The Church Begins

The Resurrection and Ascension

The ResurrectionThen the angel said to the women in reply, "Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.' Behold, I have told you."

1. Appearance to Mary Magdalene when she returned after a preliminary visit of the women to the tomb 2. Appearance to the women who had been to the tomb and were bearers of the message of the angels 3. Appearance to Peter on the afternoon of the resurrection day 4. Appearance to the disciples on the road to Emmaus 5. Appearance to the ten disciples on the evening of the resurrection day, Thomas being absent 6. Appearance a week later to the eleven, Thomas being present 7. Appearance to seven of the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee 8. Appearance on a mountain in Galilee9. Appearance to about five hundred as well as the apostles 10. Appearance to James, the cousin of Jesus 11. Appearance on the day of ascension from the Mount of Olives

Post Resurrection Appearances

What did Jesus say?

Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni," which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, "Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"

1. To Mary Magdalene outside the tomb

Then they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage.

Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me."

2. To the other women who had gathered in the holy city of Jerusalem

We aren’t sure what was said, but Peter told us, in his letter to the Corinthians, For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures; that he appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the Twelve.

3. To Peter on the way to Jerusalem

Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory? Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures.

4. To two Apostles on the road to Emmaus

Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."When he heard about the appearance, the apostle Thomas, who wasn’t there, said he wouldn’t believe until he touched the nail holes himself…”

5. To the apostles in the Upper Room

Picture of what is believed to be the “Upper Room”

Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe."Thomas answered and said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."

6. A week later to the Apostles

Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel and 4 other apostles were fishing, but catching nothing then they saw a man standing on the shore, it was Jesus, but they did not recognize him. Jesus said to them, "Children, have you caught anything to eat?" They answered him, "No." So he said to them, "Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something." So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord.’ When they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you just caught." So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.

7. To the fishing apostles

Jesus said to them, "Come, have breakfast." And none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?" because they realized it was the Lord. They ate. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs." He then said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." (Jesus) said to him, "Feed my sheep. Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." "Follow me."

Do you love me?

Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved, the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper and had said, "Master, who is the one who will betray you?" When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus said to him, "What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me." So the word spread among the brothers that that disciple would not die. But Jesus had not told him that he would not die, just "What if I want him to remain until I come? (What concern is it of yours?)" It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.

“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."He said to them, "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages.They will pick up serpents (with their hands), and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.

8. To The disciples on a Mt. in Galilee

We don’t know what exactly what was said, but Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, tells us that There is no record of what Jesus said, just that he met with them.

9. To the 5o0 faithful

In Corinthians, Peter tells us that Jesus appeared to James and made a meal for him. He does not tell us what was said.

10. To James

He said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. "Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.You are witnesses of these things. And (behold) I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.“(foreshadows Pentecost)

11. The last conversation…

40 days after Easter, Jesus rose back into Heaven…

Ascension