“…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. Acts 1:3
For 40 days after the cross and His resurrection, Jesus was seen with “infallible proofs” and spoke about things of the kingdom of God. The big question on the disciples mind was:
“Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Verse 6
Jesus answer was blunt:
“It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.” Verse 7
How ever you want to interpret the answer, Jesus made it clear that the timing belonged to the Father only. Jesus used similar words another time in Matthew 24 about His second coming:
“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” Matthew 24: 36
But just before verse 36 and after, he Jesus also made it clear that we, as watching Christians, can know His coming and the end is near even as a person who is at the front door.
“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors!
Verse 32, 33
Jesus goes on to explain the conditions of the world before the coming of Christ. His coming will be one of surprise for those who have become a lover of this world. Many will be going about the everyday events of this earth when Jesus will visibly come back.
“For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Matthew 24: 38-39
I will come back to verse shortly. A relevant question concerns what the angels said about His return in Acts 1? They said you will see Him, just as they saw Him go:
This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” Verse 11
This begs the question as to why so many people teach that the church is secretly raptured at His coming. When He comes, as shown in Matthew 24: 39 above, those who were caught by surprise (eating, drinking, marrying, etc.) are “took away.” This is not a translation or a rapture but something different. Luke describes the same scene, but uses different language for those who are “took away.”
They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Those that are “took away” are taken by the destruction that takes place when Jesus returns. Peter described this destruction. It is by fire:
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
1 Peter 3:10
The second coming is loud and destructive, not silent. The reference to the “thief in the night” can’t be related to something secret since His coming is visible and with much fire. A thief catches its victim by surprise and takes their belongings. They don’t expect it.
Paul and Matthew encourages us to watch for the “thief” so we won’t be surprised.
But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 1 Thessalonians 5:4
But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Matthew 24: 43
Let go back to the scene in Acts 1 as Jesus was ascending to heaven.
Where was He during this time of 40 days? It must of been of such little consequence that Luke made no reference to His whereabouts. But, one thing is clear. After the 40 days, he ascended to His Father as described six verses later by Luke:
Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” Acts 1: 9-11
And where did Jesus Go?
After the crucifixion and His resurrection, Jesus stayed on this earth for 40 more days. There is a seeming odd statement by Jesus to Mary when she went to the tomb and did not find Him in it. She then asked someone she thought to be a gardener about the body of Jesus, but it was Jesus. Then Jesus said something that lets us know that He had not yet been to Paradise where Heaven and the Father are located:
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. John 20:17 KJV
Jesus clearly states He has not yet ascended to the Father, at least not up until that point. Many think that Jesus went to Paradise the day He died on the cross because he said to the repentant thief:
“And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Luke 23:43
There are also many that think that Jesus went to hell during his death and resurrection, but there is no evidence in the Bible of any such think happening. Also, what would be the purpose?
He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living…” Mark 12:27
But if Jesus had not gone to Paradise, where God the Father and all the holy angels are located, then is there a contradiction? The answer is simple. The original language of the Bible did not contain punctuation. When the translators were translating it into English, the comma was placed at the wrong place in the sentence without considering the verse in Luke and other passages that let us know he did not go to paradise until He ascended to God after about 40 days. With the comma in the right place, it brings harmony to the other verses in the Bible:
“And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you today, (comma is at the right location here) you will (future tense) be with Me in Paradise.”
Luke 23:43
With the comma in the right location, it states that Jesus is promising him today while everything looks hopeless that he will be with Him in paradise. Jesus did not go to paradise that day. The answer Jesus gave the thief is in context of the desire of the thief when he said to remember him when he comes into His kingdom.
“Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
Luke 23:42
When does Jesus come into his Kingdom?
“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
Mathew 25: 31-34
Even as the death dew was upon the brow of Jesus, He was in His Father’s will of bringing compassion and salvation to any who responded to the tug of the Holy Spirit and the words of Jesus. The thief had likely heard Jesus talk about the Kingdom of Heaven or Kingdom of God and desired to be part of it. *Jesus talked more about the Kingdom of Heaven or God than He did about hell, so likely the thief was familiar with Jesus teaching on the kingdom.
*Note: for more study, go to this link, Did Jesus Teach More about Hell than Heaven
In this account of Mary weeping at the empty tomb of Jesus demonstrates how hopeless the disciples of Christ felt. She is so immersed in the pain of losing Jesus that she is unable to immediately recognize that Jesus is there with her. It is not until he says her name, “Mary” that she realizes that her grieve and sorrow have turned into inexpressible joy.
The same occurred when the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. They were so discouraged and were in a frame of mind that to believe He was resurrected. They could not believe that the resurrection of Jesus was possible.
In a favorite book, called, Desire of Ages, the author puts it this way:
“…the disciples thought upon His empty tomb, and mourned and wept. The day that was a day of rejoicing to all heaven was to the disciples a day of uncertainty, confusion, and perplexity. Their unbelief in the testimony of the women gives evidence of how low their faith had sunk. The news of Christ’s resurrection was so different from what they had anticipated that they could not believe it. It was too good to be true, they thought. They had heard so much of the doctrines and the so-called scientific theories of the Sadducees that the impression made on their minds in regard to the resurrection was vague. They scarcely knew what the resurrection from the dead could mean. They were unable to take in the great subject.” p. 792, 793
There is a lesson here for us. There will be times when we have heard what the Word has to say, but we are so despondent that we cannot believe. But, God in his mercy and love for us, will appear in the darkest part of our time and gently say our name. Then we will turn and our grief will be turned to joy. Then we will remember the words of encouragement that were spoke to us before our time of trouble came.
We will be on our journey away from the discouragement of Jerusalem and the crucifixion on a dusty road about to give up all hope, when Jesus will suddenly appear and teach us things we did not know. Our hearts will burn within us as we listen and understand. Faith will begin to grow, but we won’t know it is Jesus talking to us until we least expect it. That is how Jesus works sometimes. He just shows up! We didn’t pray for Him to do that. He just shows up! We weren’t looking for Him, but He just shows up! Why? Because God loves and cares for those who are downcast and hurting. This is the type of God we serve!
“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
Isaiah 41:10
The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
Jeremiah 31:3
There is a verse in the New Testament that is hardly ever mentioned. I have never heard a sermon on it, but it is an impressive event that fits well with the train of thought here concerning the activities of Jesus during the 40 days on earth before he returns to His Father.
And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
Matthew 27: 52, 53
When Jesus raised the son of the widow of Nain, the rulers’ daughter, and Lazarus, they were not clothed with immortality. They must have died again in the future after growing old to wait for the great resurrection morning. This is only speculation on my part. But, those that were resurrected on that Sunday morning with Jesus were the “first fruits” of the resurrection. They were the trophies of His victory over death. They represented the sacred truth of the resurrection and the hope for all those putting their trust in Jesus to resurrect them one day.
There is no record of Lazarus talking about being pulled out of heaven to return to the earth. No, they slept in the dust and waited for the day when Jesus would have victory over death and be resurrected and clothed with immortality. Of them it was prophesied:
“Thy dead men shall live, together with My dead body shall they arise…” Isaiah 26:19
The verse continues…
“…Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.”
Isaiah 26:19 (last part)
Christ and these risen saints became the first fruits of those who sleep in the dust waiting for the resurrection, But it was Jesus that was the real first fruit of being raised and then going up to paradise.
“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.”
1 Corinthians 15:20
Jesus’ favorite term for describing those who die is sleep. So were the other writers such as Paul and Job. Not once does Jesus or the disciples say what we say at funerals such as:
“Well, they are in heaven with their beloved spouse.”
“He went to be with Jesus.”
“She is up there enjoying the fruits of heaven.”
“God must have wanted him more than we do, so He took him.”
If a person wants to be comforted by words from the Bible about the passing of a loved one, here are a couple of them from Paul who seemed to understand this topic better than anyone other than Jesus:
This verse ends with the words, “Comfort one another with these words.” What words? Here they are:
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4: 16-18
The words we are to comforted one another is the second coming of Jesus and the fact that those who died “in Christ.” will be resurrected. They will rise from dusty graves and meet those who are left from the destructive events of Jesus’ coming. We will meet the Lord in the air at the same time! No one is there already. We go at the same time! What a comfort to know our loved ones are not looking down on us! They have a brief sleep of death and then rise when Jesus resurrects them!
The resurrection is so important that Paul states the following:
For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
1 Corinthians 15: 16-19
Our hope is in the return of Christ! In fact, belief and trust in the resurrection of Christ is what saves us as much as believing He died for our sins.
if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:9
Like the thief on the cross, I want to pray that Jesus will remember me when He comes again. Don’t you? For forty-days, Jesus was encouraging His followers and reminding them that they must go away, but that He would return to take us where He is now. In Paradise!
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
John 14: 1-3
His promise here gives me comfort knowing He has promised to return, give me immortality and take me to paradise. Doesn’t it you? Paul tells us that we will be changed in a twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. This is when we become immortal. Until then we are mortal. I pray you will receive you comfort in Jesus and the resurrection:
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality ,then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
1 Corinthians 15: 51-54