BEHOLD
THE LAMB OF GOD (Part XVII)
In
our portrait of the person and work of Jesus
Christ, we have highlighted The
Passion of Jesus Christ, detailing His betrayal, isolation, rejection,
judgment, humiliation, derision, chastisement, satanic attacks and death by
crucifixion. In the final installment of
this extended devotional series, we will examine the Post-Resurrection Appearances of Jesus Christ.
During
the forty day period following His resurrection, there were numerous occasions
when Jesus Christ appeared dramatically
to His disciples, manifesting tangible confirmations that He was indeed alive
and had totally triumphed over Satan, sin, death, hell and the grave.
On
Resurrection Sunday, Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother
of James), Joanna, “and other women that were with them.” (Mark 16:9 – Matthew 28:9 – Luke 24:10) They were commissioned to share the good news
with His eleven remaining disciples.
Hearing
this news, Peter raced to the sepulcher.
On the road to Emmaus, Jesus appeared and conversed with two of His followers,
Peter and Cleopas, who did not immediately recognize Him. Jesus expounded the scriptures to them,
explaining how the Son of God had suffered and entered into His glory. Dr. Luke outlined their encounter with
Christ. Here is how it ended:
Luke 24:28-35 (NKJV)
28 Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated
that He would have gone farther. 29 But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward
evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them. 30 Now
it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed
and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. 32 And they said one to another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?" 33 So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!" 35 And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.
That
same Sunday evening, Jesus appeared to ten of His disciples. Judas was deceased; Thomas was absent.
John 20:19-20 (NKJV)
19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples
were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus
came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they
saw the Lord.
Eight
days later, Jesus appeared again to His disciples, Thomas being present.
John 20:26-28 (NKJV)
26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with
them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” 27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach
your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28 And
Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
While
seven of the disciples were fishing on the Sea of Tiberias, Jesus appeared and
performed a miracle of abundance.
Obeying the directives of Jesus, they caught 153 huge fish and dined sumptuously
with The Master. “This is now the third
time Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was raised from the dead.”
(John 21:14) On various occasions, by
eating food with His disciples and by appearing/vanishing before their eyes,
Jesus displayed certain characteristics of His post-resurrection body, which believers
will also possess after His second coming. (I Corinthians 15:50-55)
The Apostle
Paul also recorded an occasion when Jesus was seen by “five hundred brethren at
once,” indicating that His appearances were not limited to the inner circle of
disciples, but occurred publicly. (I Corinthians 15:6) Paul also records Christ’s private appearances
to James and to himself (on the road to Damascus), “as one born out of due time.”
(I Corinthians 15:7-8 – Acts 9:1-5)
Jesus
also appeared to eleven disciples on a mountain in Galilee. “When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but
some doubted.” (Matthew 28:16-17) There
they received the apostolic authority to evangelize the entire world, known to
us today as The Great Commission.
Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I
am with you always, even to the end of the
age.” Amen.
In the
prologue to The Acts of the Apostles, Dr. Luke records the final appearance,
impartation and instruction of Jesus Christ:
Acts 1:1-9 (NKJV)
1 The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus
began both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He
through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had
chosen, 3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many
infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the
things pertaining to the kingdom of God. 4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait
for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the
Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord,
will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to
know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and
you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end
of the earth.” 9 Now when He had spoken
these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out
of their sight.
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