Lord, Throughout These Forty Days...36

We have been looking for other Biblical narratives that involve forty days. We looked at Noah and the flood story, which Jesus links to His second coming, where it rained for forty days and nights. We looked at Elijah's forty days of fasting/journey through the wilderness to reconnect with God. Jesus will meet with Elijah when He is transfigured and the Father will pronounce again, "This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased" as He just has at the baptism. We looked at Jonah/Nineveh waiting forty days for God's mercy to hold off judgement. Jesus links Himself closely with Jonah.

Today we unpack Jesus appearing to His followers for forty days after His resurrection (Acts 1.3 NIV.)

Luke says that He appeared for forty days "after He suffered." This forty days is preceeded by the trial, punishment, crucifixion and death of Jesus. His forty days in the wilderness were also days of suffering. Hunger, loneliness, trial met Jesus. "Man of sorrows! what a name for the Son of God, Who came ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah! What a Savior!"

Luke also says, "He presented Himself to [the apostles He had chosen]." People did not recognize the Risen Jesus. He had to "present Himself" to them before they indentified Him. Mary at the tomb mistook Him for the caretaker. Cleopas and his companion "were kept from recognizing Him..." (Luke 24.16 NIV.) But then again, people did not see Him for Who He was during His life and ministry either. It takes a revelation to open our eyes to Who He is. Thank God Jesus steps through the vail so we can. "Open the eyes of my heart, Lord...I want to see You high and lifted up, shining in the light

The chosen apostles saw Him over these forty days. Jesus invested Himself in relatively few. The masses never held His heart, though they often benefited from His compassion. In all the resurrection appearances we find Jesus still pouring Himself into His followers. He showed them how He fulfilled the Scripture. He dealt with lingering failures, doubts and sin. He prepared them for their future leadership in His Church.

Luke says Jesus "...gave many convincing proofs that He was alive..." Jesus could be touched, He could eat, He had fresh wounds from His crucifixion, He was alive in deed. Spending forty days allowed His followers to process the reality of His coming back to life. This extended period of time, and the various circumstances for the appearances strengthened their confidence that they were not hallucinating or dreaming.

Luke finally says that Jesus, "...spoke about the kingdom of God..." The beachhead had been established, the new creation launched, the renewed world order begun.

Two forty day periods book-end the ministry of Jesus Christ. The beginning foreshadows the end. The end fulfills the promise of the beginning. These forty days are bound together.

Preaching the Gospel always requires connection to the beginning and the end. We must never leave Jesus hanging on the cross without a mention of the empty tomb. We cannot declare victory without mentioning the struggle. Jesus fulfills so much of what was anticipated before His life, death and resurrection. That event begins so much that will be fulfilled at the Consumation Coronation. Hopefully we are beginning to see that the Good News events cannot be understood in isolation from each other. Like a tapestry, the Trinity has been weaving Salvation's history out of diverse threats that converge only in the person and ministry of Jesus.