The Gospel Accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are filled with stories from Jesus’ earthly ministry. We read about His birth, His dedication, His parents somehow losing Him and not realizing it until days later (you had one job Joseph and Mary!), His baptism, a host of miracles and parables, and of course His death, resurrection, and ascension. Everything recorded in God’s Word is for our good and is sufficient to know God and to know the salvation He brings us (2 Timothy 3:16-17). In other words, God has told us exactly what He wants us to know. 

John tells us at the end of his account that “Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30–31). 

I’m so thankful for what is recorded about Jesus because what has been written, we have heard that Jesus brings us salvation.

But if I’m being honest, sometimes I wonder what exactly were “the other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book”. And it’s around the Resurrection weekend that my brain starts to wonder into the humanity of the entire week.

From Scripture we gather a small glimpse of the state of the disciples between Jesus’ death and resurrection. The disciples were scared (John 20:19). The Saturday before Jesus rose again must have been quite the day for the disciples. We can see and understand the fear and hopelessness they must have experienced. Jesus the Messiah was dead. And dead people don’t rise from the dead unless the Messiah had something to do with it. 

On Sunday we see the joy of the disciples discovering that Jesus was alive! Running into the tomb to see it was empty, touching the scars, and eating with Jesus because he was hungry. I imagine it took a few days for their jaws to finally come up off the floor.

I can only imagine that first week with Jesus after the resurrection. The joy. The peace. The hope. The confusion. The tears. We have very few details but I imagine the first week after the resurrection had to have been similar to the days after we too realized that Jesus was the Savior we needed.

Do you remember the joy? The hope? The peace? I do. And I still do. I am nothing without the resurrection of Jesus and it’s why I pray what David prayed in Psalm 51: God, restore the joy of my salvation! I want to be reminded and live in the hope of the resurrection every day. The celebration of the Resurrection weekend is the celebration we live in daily because we are in Christ!

The Resurrection of Jesus has made our resurrection possible. And one day too, we will experience what the disciples experienced that day. We will see the risen Lord, we will see his hands and feet, we will eat with him and walk with him, and we will for all eternity, live in the hope and peace and joy we have in Christ.

Until then, we live out what Paul wrote from prison in his letter to the Philippians:

“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [11] that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead”. (Philippians 3:8–11)

By His Grace,

Pastor Matt