If today was the actual day Jesus rose from the dead, what would He tell us?
When you study the resurrection story in all four gospels, you’ll find three things Jesus wanted to get across to us in the forty-day period between the resurrection and His return to heaven.
The first one is something we talk about every Easter. It’s something we talk about almost every Sunday:
This is the whole reason Jesus put Himself through suffering and torment. He looked at you, the rebellious and sinful you, and decided, “I have to do something about that.”
He knew you would never make it to Heaven if it were up to you. So the Son of God, Jesus Christ, gave Himself as a sacrifice for your sins.
You were supposed to die and go to hell, but He died in your place. Here’s how Jesus said it after the resurrection:
Luke 24:47 NLT - ...There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.
You can see that Jesus gives us a condition to receive forgiveness. You must repent. It sounds like a scary word, but all it means is turning and changing direction. In other words:
There’s a partial gospel message out there that tells us that there’s forgiveness of sins regardless of how you choose to live. But Jesus made it clear. Forgiveness is for those who repent; those who make the choice to turn away from sin and follow Jesus.
Many argue that all you have to do is believe in Jesus. John 3:16, baby. And there is truth to that. To receive eternal life, you must believe in Jesus. But here’s the deal:
Don’t fall for the lie that you can believe in Jesus without following Jesus. Or that you can receive forgiveness without repentance. Y’all, that’s called the partial gospel. But this only works if you accept the whole gospel.
As Jesus said, there is forgiveness of sins for all who repent. That includes you. And it’s a choice that you get to make.
So, that’s the first thing that Jesus told us right after the resurrection. He wants to ensure you receive the forgiveness He provided.
The next one is something some Christians agree with, and others fight. Nevertheless, you find it in all four gospels.
This is a tense subject for many people, so we try to skirt around it. But it’s actually not weird at all. And the best way to get over the weirdness of it is to understand the why.
Why does Jesus want us to receive the Holy Spirit? He gives us the answer in Luke 24:
Luke 24:49 NLT - And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.
That’s what we get when we receive the Holy Spirit.
See, this really isn’t weird at all. Think of it this way. When you connect to the power plant, your house receives power. What does this power enable it to do? Pretty much everything with ease.
You no longer have to build a fire to cook your food. All you have to do is just turn on the stove. You no longer have to wash each garment on a washboard. You put in a load of clothes and turn on the washing machine.
When you receive the Holy Spirit, you are filled with power to do what God has called you to do. No longer do you have to strive and hustle. Instead, you’re led by the Holy Spirit into things that are the most effective.
No longer do you have to wonder how to pray for someone because you can pray in the spirit, and even though you don’t know what you are saying, the Holy Spirit is praying through you the perfect prayer for that situation.
There’s only so much you can do by yourself. Actually, I’ve found that what I do by myself is quite disappointing. But when I operate in the power of the Holy Spirit, the results blow my mind.
Jesus wants you to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And it is so important that this is one of the three things He told us after the resurrection before He ascended into heaven.
Here’s the third thing:
It’s almost as if He knew we’d try to find a way out of obedience. Okay, let’s be real. He knew exactly what we’d try to do.
He knew we’d use grace as a license to sin. And he knew we’d use love as an excuse to ignore sinful behavior. He even knew we would take His very words out of context. Like this:
John 13:34 NLT - So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.
Here’s how we like to read this:
“So now I am giving you a new commandment so you can ignore all the other commandments: love each other.” - Not Jesus
But, that’s not what He said. Let’s look at the scripture again:
John 13:34 NLT - So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.
Sure, all the other commandments can be summed up into this one commandment. But if we didn’t have the other commandments, we would have no idea how to love each other.
Plus, if you look at the context of this scripture, you’ll find out that Jesus is talking about loving the body of Christ. Yet many Christians use this scripture to guilt others into loving the things of this world.
That’s what is going on in our nation. People think that in order to love the LGBTQ community, you have to pass laws that support their sin.
If we really want to help them, we must love them enough to tell them the truth. Their sinful behavior is rapidly leading them toward eternity in hell.
We’ve got to let them know that freedom is available. They weren’t born that way. It’s a demonic spiritual attack they can be completely delivered from through the power of Jesus Christ.
This is just one example of many that reveal our inability to truly love others without further instruction from Jesus.
That’s why you’ll find about 50 things Jesus commanded us to do in the New Testament. Love your enemies, be generous, repent from sin, don’t run from suffering, and treat others as you’d want to be treated… just to name a few.
And here’s what Jesus said about those 50 things after the resurrection:
Matthew 28:20 NLT - Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.
Aren’t you glad He said we only have to obey some of the commands? Nope! He said to obey ALL the commands. That means I can do it. You can do it. We all can do it.
We can obey all the commands of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Keep all of this in mind as we read John chapter 15.
This is part of Jesus’ last words to the disciples before He was crucified. Put yourself in that situation. If you knew you were about to die, you’d share the most important things with the ones you love. That’s what Jesus is doing here.
As I read this, imagine that Jesus is talking right to you. This is His last opportunity to talk to you before He goes to the cross, so He is about to tell you the most important things you need to know.
To follow along, read John chapters 15-16:15 in the NLT
To wrap this up, I want to read the final prayer Jesus prayed over you before He ascended into heaven. You’ll find it in John chapter 17.
To follow along, read John 17:9-26 in the NLT
