Acts 1:1-11
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. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
John 8:12-20
Jesus is the Light of this World
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
13 The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”
14 Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. 16 But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 17 In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. 18 I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”
19 Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”
“You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.
Matthew 5:13-16
We are the Light of this World
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Matthew 18:18-20
Two or More are Gathered in His Name
18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
John 4:34-38
Others May Harvest, What Someone Earlier has Sowed
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
Matthew 24:30-35
Jesus Says His Words Will Never Pass Away
30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
Matthew 28:16-20
The Great Commission
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 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.”
My thinking is that when Jesus died on the cross His Disciples thought much, if not all was lost and over for their Master...Their Teacher had passed on like any man would who would have hung from a cross for several hours...Where would they go and now what would they do?...They had followed This Man around for three years and He seemed like One who was Very Special...He had talked so much about God and God being His Father...But now He was dead...So how could have He been the Anointed One?...Peter even called Him the Messiah...
But if this were the entire and complete story of Jesus, why did and does the Jesus Story live on?...Why do we still believe in Him today?...The Disciples knew that the dead stay dead, and that He could and would not be back...They understood this particular death of a Man and in the laws of nature...Even two thousand years ago, men and women knew that men just do not rise from their death and grave after three days (even though the Disciples did get to see Lazarus be risen by their Teacher after four days)...But this was somehow different than the Lazarus story...This Man was just different than other men...He could do miracles and the Disciples had seen these miracles with their own eyes...And He caught other people's attention...And the religious leaders wanted Him dead...So they hung Him from a cross...Now He was dead and put in a tomb, put their by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea...
Now that Jesus was dead, how could He be the Messiah...The Messiah was One who most thought would somehow free Israel and show great glory while He was one earth...Their Teacher was One who went around forgiving people and helping the needy, helping the poor, helping those with illnesses, and was a Humble One...He showed and taught them how to help others, how to be forgiving, how to show mercy to others, and thus He never grew in fame and in power with these teachings that He brought to them...Yet, they knew Him personally and they knew He was different...
But somehow the Jesus story advanced itself and continues to advance itself even today...THE ANSWER has to lie in the Resurrection of Jesus...Only seeing and talking to Him would allow the Disciples to move on and continue His Story...Why else would they?...Seeing Jesus after His death and talking to Him would change not only their views on life, but also their views on death...He somehow had risen from the dead, and was teaching and talking to them for another forty days...
Seeing the now risen Jesus had given them a dramatic new way of thinking...This would be an epiphany moment for them...They did not maybe see His Way of Thinking until He returned from His death...Wealth, power and fame on earth, is not all that life is about...Jesus had none of those things while teaching them...Loving God and loving neighbor, forgiveness, and mercy are the Great Qualities of life...Truth and Grace and helping others can define One's life, when they live it out that way...They now saw the Messiah in this New Light...Faith and Hope would help them advance His Gospel...And He would teach them over this forty days that they would now be the Light to advance His Story to all nations and for all times...Each generation has its own group of disciples that see this Light and advance it to the next generation...