What happened to Jesus’s disciples post-Easter–in the weeks after Jesus’ resurrection?
It was an exciting time.
“Unusual” activity began that Easter Sunday when Jesus appeared to his disciples.
Joy quickly followed their initial disbelief.
And why wouldn’t it?
Wouldn’t you be excited if a loved one died and then appeared, alive, three days later? Especially if they look whole and hearty and have an appetite?
Post-Easter events to Ascension
Jesus spent forty days with his disciples after his resurrection.
He walked to Emmaus with two disciples.
Held a post-fishing barbecue on the shores of Lake Galilee for most of them.
Jesus appeared to all eleven, including the suspicious Thomas.
Without Thomas saying a thing, Jesus held out his hand and invited Thomas to put his finger there.
He suggested Thomas put his hand in his side–where the Roman spear left a wound.
Thomas was astonished, “My Lord and my God!”
(Adriaen van Overbeke; Wikimedia Commons)
Jesus: “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed.” (John 20: 24-29; ESV)
During that post-Easter time until Jesus’s ascension in bodily form to Heaven, Jesus continued teaching his disciples–who numbered about 120.
Over 500 people saw Jesus during this time. They would have recognized him.
None of the Gospels detail what Jesus taught them. The physician Luke in Acts 1 mentioned that Jesus spoke to his disciples about the Kingdom of God.
Given they’d seen him raised from the dead, it’s likely they reviewed what Jesus told them before his crucifixion.
They asked if Jesus would now restore the kingdom of Israel.
“It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 1:6-8 (ESV)
And then a cloud appeared and took Jesus out of their sight.
Now what?
How would the Holy Spirit baptize them?
No one knew, so they headed to a building on the Mount of Olives. There, they gathered in an upper room.
Mary, Jesus’ mother, went with them, along with other women and Jesus’ relatives.
There, they prayed and celebrated the Feast of Weeks, bringing them to the 50th day after Passover, or Pentecost.
The Holy Spirit came down upon those praying folks, “like a rushing wind,” and filled the entire house.
The Holy Spirit bestowed spiritual power and gifts on all present that day. Suddenly, they spoke with authority and confidence. The preaching began! People changed!
The fledgling church grew to 5000 people.
The same unhappy pre-Easter characters were unhappy post-Easter
The book of Acts describes one exciting event after another. With the Holy Spirit filling and directing them, the disciples began to
- speak in tongues
- preach
- heal
- and set the captives to sin free–in Jesus’ name.
Pre-Easter, the Temple priests, Sadducees, captains, and the Pharisees were irate.
Lazarus being raised from the dead, Jesus being raised from the dead; they couldn’t control God’s work.
Peter didn’t help by pointing out that Jesus being raised from the dead was responsible for all this excitement.
The priests and the scribes knew the Law–that was their job.
Seeing all the activity post-Easter, some began to reread the Messianic prophecies.
The respected teacher Gamaliel, a Pharisee, reminded the council to be careful what they did next.
It was too late.
The word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
They must have watched as Jesus performed miracles on the Temple Mount before his crucifixion.
Surely, they scratched their heads and compared Jesus’s actions to what the Scriptures taught about the Messiah?
What other conclusion could they reach?
The Messiah had come. They recognized the Messiah’s description from Isaiah 53.
Eventually, one particular Pharisee saw the light: Saul.
And so the church began.
The Bible Project also takes a look at Pentecost and what happened next.
Tweetables
What happened in Jerusalem after Jesus’s ascension? Click to Tweet
Post-Easter events in Jerusalem, & the conversion of some Temple priests. Click to Tweet
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