried in a tomb, but mysteriously and Divinely He appears to them in a room where the door is locked...So this sting of death, Jesus' death, was lessened the day of His appearance...And not only on this first day of His "after life" reappearances, but also the next forty days and His other reappearances with His Disciples...He did not stay around for just this one day, and this one appearance, but He would reappear to them over a period of forty days...
Jesus after His resurrection, helps us put a different view on death...We can have sadness, but we also can have hope...Jesus called Himself the Resurrection and the Life...The ones who believe in Him will live, even though they will physically die they can live again...His resurrection gives us hope...Hope that there is an eternal life and that death is not final...There is for me this sting of death, but that sting is lessened by Jesus' resurrection, and His Disciples got to see lessened sting of death first hand in this world and not the next world...They had the Eternal One standing right in front of them and they got to talk to Him, and question Him...Their own views on death would definitely change that day, how could they remain the same?...They knew that they too, would live again...After all they would remember earlier that He did say after His death, He would be back for them...He put it this way...“Do not let your hearts be troubled...You believe in God; believe also in Me...My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I AM going there to prepare a place for you?...And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I AM...You know the way to the place where I AM going.”...
His resurrection still makes it hard to believe that death and the sting of death are not final...But He definitely proved it for His Disciples...And Thomas said it best about the One who has done the things that Jesus had done on earth and then had died and now returns...Thomas called Jesus My LORD and My God...My LORD and My God seems to be very fitting for seeing Him alive again, and how He has overcame death...