“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 the things concerning the kingdom of God.” Acts 1:3
Luke’s account of The Acts of the Holy Spirit provides insight into the post-resurrection mission of The Risen Christ. For forty days Jesus gathered together His disbanded and discouraged disciples, and confronted them with proof of His resurrection. He didn’t celebrate with them the day of His resurrection from the grace. “Speaking of things concerning the kingdom of God,” He mobilized them to embrace His mission on earth.
Annually, the contemporary church invests vast amounts of money and man-hours into the preparation for and the celebration of Easter. From hovering helicopters raining down plastic eggs to grand pageants lifting up beautiful music, Easter Sunday is set aside to honor The Resurrection of The Lord.
Expectations for this day run high. Extra chairs are set up in anticipation of great crowds of guests coming to church for the first time, and wayward sheep returning to the fold, one more time. Easter Sunday is a great day. It just doesn’t get any better than this. Or, does it?
The morning after The Resurrection the discouraged and disbanded disciples were far from being filled with the power of the resurrection. Angelic messengers had delivered the great news of the resurrection, but somehow something was missing. The something missing was Someone. The disciples were in possession of information about Jesus, but they were not in touch with His Presence.
Possessing accurate information and an adequate explanation about the resurrection of Jesus were poor substitutes for a transformation by Jesus. For 40 days Jesus would offer it to them, by inviting them into His Presence.
Speaking to them about the Kingdom of God was not an education about His mission. It was a mobilization of His disciples to join Him in His mission. For forty days the disciples would renew their fellowship with Jesus. Walking with them and speaking to them as The Risen Christ, Jesus offered them a great privilege of personal intimacy, but an even greater call to personal responsibility.
During His final forty days on earth, Jesus explained how it was to their advantage to leave them and return to His Father. In His absence, He promised to provide them with the power of His Presence. They would end their 40 Days with The Risen Christ, and begin a 10 prayer meeting in the Upper Room, waiting for The Promise of The Father. Within 50 days of The Resurrection of The Lord, Jesus Christ, The Spirit of The Living Christ would birth the church. It does get better than this.
There is no power for His mission without the power of The Resurrection. There is no power of The Resurrection without intimacy with His Presence. Fifty days after The Resurrection, The Spirit of The Risen Christ was going to turn their possession of information about the resurrection into an obsession with Christ’s mission.
One of the great battle cries of the celebration of Easter is, “It’s Friday…Sunday’s coming!” Without appropriating the power of the resurrection, this battle cry of Easter becomes the last gasp of the church before the dog days of summer. Don’t let it happen to you or your church. For the next 50 days, embrace personal intimacy with The Risen Christ and prayerfully PREPARE FOR PENTECOST!
NOTE TO SELF: Make sure you have all systems set to go for a great Easter celebration of The Resurrection of The Lord, but never let your systems overshadow the Savior. The power of the resurrection is not found in celebrating an empty tomb. It is discovered, by surrendering your life to The Risen Lord one breath at a time. He is praying for you to join Him on His mission.
TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!