After His Resurrection

Jesus' disciples were a chaotic, broken community. Their hopes had been shattered, and they faced what seemed like the end of the road. These were people who had given up everything to follow Jesus, investing their entire lives and all they had to bring about the Kingdom of God. They had seen their Messiah tortured, ridiculed, and killed and must have been in a state of paralysis.

Comfort and Compassion

Our God is a God of compassion, and part of Jesus’ motivation for staying those 40 days after His resurrection would surely have been to comfort and restore His closest companions. There is such tenderness in His encounters, starting with a personal reconnection with Mary at the empty tomb. Unlike some of the other disciples, Mary was ready to believe, and her eyes were opened at the familiar utterance of her name. It’s a spine-tingling account of the risen Christ and His love for His friends.

The companionship of Jesus in His resurrected body must have been a healing salve to every one of His followers. They needed time to let go of their shock and accept that He was truly alive. Their hopes and dreams were more on track than ever, but it would have taken courage to let go of the pain and relax into faith.

Thomas' heart was broken, and he was unwilling to believe the other disciples when they spoke of their visitations from the risen Christ. In a beautiful display of compassion, Jesus didn't criticize him for his doubts but offered Thomas the very evidence he felt he needed—His wounds. Thomas' faith was reborn in that moment, restored by Jesus' compassion.

The restoration process must have been especially important for Peter, who had betrayed Jesus during the crucifixion. Jesus took great care to affirm His love for Peter, show him mercy, and reappoint him as an apostle.

Establishing the New Covenant

When Jesus met Cleopas and another disciple on the road to Emmaus, He began to lay a new theological foundation, showing them that the purpose of Old Testament scriptures was to shine a light on Him: “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27, NIV).

These two disciples’ awakening came through Jesus’ teaching of the scriptures, establishing a new theology with Himself at the heart of it. Their faith response was to embrace the revelation He offered, which in turn allowed them to see Him for who He is—the risen Lord: “Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32, NIV).

It's reasonable to assume that Jesus spent much of those 40 days expounding on the scriptures and establishing His disciples in the New Covenant. Prior to His crucifixion, He was a Hebrew prophet operating under the Sinai Covenant, but after defeating sin and death on the cross and rising again, His disciples were dealing with someone much greater—the risen Lord of all!

Proving He Was Alive

With a strong consensus based on numerous shared and personal encounters, the idea of the risen Christ might have lasted in His absence. If He had risen, appeared to just a few, and then ascended to Heaven, the worldwide Christian faith we see today might never have come to fruition.

The opening of the first chapter of Acts confirms that Jesus used those 40 days to offer convincing proofs of His resurrection and build a library of experiences that would unify His disciples after He was gone: “After His suffering, He presented Himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over forty days and spoke about the Kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3, NIV). This would have been essential, given the ten days His followers would have to wait in Jerusalem before the Spirit filled them at Pentecost.

Before Pentecost, Jesus’ followers were not indwelled by the Spirit. They would have to rely on human courage and draw from all they had seen in the last 40 days while waiting faithfully for that life-changing transformation. Jesus spent time establishing the fact of His resurrection, which would have helped the disciples through those ten days of anticipation, no doubt peppered with moments of doubt. Jesus also knew He was building a foundation for a worldwide community of believers, and demonstrating the factual reality of His resurrection was an important part of that. Paul even states in 1 Corinthians 15:6 (NIV) that on one occasion, Jesus appeared to over 500 brothers at once, which demonstrates His deliberate construction of a faith community.

Getting the Disciples Ready For Pentecost

Pentecost would shake up the disciples’ lives in ways they could not have imagined. Until that time, they had followed Jesus, and though they were occasionally empowered to perform miracles, they did not yet have the Spirit of God dwelling within them in the way they would after Pentecost. Jesus prepared them so that they were unified, gathered together, and waiting for the promise to come to pass without knowing what it would look or feel like. The mystery of union with the divine was not something they had yet tasted, but when the power of God fell on them, they would be ready to do what the Spirit led them to do.

It makes sense, then, that Jesus spent those 40 days galvanizing His disciples, forging unshakable unity that would hold fast when the power of God flowed through them like a torrent. On the day of Pentecost, Jesus’ followers would spill out into the streets, performing miracles and manifesting the power of God in such a tangible way that it would initiate a faith movement that would change the world forever.

It’s All About Relationships

Knowing Jesus is all about relationships—with Him and with each other. He didn’t fulfill His messianic calling from a remote distance but got down in the muck with people. The Friend of Sinners never elevated Himself or demanded service but instead won human hearts by serving us. The Gospel, then, is human, rugged, and relational, and it shouldn’t be a surprise that Jesus spent 40 days communing closely with His friends and followers after rising from the dead. Our God is never remote or intangible; He is right here with us and in us all the time.

After Pentecost, the relational quality of the divine only continued. Do we not have the Spirit of God within us, leading and guiding? Is He not the God of all comfort? Jesus does not call us His servants; He calls us His friends, and that is the reality of a relationship with Christ.