this week and that ends on Friday with him being crucified, buried, died. Today we pick up on Sunday, also known as Easter Sunday, just a few weeks off, but we're okay with that. So we now have this chapter on Jesus was raised from the dead so he's resurrected
we'll be right on time because next week is like Pentecost and like and then ascension. So
get close to Pentecost of the Holy Spirit. Ascension Sundays of Jesus. Yeah, we're gonna we're gonna send him tonight though, I believe so. Um, I don't have a ton of content prepared. Because hopefully, as every Easter joke, you've heard the story. I do have a couple of things that we can focus on but we also enjoy hearing from you guys. So what stood out to you from the readings this week? Scripture or the book.
I've been frantically looking for it since I got here but I found it. I liked in John 2022 and was that he breathed on them I never realized the break.
So they would receive the Holy Spirit.
That was awesome. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's that's in the upper room. Yeah, he's Yeah. Powerful story. Absolutely. And that's kind of there's a lot of new creation, where God breathed into. And you also have the word breath is the same word as when to say more to spirit. So it could it could very much be a kind of a pre Holy Spirit spirit, you know of of what he's, he's done there. But yeah, John was rich in his imagery there. Yeah, it's good. Yeah, we have a there's a spiritual discipline, exit exercise that I can't remember if we call it spiritual breathing or what but it's kind of the idea of, of counting, inhaling the presence of the Lord and all the good things and all the Holy Spirit and exhaling sin and and negativity and you know, the ways of the flesh, you know, just trying to some almost like practice it as a prayer method almost just kind of have as as you are breathing, using the imagery of scripture of breathing and exhaling the impure just kind of which is kind of based on Jesus in the upper room, you know, breathing on him, so.
Specifically, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John bare counter. The resurrection was different here and there, but it was, yeah, we're always the same. Yeah.
You get a feel for their personalities for sure. Yeah. And they're different things that they were focused on.
Yeah, started last last Thursday. I started with Mark. Because, you know, I taught that with the when we went through the Gospel of Mark, and Mike came here for your child's life group, but with the women going to the tomb, and you know, and Mark's account of it, but yeah, when by the time you read Matthew and Luke, you're like, Whoa, this is this almost doesn't sound the same. It's as I get it, but this these are differences, you know, and then you throw John in the mix, and it's like but yeah, I agree. It's beautiful. The point is there. But yeah, you almost you almost wonder like when Matthew starts explaining things and telling you you know, these are angels that are there. Well and in Mark they're young men that are glowing, you know, that's that's like Matthew wanted you to know who they were, who they were, you know,
but but he's also an exacting person. Like kids. He's a tax collector. He's very specific, you know, so it's like, it's his personality, for sure. Have you ever seen this clash is this the late 90s, early 2000s, the movie vantage point, like anytime I talk about the Gospels, I always talk about that it's such a good meme. If you haven't seen it, go watch it, you will not it has forced Whitaker and he also said it there's some big, big names. Yes, and it's so it tells about this horrific thing that happened, this bomb that goes off and you start the movie and it's intense. And you're watching from I think it's like four people or five I can't remember it shows you all these different people that were there. And it tells a little bit of how their day started and then how the moment happened. And it's one of those ones that gives me chills. It's such a cool movie, because it's the end. It's Mark Wahlberg in it. He like the main guy, I'm forgetting. It's been a while but anyway, so but like you you will not be administered as Quaid, or anyway, you guys will not be disappointed. It's really good, but I think you know, whenever you watch that, if you think about it, it just always helps me think about like, that's how we have the gospel like we have all these like the major historic like the greatest thing and all of history has happened, and you have some very different personalities and some different, you know, vantage points and I think we read them together like like before all the all four of the Gospels are taken as a whole I think whenever we come before it and all of Scripture like all the things we know up into that point. And so that always helps synthesize it for me because I think if you just look at them and you say why are these different or whatever. And if they just have a different vantage point, they had a different relation to God like how they saw Jesus, even their relationship with Jesus. It's just like, you know, you have these families, and these kids come out of these exact same home raised by the same parents. In the same house, you know, and they're so different, and how they see their childhood is so different, like some of them like we had great parents and parents like our parents were terrible. It was traumatic and you're like so and it's just like how those kids you know, like how their life played out and the choices they need and how God their whole makeup you know,
I've got a book at the house called the gospel parallels with them all literally on the same page, side by side. And you can go for you can read them all side by side. Yeah, it's really interesting looking at it. Yeah, you see which parts are no the same, like you're talking about doing? Everything?
Yeah. Yeah, that's really cool. That's cool.
Yeah, I've got a few of those in my office too. And then I've got one that's basically tried to harmonize and put them all together and kind of go through the story. Again, there's that's hard to do sometimes. But we'll try to pull that off. But yeah, to 10
to 12. You get those proof segments. You know
Yeah.
Gives you a good resource. If you're dealing with somebody that did that really happen.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There's some good statement. There was something I was reading that was along the lines of and I probably ought to save this for when we kind of start flowing through it, but the they were like, Oh, well, clearly, they, the the guards were were paid to come up with a story of how you took the body, you know, and it's like that just say, you fell asleep. And then in that, if someone took the body you notice like, well, if they go like, well, we fell asleep. They're killed. I mean, they they're instantly dead. Because, you know, it's like, no I'm gonna trust those guys. You know, and I'm like, oh, yeah, so yeah, we got your back. Oh, you might, but yeah,
defaulted in there is actually takes more faith to believe that it didn't happen than to believe that it did because the proof is just so there were so many witnesses and all this time. Nobody has refuted it. Like no, no legitimate person that is connected to it or whatever has actually refuted it. So it's not like whether it happened. It's just like, what are you going to do about it? That's more the question that we have people you know, and when people ask all those questions, I was like, it's more like what are you going to do? Like not whether it happened or not, but when you're going to do with this Jesus person, you're
just thinking about this. You know, like Lazarus when Jesus brought him out of the tomb. It was all wrapped up in his burial. But when they went through, all that was there and even the piece of cloth folded, yeah, it was in that still about it? They wouldn't know
they would take those. They were expensive cloth. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah. And like the, you know, one of the traditional burial sites in Israel, I feel like there might be a picture somewhere I don't know. But like you go in you kind of see and it's probably not where Jesus was buried, but it's looks similar stuff later, but when you go to leave on the back of the door, it's like, he's not here. He's risen. Like they're gonna sign on the door. So everyone that walks through there, when they walk out, you see this sign here. He's risen. You know, it's pretty, pretty cool. Experience. You know? I took my little camera and they're not paying across. Nope, not here
Yeah, they've all done it on to nine he does a harmony, which would be kind of a, you know, trying to, in a sense, reconstruct the story with several of the accounts, you know, just to kind of help us a little bit I guess it goes to 210. Also, the gray box, they're flowing through the Easter Sunday, the resurrection story. kind of stuff. So like the coma. Oh, as far as the what actually happened? He really wasn't dead. Yeah.
It was temporary. Like what kind of grit was he made? He was most of his blood and bodily fluids, but he lived.
Well, it's like even the women when they get there. Like the first thing they say is, Oh, someone took his body. You know? So I mean, even from the way they were operating, they're like, Oh, someone, someone took him. Someone did that. Leave him and take him and he's gone, you know? And they're like, No, that's angels like math. You're not here.
Well, in that kind of a natural thing.
Just for it's logical, yeah. That you walk in your walk in your room or you get in your cars and somebody took my purse.
You automatically just blame someone else. Magically, like think somebody else won't put someone else at fault without even thinking about a process. You
put your purse
Yes, we don't assume the best or we we always assume the worst. Yeah,
and I don't you know, there's probably a lot of stuff you could research it but I don't know if if they had a real strong grid for resurrection you know, I mean, even with Lazarus and jars, his daughter and and Jesus saying hey three days, you know, like, I'm leaving. I'm coming back. Or, you know, I don't I think their response definitely seems I think, to add credibility to the eyewitness account more than being like, oh, you know, they were confused or hallucinating or whatever, you know, whatever it was. There's probably infinite number of ways to try to explain it our scientific minds now our western minds cannot wrap our heads around, someone coming back to life. So
question the brain clothes in your mind were they they were folded neatly and laying there but were they free from blood and debris and all that because he did have a Roman beading and it was lightning in or whatever and they didn't have time for the classes and the cleaning so what shape would you think clothes wear?
That's a good question. I have ever thought about that.
Yeah, I don't I don't know. I mean, dried blood. You know, I mean, I cut my finger and like the next day my bandages were just black and red and nasty and caked on bits here and there and that was just from a tiny little finger cut, you know, but I think I think they might have had the opposite like as they're putting him in the grave. Seems to be interrupted but they might have had the ability to to do something because like
his head wrap wouldn't wouldn't have been on him when he was on the cruise, you know, because it says his head was wrapped. Yeah, so that was true that they went and really be able to clean him up. So you're probably right.
They couldn't say Well, somebody's they stole the body, and then they brought these
so having the blood stained clothes would be
a good thing. Yeah, something. Yeah. I mean, that makes sense to me. Or, you know, in the process of being resurrected, you're fully healed. You know, and again, that's not gonna get stains out of it or anything like that. But it's like, there's a, you know, it's not like he still has wounds. He's got scars, but no wounds, you know, so
we don't think he was the zombie. No, I
don't. I mean,
there might that might work on some movie, or something at some point, probably, you know, with our obsession with zombies. Now. You know,
I think there were zombies when like he raised the dead before he died. Maybe they were walking around. Some people dispute that there was some, like he raised the dead people and they're walking around the temple.
While there was definitely some graves that were disrupted, and at the crucifixion, you know, it's like all of creation, new something that significant was going on, you know, and I think that's, that's kind of the challenge with Easter. We celebrate it we are all believers, you know, but we also live in a world that is probably got 1020 objections to this idea of resurrection. So it's like for us. It kind of is the cornerstone, and it's the core, the foundation of our faith is a resurrected Savior. You know, he was buried, he died and he was raised again, you know, ascended you know, so it's like, this is kind of the, the bare minimum core of what we believe and it's kind of the foundation of everything else that we believe. So we have that side of it. And the other side of it is, you know, it's trying to really explain it to somebody even if you look at the evidence and you look at the Gospel accounts. accounts and nobody nobody would have thought that the Messiah would be crucified Messiah was new the new king that was gonna come like David and bring us all together and wipe everyone all these all of Rome's tale and kick them out and give us our land back in and he's triumphal warrior king like David, right. And then Jesus comes in on a donkey and preaches parables about mustard seeds and yeast and then like, like, he goes to these mock trials and is beaten and dies. So it's like crucified Messiah. Like, like, there's like no way, you know, so it's like, he's not the Messiah. There's no way you can be the Messiah because he's dead. And then within three days, okay. You clearly have not wrapped your mind around that. Now. You got to wrap your mind around. He's not dead. He's resurrected. He is the Messiah. You know, he conquered death. He didn't just conquer Rome. He conquered Rome's most powerful weapon death. They had perfected crucifixion as a way of controlling the people scaring the people keeping the people in line stopping revolts fall in line do it Rome tells you to do and Jesus beat that. And so now we've got resurrected Messiah, you know, resurrected KING. Let's wrap our minds around that, you know, what questions or observations
First Corinthians, since we're talking about Revelation, a little bit is 2424 to 26. After that,
we will return the
kingdom over God over to God the Father having destroyed every ruler and authority of power for Christ was great until he handles all of his enemies that they displayed and then the last enemy to be destroyed.
For the scripture says
God has put all things under his authority. Of course, we did say as all things are under his authority that does not include God Himself. And who gave crossed his authority, and then when all things are under authority, to suddenly put himself under God's authority over things will be ugly to supreme over everything everywhere.
Like pictures. Yeah, that kind of has a revelation feel to the kingdom and power and glory, you know. All right, well just turn the page for them. Steve
page four you don't want to page to page four
took all my surprises. All right. Yeah. Me too. So I started today, kind of taking all of my first Corinthians 15 notes and trying to compile them and make sense of them and wrap my mind around them. Because first Corinthians 15, if you read the first chapter, Paul was like, I mean, it's one of his like, gospel summaries. This is the gospel, the good news and he shares, you know, Jesus was buried and then he died and was raised again. So he kind of kind of one of our core passages for how we understand what the gospel is that even we probably referenced it hopefully when we did the message of Jesus because he comes preaching the gospel. And then there's some stuff on the Lord's Supper. I think that in First Corinthians 15 It's around there. Y'all can help me. Remember
that that made me not. He's talking about his power. Got it open on the Lord's
Supper. What is that first Corinthians 11. Now that's the so worship. Yeah. And then it pretty early on. He gets to resurrection, the topic of resurrection and it's almost like Paul is addressing the Corinthians who didn't believe there was going to be a resurrection for believers. And so Paul goes all the way back to Jesus and His resurrection. Now, there there is some interesting and I don't want us to get bogged down but you can study this in depth later. But I'm pitch for I put in bold two verbs. The verb will be made alive and will be made subject. Verse 22, in Christ all will be made alive and in verse 28. The son himself will be made subject will be subjected to him and put anything under him. Those are the only future indicative verbs in this passage. And I don't like I said, don't want to bog you down on verb tenses or verbal aspect or mood or tense or that kind of stuff, but in the Greek, this is future. The rest of the verbs are present. So these future indicative kind of frame, the other verbs after that, where, you know, he has destroyed all dominion, he will rain. The enemy will be destroyed. He's put everything under his feet. So this is not just stuff that's supposed to happen later. This is probably stuff that happened when Christ was resurrected. Like, and we've kind of bounced this back and forth a couple of times, but we we've talked about well evil has not been fully conquered. And then I'm sitting here going, okay, but you can't crucify Jesus again. And so here's death has been conquered. But we're still dealing with death and we're still grieving that kind of stuff. So what else does Christ going to do to defeat death? And the argument I think that a lot of people are trying to and again, haven't wrapped my mind around it as he did it already. Like resurrection is the death of death. Jesus conquered death. Not he is going to conquer in the future. But he's conquered it. Now. Maybe we haven't fully experienced it right. And I'm completely fine with that. We've kind of dealt with that, but maybe we need to realize it a little bit more. Maybe we need to live into it a little bit more. As we are linked up with Christ. We are we are with Christ. We experience life with him. Victory over Sin because of what he did. The conquering of death because of what he did and taught and again, there's a whole lot more technical stuff going on here. And then if you look at the whole chapter, there's a whole lot more stuff going on. You're trying to follow Paul Paul's argument but I think the main thing is Paul is doing here is he's he's putting Christ in the middle of it. So a lot of the burbs that is there a lot of the subjects in Steve's translation was Christ did this and so a casual observation is what Christ did was a big deal. God is not the subject throughout this whole chapter, First Corinthians 15 Christ things to be emphasized in this chapter and what he did. Which is powerful and again, and that's why he's kind of adds that thing about God at the end was like, Well, you know, I said, All things are under Christ, but God isn't, you know, you know, so he's kind of fleshing that out a little bit and helping us understand it, but it's like, the fact that again, Jesus is God. He actually did die and was resurrected. He is God and so it's like we're trying to wrap our minds around it. But what whole Paul's whole argument is, I think, is to let us know yes, there is going to be a resurrected of the dead Thessalonians kind of deals with the same thing, those that have passed away, what's going to happen to them, and he's given a lot of these imagery that we can
Dennis Rainey and investing in them and call them to come help him and they started family life which is under the umbrella of crew. I was doing college ministry, and then all these years later, like I get to work for that couple that he invested that was friends with that are now investing in me now. And I'm like, it's just a tiny little picture of my spiritual heritage that I get to know on Earth, but I think it's gonna blow our minds. When we realize how many shoulders we stand on and you get to see Lauren's heritage of this person that talked to this person that loved on this person that you don't even know. That's not in your like, like DNA family, but this in your spiritual family and you get to say, like, God grew this in me, because of all these generations we get, we get to have like that, you know, like I showed you all that picture a while back of Jesus's genealogy and all these women that stood there and that we have Christ because of what these women did. And there's going to be one for a Lauren and for me and for all of us where we get to have this incredible, I think history of people that were in our past that we don't even know about, that we get to be there. And so I don't know if that helps, but that's how I think about it and how when I read scripture, I understand and I don't know all the specifics, but I'm also someone that I don't need the details like I like the big picture and think about like where we're going, but I think if you're a detail person like it probably does drive you crazy because there's a lot of details left out before Jesus, they never asked Jesus to come into art, right? Where are they? But what is it?
What does it say in Hebrew? Right?
What is it favours? What does it say in Hebrews right like, but it was credit to him because of like righteousness because of his faith like they had a different deal. With God, a different covenant. Grace covenant was God said, your mind.
Yeah, Israel is mine. And so so that's what allows them to enter to fully into the presence of God, those of us we know we Christ is the only way we've got to confess Him because of what he did on the cross. So yeah, and that's people disagree with that. But I'm like, if you keep in Moses and Abraham and David out of heaven, I'm not going there. How are you leaving Moses out? He's on the Mount of Transfiguration. He's already
with Elijah Moses are definitely
gonna be there y'all. Yeah.
So there's a couple of things.
One, is when Paul says body, the things in my body blah, blah, blah. That's the word Soma, your body and soma you're keeping forever. It will be eternal, your flesh. The word is sark's. is another word for our sin nature. So when I do stuff in the flesh, we think of that as this. But this is not Sark Starks is the sin nature that's gone. That's out, but our somos our bodies we still have and keep you know so. So in the when Paul's dealing with stuff, there's never there's never a death to the soma, I guess you could say and again, feel free to restart it correct. Matt could be wrong that in Christ rise first. Is that the is that in Corinthians or is that in Thessalonians? But as long as the Thessalonians were were wondering hey, what about those that have died before like because we knew that Jesus was going to come back and but he didn't and then they died so like we thought man it was he's gonna be back in this generation will not pass away till I return and he didn't and they died. Where are they at? And so we have the words of Thessalonians where he gives a little glimpse into okay, this is what it's going to look like, and how it's going to happen. And again, you just can't timeline it. I think that's part of the danger of it. But there's there's definitely truth there to help us understand. And I think it's, some scholars have done some interesting stuff with it. And again, I was reading stuff today and yesterday. That is kind of I tried to mention it in a handout even earlier, but it's like we're operating as a chronological time. Where we think future this happens and these are the we're gonna step by step and do these things. But it's like when you enter into Christ, so you begin a relationship with Him, you link up with him, you have a union with Him, you're saved. You're able to axon access a lifetime, and eternity, that's never going to end. So when you die, let's just say from your perspective, you're now instantly outside of that chronological time. And now you're fully in the presence of the Lord. But those that are still operating in this linear chronology here on earth they put you in a tomb and walk you here and put you in the ground and put flowers on you and go and visit you and you know, and we grieve, you know, so it's like, so I think that that that could be a I don't I could be wrong. I don't know if like where we put people in the body, though. That's what's gonna be resurrected and meet Christ in the air. You know, I think those people that have passed away are already with Christ. And so we have or we're gonna get there. We're gonna join up with them because now we're outside of this kind of form of time, you know, again, I don't know. I'm not 100% but, again, I'm doing the best I can with the stuff I've read. You know, there's people that live right here are not in the chronological chronological time, that have not linked up with Christ and so they're linked up with a death time where scriptures like they're perishing. You know, they are not gonna go on, you know, like, they're, they're done and there might be some things that are gonna happen and they're, they no longer exist, or they go to something that we call hell, you know, and they're there, you know, so it's definitely a separation from God. It doesn't sound like a place I want to be, you know, but there's also nobody there that doesn't want to be there. Everyone, even you read Revelation, everybody that wants to be in hell and link up with the Antichrist. They know what they're doing. Like that's what they're choosing to do. It's not like oh, I wasn't sure which thought I was on I'm confused. That's like, no, they know. And it's kind of like just God, handing them over and letting them have what they want, you know, so. So maybe there's a time change. Maybe there's you know, I don't know, what is he when does he turn to the start? And has it already started? Because we know Christ and we've begun a relationship with him. We're starting to cultivate that. And so now that there's kind of a, an experience that we're able to have with Christ, who's outside of time, even though we're still kind of, we have watches and clocks and stuff, you know, so, again, I'm sure every scholar and Bill philosopher has tried to figure it out and explain it to you now. NT Wright said some he believes in almost kind of like a form of purgatory like when you die you kind of go to sleep. And he uses the scriptural understanding of oh, you know, they fallen asleep. I think we even have it in first Corinthians 20. You know, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep, you know, like they're not dead, they're just sleeping. Well, then when Christ returns, they wake up and that in Christ rise with him. You know, so that's like, they weren't fully dead, but they weren't fully in heaven. Because haven't hadn't come down yet. You know, so, and T rock got a lot of pushback for him, but I could never argue with him because he's brilliant historian but you know, I kind of like to under understand it the best I can so yeah, and I think that's, yeah, that's what details make me twitch. That's what Paul's perspective here. I know. Christian,
yeah. Yeah. Jen crossfire.
Yeah, and when someone's at a funeral, they're like, they're with Jesus. I'm like, absolutely. I have no problems with that, you know? And again, at funerals is not the time to go through and ask these kind of hard questions, you know, but I think Scripture kind of gives us some insight there. And, and yeah, and I think it's okay to doubt it'd be like this doesn't make sense because it is
weird. It's so weird and like we have drank the Kool Aid and we're like, yeah, we're in this is great. And I think that's where why Jesus says again, and again, like, don't like he doesn't correct behavior other than belief. Like again, he doesn't say, you know, I mean, even when they come to stone the line like he's just like, Alright, stop like go steps in, but he didn't, like, berate her or be like, you have to, you know, do this for penance or anything like that. Like, it's so interesting how he's used that. And I say all the time, like, we have to be convinced of the gospel, and we have to preach it to ourselves every day like I have to preach it to myself, because there's days and I'm like, we're more we've been doing this like nothing's going right. And if it makes sense, and that's when I'm like, Okay, God, I'm struggling to even believe what I've committed my life to. And I And again, I don't think that's a I hope that's not a discouraging thing. I think it's encouraging like for all of our life, we have to always be preaching the gospel to ourselves. And you know why it's so important for us to memorize things like First Corinthians 15, or at least parts of it, so that we can say, Okay, this is what you said. I believe that there's a there's a host of witnesses, there's so much but it's at the end of the day, I think. We can only reason so far and it breaks down and we have to just say I have faith or help me have faith because I don't have faith today. And being honest with God that we are disappointed in our life or life in general. you It's like, and their whole family's on the board. Sorry, I'll be quiet
when you come out first Thessalonians chapter four,
the other snatching up the other snatching.
Everybody needs to read that just
from that you can make a determination. Yeah, I think I even prints that passage here
and I was like, I mean, if it's if it's if it's causing you to, to get to your emotions to go high and to stir up a tear or fear then we're reading it wrong, you know? Oh, yeah, this is comforting. Yeah, exactly. The comforting is Oh, is that comfort is around the passage like this is supposed to comfort you, but we've somehow twisted it to where it scares people. You know, it's a snatching and you didn't know what will happen. To believers who have died. Yeah, maybe
goes on it. I mean, it spells it out. Yeah, yeah, it's assuring them.
You know, hey, they're with Christ. Yeah, you know. So be with Christ now. And I think First Corinthians 15 is the same like Christ is is the subject and link up with him at all of revelation those that are on the side of Christ they when the other side loses, so make sure you're on the right side that's it, you know, and then let your your with Christ. It's like if you're with Christ, what in the world can we not go through? If we're if Christ is with us? We're there's going to be a battle. I mean, all the imagery is now there's not violence, but there's definitely a battle but it Christ just shows up and the battle is over. He won. He barely even says anything, you know, with the sort of the Word of God, he didn't have to say it. You know, he's just like, the battle is really, you know, yeah, he's like, anti climatic. What are you gonna say here? There's not these long sermons of Jesus in Revelation. He just shows up, but it's over, you know. And I think that's supposed to be encouraging to to Christians who were going through hell being persecuted in the first century under Nero or Domitian, or whatever. And if it's being made into lanterns, because because just because they confess Christ as Lord, and so they're going through that and John and Revelation kind of peels back the curtains to let them know what's really going on. It's a cosmic battle that Christ wins. So continue to be faithful and have a witness and behold the Lamb you know, so I think that's the, and we'll get there in a few weeks. We're trying to get there y'all. So time. Yeah. All right. So back to page two. I did a little chart of resurrection appearances these are in like, most study Bibles in different forms. You know, this one includes X and Corinthians you know, to let you know to when when Corinthians talks about how Christ appeared to Peter and that kind of stuff you know, about three fourths of the way down. Matthew 2816, through 20, Jesus appears to the 11 disciples on the mountain in Galilee, early in the resurrection. He's like, hey, go to the disciples. I'll be in Galilee tell him to meet me there. So this is the kind of let you know but then he gives what we know of as the Great Commission, All authority in heaven, earth has been given to me, Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I've commanded and surely I'm with you always, to the very end of the age. So, in one of Jesus's resurrection appearances, he gives the Great Commission there's only one imperative or command in the Great Commission, and it is go it's not go try again. Now, you know, make
there's only one imperative make disciples.
So the NGO is kind of an honor as you are going that's not a command. We've We've twisted that a little bit, but go make disciples make the imperative verb in the passage as you are going make disciples and so, so the now to make disciples, you have to go I get it, but well, it gets distorted because we might go
evangelism and make disciples discipleship. That's right.
Because we're like, Oh, God hasn't called me to be a missionary. So I'll have to go and it's like no as
you're going so as you're living your life, but you go into well has some great
stuff there on page starting on page 213 to 14 on the Great Commission, that command given you know, and he helped, I think, even maybe mentioned that imperative. The central command of the commission is make disciples, they're on to 15 committed follower of Christ, we make them we're also teaching people how to obey, you know, so again, back to like Peter's sermon of obedience and, and hearing from the Lord and following through with what he says, you know, you know, the Great Commission is not just evangelism. You know, it's like, yeah, which is part of it, but it's a there's a discipleship, there's helping people know how to obey God. A Baptism and the importance of that, you know, so there's definitely a lot to the Great Commission and, and then, Jesus appears
to them on the Mount of Olives. We get x one and the end of Luke. After after appearing to the disciples, number time he ascends into heaven. Luke gives us a little bit about you, they stayed in the temple worshiping God and then pretty much when you get into X, you have Jesus ascending into heaven. The ascension, I mentioned this is probably the most neglected aspect of the gospel. Probably because we know that the Holy Spirit is going to come pretty soon after that and enacts too and we're just we're not we're not comfortable with the Holy Spirit. And so maybe we don't really want to think about the ascension. But it ties into the whole story of what we've covered because when Jesus ascended to the right hand, we know that the right hand is the position of power is the position of ruling. We can go all the way back to Exodus and all the imagery of Pharaoh with his staff and his right hand and his strong hand and God using that strong hand to show Pharaoh you don't have the power at all God does. Well, now you got Jesus ascending. To the position of the right hand of God. So it's Jesus ruling. So his ministry did not end. It's not like Oh, y'all figure this out. I'll be back later. You know, it's Jesus's active ministry now as he's ruling as he's raining as he's interceding on our behalf. As he sends his spirit and the spirits not going to tell us anything that Jesus didn't say. He's like, Jesus, it's like, it's like a reiteration of Jesus's words through the Holy Spirit. You know, if you read from John and that kind of stuff, it's like he's, he's given us a spirit to allow us to do what it says in John to do even greater thing. And of course, we'll get to that when we get into x next week. But as the church is formed, you know, but, but this ascension is super important for us to realize he's ruling He is king. He's the crucified and resurrected Messiah. And so all authority has been given to us could do what He told us to do. And again, I've even I've said, even this week, it's like, we act like we don't know what we're supposed to be doing. And it's like Jesus told us what to do. We're like, oh, I can't quite figure out this church thing and whatever. And it's like, Well, Jesus told us what to do. You know, let's listen to him. And do what he says. You know, so. Alright, we got three minutes concluding questions for confusions.
Yeah. It's, it's, that's it does and it tells us to look up
like you know,
set your things you set your mind on things above not on things of this earth. So there's a lot of reference so it's, it's just like they were expecting the side to be this conquering king. There's reasons why of heaven. So he Yeah, he's teaching.
Well, it's kind of interesting, because Resurrection Day Easter, as we've
come to know, it is like a big deal in churches. It should be the most important like celebration we have all year. But like it's interesting that we've lost Ascension Day and Pentecost. I mean, they're still on the calendar, but we don't do anything with them and really eat
