On The Ground Series

-welcome back. I hope you all had a great Spring Break.

-for the next two weeks we are going to look at what happened after Jesus rose from the dead. Most people, whether they believe in Jesus or not, have a pretty good handle on the Easter Story. They know what happened then.

-but the funny thing is most people, even those who have been in church they’re whole life, know very little about what happened after the resurrection.

-from Easter to Christ leaving there are 40 days of things He did. On our calendar this year, with Easter being last Sunday, that would mean the day Jesus left earth to go to heaven would be May 13th. That’s a whole month away!

-so think about it for a second, do you know what Jesus did for those five weeks?

-that’s what we’re going to look at this week and next. For today we are going to look at some of Jesus’ teachings until the day He ascended into heaven. Then, next Sunday, we will look at what Jesus said on His last day on earth. He had a few hours before He left earth, what did He tell His disciples?

-so as we do this, kind of get a feeling of it’s actually Jesus saying this, and he knows He only has a little time left so there’s probably a little bit of a push on it, maybe a little urgency.

-here’s the first one that happens:

1. KNOW SCRIPTURE

-for this story, there are two people leaving Jerusalem on Easter. They have heard from the disciples that Jesus’ body was not in the tomb and angles had told them Jesus was alive. They’re walking along talking about this and Jesus comes up to talk to them, but they don’t know it’s Jesus.

-Jesus plays dumb and starts asking what happened. They talk about the Easter story, but are still concerned. Then Jesus says this to them:

**Luke 24:25-27 -> 25Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. 26Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?” 27Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (NLT)

-Jesus is making a good point here. These people have had thousands of years of people telling them about a Messiah who is coming, but when it actually happens, when Jesus is in front of them, they don’t know. They don’t know the Scripture well enough to recognize God’s Son.

-so that’s a question for us. Do we know the Bible well enough, do we know what it says about Jesus so well that if He were to show up to church today, we would be able to know it’s Jesus?

-just a few weeks ago in church we had three fourth graders from Sunday School come in and say a whole bunch of Scripture from memory. When was the last time you memorized a single verse from the Bible? There’s a little bucket full of good memory verses on the wall over there by the pens.

-the whole story of Jesus’ life and death would have gone a lot differently if the people who said they were God’s children, who said they wanted to know God and were special to Him, if they actually knew the Scriptures like they should have. What about us, do we know the Bible like we should?

-this is why we push downpour, our Bible Study on Wednesday nights. It’s a great way to talk about the Bible and work through not just what it says but what it means.

-so there’s one less, one story. But here’s another one, and this one’s in three of the four gospels, but we’re going to go with John:

2. WE ARE SENT

-we are the ones who are supposed to be doing God’s work, us.

-after Jesus talks with those guys on the road, He disappears. Vanishes. But then He reappears back in Jerusalem in a locked room with the disciples:

**John 20:19-23 -> 19That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” He said. 20As He spoke, He showed them the wounds in His hands and His side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! 21Again He said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so I am sending you.” 22Then He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” (NLT)