Monday, May 9, 2011
John 21:1 Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way ...
AGAIN
How long is Easter? A day? A week maybe? Jesus appeared to Thomas a week after His resurrection on Easter morning. But afterward He appeared again to his disciples by the Sea of Galilee. In fact, for forty days He kept appearing to them from time to time.
How long does Easter last? Fifty days after Easter, Peter and the other disciples were still preaching: "God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it" (Acts 2:32). And when called before the authorities after healing the lame man in the temple, Peter and John told them, "Then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed ... we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:10, 20).
Later still, Jesus appeared again to Saul on the road to Damascus, and showed Him that the One whom he was persecuting was alive. And years after that Paul was still saying things like: "It is concerning the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today" (24:21).
How long does Easter last? We still count the years of His life, anno Domini 2011, and those years will not have ended when we come before Him who says: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and hell" (Revelation 1:17-18). Amen! Amen!
