40 DAYS
So after His resurrection, Jesus remained on earth for 40 days before His ascension to Heaven. Why? What took place during that period of time? Why not an immediate return to the Father?
It’s difficult to answer those questions completely, but it’s interesting to note that the 40 days parallel the 40 days Christ spent in the wilderness being tempted by Satan after His baptism. At that time He was tempted 3 times, at least as recorded, before Satan departed. [Matthew: 4: 1-12]
After His resurrection, Jesus also carried on His work in at least 3 different ways. First He showed Himself alive by many infallible proofs [Acts: 1 verse 3]. By revealing Himself to many hundreds of people, He left no doubt about the resurrection. Secondly, He instructed the Disciples in many ways opening up the Scriptures to them and teaching them what they needed to understand [Luke 24:45]. And thirdly He gave them the instructions that would be required to lead them into the future [Luke 45: 47,48] as well as the need to wait until the proper time was at hand [Acts 1:4].
According to the Apocryphal literature, many other acts were carried out by Christ during those 40 days, but even the 3 mentioned were sufficient to start the transformation of a number of uncertain men into the ones who would later transform the world. And the reality of it is, that if we accepted the same facts; having no doubt about the Resurrection, opening up and having the Scriptures opened to us, and following His instructions with proper reflection, then we could do the same.
Just something to think about.
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