The Seven weeks of easter

Everyone knows Jesus rose on Easter Sunday, the first Sunday after His crucifixion, but for many people, they have scant knowledge about what happened next. What did Jesus actually DO after His resurrection and the one burning question most Christians have asked themselves at some point or other in the discovery of the Easter story is WHY did Jesus stay so long after His resurrection, when he could have gone home to His Father immediately?

Three reasons and they all involved LOVE.

Firstly, Jesus loved His disciples and not only that, but He, of course, had to prove that He was alive. I mean, if you saw someone being crucified and dying on a cross, you'd be a bit suspicious if they walked into the living room three days later, wouldn't you? But that's really what Jesus did. He returned because He loved His disciples and He wanted to prepare them for the task ahead, for they had to continue His work after He returned to the Father. So, He stayed on earth for forty days to teach and instruct His disciples about the kingdom of God and the mission they were to carry out. He commissioned His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations and He baptised them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Finally, He stayed in order to prepare His disciples for His ascension. He encouraged them to continue His work and to wait for the Holy Spirit.

Secondly, not only did Jesus love His disciples, but He also loved Peter, the one disciple who had denied Him. This is a strange one, isn't it? If someone denied knowing you three times, blatantly lying about whether they were your friend, would you be inclined to stay to convince them that you loved them? Maybe not, but Jesus did.   Jesus questioned Peter three times so as to restore Peter to his position within church history. It is during this questioning that Christ gave Peter the famous charge to “Feed my sheep” (see John 21:15-19). 

Finally, last but not least - and for you, probably the most important reason - Jesus loves you and He loves His church. It was important to Christ because  He understood that the church was not just a gathering of leaders/disciples but a community of believers who needed his guidance and presence.  So he stayed, offering His guidance, His presence and most of all, His love. 

His staying and continuing His work, and empowering His disciples to continue to do His work demonstrates how important it was to Jesus that His work and His word continued beyond the immediate disciples, that it spread through nations, and kingdoms and time until eventually, it reached you and I.  During His forty days prior to His ascension, Christ proved to us that the greatest gift of all is LOVE.

Sources: ChristianityToday.cm; TherapyforChristians.com