Jesus is alive: What happened after the resurrection changed history

So, the tomb is empty. Just as he said he would, Jesus rose from the dead in victory. What happened in the days that followed? The ascension wasn’t immediately after the day of resurrection. Forty days stood between the resurrection and the ascension. And those days mattered for the disciples and for many others.

In 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul gives us a list of bodily appearances: “he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles” (1 Corinthians 15:4-7).

There were bodily appearances of Jesus to his disciples on the day of his resurrection. Generally speaking, these appearances countered the fear in the disciples. He said, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19). The appearances also confirmed his bodily risen state, for he showed them his hands and side (20:20). And his appearances involved instruction for the days to come (20:21-23).

What a unique and precious period of their earthly lives to have such encounters with the risen Christ during that 40-day period.

Some of the instruction Jesus gave during the 40 days was about the Old Testament. He taught his disciples how to interpret this prior revelation in light of what he had accomplished. “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem’” (Luke 24:45-48).

In one of the most profound and memorable post-resurrection scenes, Jesus was in Galilee with his disciples and gave them the Great Commission. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

More than one of his bodily appearances involved having food with his disciples. In Luke 24:41, Jesus asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?” And he ate some broiled fish in front of them (24:42-43). Eating this fish showed that he was truly present in the flesh. “For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have,” he said (24:39). John 21 reports another scene with fish, this time beside the Sea of Galilee. Hauling in a miraculous catch of fish, the disciples ate with Christ, who said to them, “Come and have breakfast” (John 21:12). He gave bread and fish to them (21:13).

During the episode with the fish by the shore, Jesus restored Simon Peter with three questions — “Do you love me?” — because Peter had denied him three times (John 21:15-17). Peter indeed proclaimed his love for Christ, who then told him, “Feed my sheep” (21:17).

The Gospel accounts do not give us a record of what happened every day between the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus. We only know a small selection of appearances and events and teachings and meals. In Acts 1 we read a summary of what those days involved: “He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).

Ponder the powerful effect that these proofs and teachings would have had on the disciples. What a unique and precious period of their earthly lives to have such encounters with the risen Christ during that 40-day period. He shared meals with them, built up their faith with instruction and fellowship, and commissioned them to take the good news far and wide.

Jesus’s final words to them, while he was physically with them, are found in Acts 1:8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

This essay was originally published at Dr. Mitchell Chase’s Substack, Biblical Theology.