WEBVTT 00:00:05.929 --> 00:00:09.410 Hey there, fellow sinners, saints, and semi -skeptics. 00:00:09.410 --> 00:00:12.429 Welcome back to the Semi -Seminarian, the only 00:00:12.429 --> 00:00:15.730 show where Bible nerdery meets coffee shop sarcasm. 00:00:15.849 --> 00:00:18.469 I'm Pastor Jim, your host, bringing you theology 00:00:18.469 --> 00:00:22.570 with just enough structure to be heresy adjacent, 00:00:22.870 --> 00:00:25.510 but not enough to require church discipline. 00:00:26.530 --> 00:00:29.129 Today's episode is all about the time between 00:00:29.129 --> 00:00:32.990 resurrection and ascension, those 40 days when 00:00:32.990 --> 00:00:38.369 Jesus just kinda... hung out, not quite ghosting 00:00:38.369 --> 00:00:40.909 his disciples, not yet floating into the clouds. 00:00:41.030 --> 00:00:44.310 It's like the bonus footage in the Gospels that 00:00:44.310 --> 00:00:47.369 most people skip, but trust me, you don't want 00:00:47.369 --> 00:00:50.070 to miss this. So we're going to break it down 00:00:50.070 --> 00:00:52.329 in six segments, covering everything from fish 00:00:52.329 --> 00:00:55.630 fries to floating skies, and we'll back it all 00:00:55.630 --> 00:00:58.630 up with enough scripture to make even a seminary 00:00:58.630 --> 00:01:01.670 professor blush. I'll see you on the other side. 00:01:14.439 --> 00:01:17.280 So I want to begin tonight by asking a question. 00:01:17.459 --> 00:01:19.719 We have a church holiday coming up. Does anybody 00:01:19.719 --> 00:01:23.099 know what the church holiday is? Two weeks, two 00:01:23.099 --> 00:01:28.260 Sundays from now, Pentecost. Pentecost is the 00:01:28.260 --> 00:01:34.019 church holiday which we celebrate the Holy Spirit 00:01:34.019 --> 00:01:36.299 coming upon the disciples. They go out into the 00:01:36.299 --> 00:01:38.379 street and begin preaching, right? Teaching, 00:01:38.519 --> 00:01:44.950 healing. So it's funny in a way because we know 00:01:44.950 --> 00:01:50.129 the Easter story of Jesus on the cross. Three 00:01:50.129 --> 00:01:55.310 days later, Jesus is seen again alive. And we 00:01:55.310 --> 00:01:59.510 know the Pentecost story when the flames, the 00:01:59.510 --> 00:02:02.530 tongues come down over the heads of the disciples. 00:02:03.069 --> 00:02:07.000 What happens in between those two events? Now, 00:02:07.019 --> 00:02:10.219 we do know how long the time period was because 00:02:10.219 --> 00:02:18.520 Pente means 50. So Pentecost means 50 days. Pentecost 00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:21.439 is celebrated 50 days after the resurrection. 00:02:21.879 --> 00:02:26.539 Again, those times also coincide with Jewish 00:02:26.539 --> 00:02:30.979 religious holidays because we share Easter with 00:02:30.979 --> 00:02:36.569 the Passover celebration. And we serve, we share 00:02:36.569 --> 00:02:39.430 Pentecost, the birth of the Christian church, 00:02:39.689 --> 00:02:42.370 with something that was called the Festival of 00:02:42.370 --> 00:02:45.569 First Fruits. And we've talked about this before, 00:02:45.689 --> 00:02:48.490 but just to remind you, Festival of First Fruits 00:02:48.490 --> 00:02:54.009 was a time in which when the first crops began 00:02:54.009 --> 00:02:57.509 to be harvested. Okay, at the beginning of the 00:02:57.509 --> 00:03:01.159 harvesting period of growing time. they would 00:03:01.159 --> 00:03:03.759 stop and they would take a portion of their grain 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:06.300 offering and they would return to Jerusalem and 00:03:06.300 --> 00:03:10.300 offer it as a sacrifice. That's why there were 00:03:10.300 --> 00:03:12.979 thousands of people in Jerusalem whenever the 00:03:12.979 --> 00:03:15.439 disciples received the Holy Spirit and went out 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:18.960 and Scripture says that Peter preached and 3 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:22.240 ,000 people were converted on that day. The reason 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:24.819 why there were so many people is because they... 00:03:25.610 --> 00:03:27.729 We didn't know it yet. It had just happened. 00:03:27.770 --> 00:03:29.990 We're celebrating a Christian holiday at the 00:03:29.990 --> 00:03:32.629 same time they're celebrating the festival of 00:03:32.629 --> 00:03:35.050 first fruits. That's why there are people. But 00:03:35.050 --> 00:03:39.930 what happens in between? Well, Jesus doesn't 00:03:39.930 --> 00:03:45.150 just resurrect and then go to heaven. There's 00:03:45.150 --> 00:03:48.090 actually a period of 40 of those days in which 00:03:48.090 --> 00:03:54.819 Jesus, on multiple occasions, uh appears to his 00:03:54.819 --> 00:03:58.180 followers so what happens between resurrection 00:03:58.180 --> 00:04:03.479 and ascension when he actually does go to heaven 00:04:03.479 --> 00:04:06.000 that's what i want to talk about tonight because 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:09.840 naturally that's this is where we are in the 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:11.979 life of the church in the narrative right we 00:04:11.979 --> 00:04:14.300 in just a couple of weeks we'll be celebrating 00:04:14.300 --> 00:04:19.680 pentecost so let's kind of put ourselves in the 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:22.360 narrative Before those events are happening, 00:04:22.480 --> 00:04:25.180 what's happening in the life of the disciples? 00:04:25.180 --> 00:04:28.959 So let me begin right off the bat with just reading 00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:33.439 scripture. Acts chapter 1 verse 3 says this, 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:37.319 He, that's Jesus, presented himself alive to 00:04:37.319 --> 00:04:40.439 them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing 00:04:40.439 --> 00:04:43.959 to them during 40 days and speaking about the 00:04:43.959 --> 00:04:47.740 kingdom of God. The gospel account of Luke in 00:04:47.740 --> 00:04:52.120 24, 44, and 45. Says, then he said to them, these 00:04:52.120 --> 00:04:55.300 are my words, that everything written about me 00:04:55.300 --> 00:04:58.600 in the law of Moses and the prophets and the 00:04:58.600 --> 00:05:02.980 Psalms. Okay, so the law of Moses, the prophets 00:05:02.980 --> 00:05:06.379 and the Psalms, that's basically what we think 00:05:06.379 --> 00:05:09.540 of as the Old Testament. They wouldn't have called 00:05:09.540 --> 00:05:11.920 it the Old Testament then, but he's referring 00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:16.600 to the collection of Jewish scripture. Okay, 00:05:16.699 --> 00:05:21.860 and so what he's saying is that, I, Jesus, is 00:05:21.860 --> 00:05:26.819 saying, I was written about in those books, and 00:05:26.819 --> 00:05:30.879 I am the fulfillment of that promise. Then he 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:35.000 opened their minds to understand Scripture. Remember, 00:05:35.100 --> 00:05:38.379 of course, this still didn't do the trick. Why? 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:40.899 Because on the day of Pentecost, where do we 00:05:40.899 --> 00:05:45.199 find the disciples at? Hiding in the upper room, 00:05:45.300 --> 00:05:49.839 even though they will experience. The risen Jesus 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:53.839 in front of them, they still don't fully get 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:58.839 what's going on here, okay? Now, Jesus didn't 00:05:58.839 --> 00:06:01.240 rise, and this is important with that context. 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:05.000 Jesus didn't rise from the dead just so he could 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:07.360 go back to his followers and say, told you so, 00:06:07.660 --> 00:06:11.879 right? No, he actually used those 40 days to 00:06:11.879 --> 00:06:16.410 finish what he had started. The disciples had 00:06:16.410 --> 00:06:19.209 heard his parables. They had seen with their 00:06:19.209 --> 00:06:24.449 own eyes his miracles. And they've also run away 00:06:24.449 --> 00:06:28.589 when he was arrested, right? Now Jesus circles 00:06:28.589 --> 00:06:32.029 back to tie it all together. And what he's doing 00:06:32.029 --> 00:06:35.430 is connecting the dots for them, opening their 00:06:35.430 --> 00:06:38.550 minds. Literally, it's a divine act of illumination, 00:06:38.550 --> 00:06:41.230 according to Scripture. He illuminated their 00:06:41.230 --> 00:06:45.269 mind. He also is doing something else. He's preparing 00:06:45.269 --> 00:06:51.310 them to become interpreters of the story, his 00:06:51.310 --> 00:06:57.790 story. Why 40 days? Well, does that number ever 00:06:57.790 --> 00:07:02.649 show up in Scripture? All the time. 40 days is 00:07:02.649 --> 00:07:08.649 a time of biblical numerology. 40 days signals 00:07:08.649 --> 00:07:14.319 testing. 40 days signals transformation. We find 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:19.060 in Exodus, right, Moses on Sinai. We see another 00:07:19.060 --> 00:07:22.300 40 -day period in 1 Kings with the prophet Elijah 00:07:22.300 --> 00:07:26.600 and his wilderness journey. We also discover 00:07:26.600 --> 00:07:29.459 Jesus at the beginning of his story, Matthew 00:07:29.459 --> 00:07:33.800 4 and 2, when he's baptized and then he's taken 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:36.300 and he encounters the devil after 40 days, right? 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:41.920 God uses 40. when he's about to change history. 00:07:43.639 --> 00:07:46.800 Now, during this time, Jesus appears in locked 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:51.339 rooms. He eats fish. He shows scars. He offers 00:07:51.339 --> 00:07:55.579 peace. The word proofs in the scripture, Acts 00:07:55.579 --> 00:07:59.680 1 and 3, implies evidence that obliterates all 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:02.839 doubt. We were talking about how Greek is not 00:08:02.839 --> 00:08:05.600 just a word -for -word definition, but it kind 00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:11.199 of brings with it an idea. The word proofs in 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:16.060 Greek evidence that obliterates all doubt. And 00:08:16.060 --> 00:08:20.680 Jesus doesn't just demand of his followers blind 00:08:20.680 --> 00:08:26.040 faith. He actually invites skeptical touch. And 00:08:26.040 --> 00:08:29.040 here's the theological bombshell here. And I 00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:31.920 don't fully know the answer to this. I don't 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:33.659 know if any of us do. We might have opinions. 00:08:34.759 --> 00:08:37.519 But let's look at least what we know. Jesus' 00:08:37.620 --> 00:08:40.580 resurrected body isn't just some fancy spiritual 00:08:40.580 --> 00:08:44.480 upgrade. It's the beginning of a new creation, 00:08:44.679 --> 00:08:48.899 right? Again, Jesus is appearing in places. He's 00:08:48.899 --> 00:08:54.179 also eating food. He's cooking food. He's inviting 00:08:54.179 --> 00:08:58.200 his followers to actually touch his body, right? 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:01.559 So it's not like Casper the friendly ghost, right? 00:09:02.919 --> 00:09:07.039 I don't know what that means for us, except to 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:12.740 say, I think that it does show us a promise of 00:09:12.740 --> 00:09:19.639 an eternal something for us and who we are now, 00:09:19.879 --> 00:09:25.139 right? And what heaven looks like, I'm still 00:09:25.139 --> 00:09:28.340 not convinced it's like a toilet paper commercial 00:09:28.340 --> 00:09:32.259 or, you know, clouds and fat babies with harps. 00:09:32.360 --> 00:09:35.940 I don't think that's heaven. I don't know what 00:09:35.940 --> 00:09:40.220 it is, but I think Jesus' appearance promises 00:09:40.220 --> 00:09:44.460 us something about our eternal reality. I feel 00:09:44.460 --> 00:09:49.120 like I can comfortably say that. And Jesus says, 00:09:49.220 --> 00:09:54.629 all authority. has been given to me. And this 00:09:54.629 --> 00:09:58.549 is not just a mic drop by Jesus. It's the foundation 00:09:58.549 --> 00:10:03.090 of a very important mission. And Jesus here isn't 00:10:03.090 --> 00:10:06.889 just giving disciples good advice. He's actually 00:10:06.889 --> 00:10:14.029 issuing royal orders. Mark 16 and 15 is not a 00:10:14.029 --> 00:10:19.360 suggestion. Jesus is making a command here, go 00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:23.500 into all the world and proclaim the gospel to 00:10:23.500 --> 00:10:28.000 the whole of creation. Luke chapter 24, verse 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:31.200 47, says that repentance for the forgiveness 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:35.899 of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all 00:10:35.899 --> 00:10:41.259 nations beginning from Jerusalem. And Acts 1 00:10:41.259 --> 00:10:44.370 and 8 says you will receive power. and you will 00:10:44.370 --> 00:10:48.289 be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and 00:10:48.289 --> 00:10:51.730 Samaria and to the end of the earth. I just want 00:10:51.730 --> 00:10:54.230 to pause there for a second and just put biblical 00:10:54.230 --> 00:10:57.750 geography in our minds first, right? Jerusalem 00:10:57.750 --> 00:11:00.429 is going to be the center of their lives. That's 00:11:00.429 --> 00:11:04.649 where the temple is, right? And then the Jewish 00:11:04.649 --> 00:11:09.350 people, they live in Judea, right? And then they 00:11:09.350 --> 00:11:11.539 have neighbors. And they don't really get along 00:11:11.539 --> 00:11:13.840 with their neighbors, actually, the Samaritans. 00:11:13.960 --> 00:11:15.840 They're not only their neighbors, they're ancient 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:21.559 cousins. And this is an oversimplification, but 00:11:21.559 --> 00:11:24.399 the Samaritans basically were Jewish people that 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:28.480 didn't get taken up into exile. They stayed behind. 00:11:29.059 --> 00:11:32.980 And so when the Israelites returned, there was 00:11:32.980 --> 00:11:37.139 kind of tension between the Samaritans and the 00:11:37.139 --> 00:11:41.470 Jews, the Jewish people, rather. That boils over. 00:11:42.190 --> 00:11:45.309 I'll give you an example. In, I want to say, 00:11:45.350 --> 00:11:52.090 maybe 3 BC, okay? So if Jesus is born in zero, 00:11:52.169 --> 00:11:55.250 I actually think his birth is in 3 BC. That's 00:11:55.250 --> 00:11:58.049 a whole other argument about the calendar. But 00:11:58.049 --> 00:12:01.830 let's just go with zero. Jesus is born in zero. 00:12:02.409 --> 00:12:05.230 This event takes place three years before Jesus' 00:12:05.409 --> 00:12:09.289 birth. And right on the eve of the festival, 00:12:10.340 --> 00:12:14.580 of the Passover festival, some Samaritan terrorists 00:12:14.580 --> 00:12:21.480 took a bunch of pigs, slaughtered them, and threw 00:12:21.480 --> 00:12:26.340 them into the temple. Now, you guys know kosher 00:12:26.340 --> 00:12:31.059 law about pork, right? You also know dietary 00:12:31.059 --> 00:12:34.100 law when it comes to how you're supposed to properly 00:12:34.100 --> 00:12:38.370 butcher animals? You may or may not know. Scripture 00:12:38.370 --> 00:12:40.990 will tell you, biblically speaking, you're not 00:12:40.990 --> 00:12:42.809 supposed to eat meat that still has blood in 00:12:42.809 --> 00:12:45.889 it. See, there are ritualistic, and it's gross, 00:12:46.049 --> 00:12:48.529 but there are ritualistic ways to actually prepare 00:12:48.529 --> 00:12:53.470 meat, according to the Bible. Not big fans of 00:12:53.470 --> 00:12:57.549 pigs, not slaughtered properly, and with all 00:12:57.549 --> 00:13:00.269 of the blood, pig's blood thrown into the temple. 00:13:00.309 --> 00:13:03.350 It was so horrific, the temple couldn't actually 00:13:03.350 --> 00:13:08.960 perform Passover ceremonies that year. So think 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:12.899 about this. Jesus is about 30, right? Whenever 00:13:12.899 --> 00:13:16.659 he begins his earthly ministry, there easily 00:13:16.659 --> 00:13:19.279 would have been people that would have encountered 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:23.700 Jesus and heard him talking and said, I remember 00:13:23.700 --> 00:13:25.779 the thing that the Samaritans did when I was 00:13:25.779 --> 00:13:28.879 a kid and how shocked everybody was. It was straight 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:33.700 up terrorism. It was 9 -11 to them, right? So 00:13:33.700 --> 00:13:37.039 when Jesus tells a story and the hero of the 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:42.210 story, Is the good Samaritan? A lot of Jewish 00:13:42.210 --> 00:13:44.450 people hearing that story with their ears will 00:13:44.450 --> 00:13:49.789 went, nope. There is no good story that has a 00:13:49.789 --> 00:13:54.950 Samaritan as the hero. We hate those dudes. Okay. 00:13:55.210 --> 00:13:57.970 So Jesus is saying, look, Christianity, what 00:13:57.970 --> 00:14:00.730 I'm teaching you, it's going to start in Jerusalem. 00:14:00.889 --> 00:14:04.070 It's going to spread through Judea. It's then 00:14:04.070 --> 00:14:07.759 going to go even to Samaria. Then it's going 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:11.740 to go to the ends of the earth. This is called 00:14:11.740 --> 00:14:14.480 the Great Commission. And Jesus gives the Great 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:17.259 Commission kind of, again, like I said, like 00:14:17.259 --> 00:14:21.000 a conductor, maybe handing off the baton to a 00:14:21.000 --> 00:14:23.960 half -trained orchestra. These guys still didn't 00:14:23.960 --> 00:14:26.080 fully grasp and understand what's happening, 00:14:26.179 --> 00:14:28.580 but he's not sending them out alone, as we'll 00:14:28.580 --> 00:14:33.000 learn. He promises a coming power. We're going 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:38.610 to be talking about that. The Holy Spirit. That 00:14:38.610 --> 00:14:40.529 means their effectiveness doesn't have to rely 00:14:40.529 --> 00:14:45.289 on their eloquence, but simply on their obedience. 00:14:46.509 --> 00:14:50.409 And this isn't a DIY gospel. No, this is a spirit 00:14:50.409 --> 00:14:55.870 -driven movement. Now, let's talk about Thomas, 00:14:56.049 --> 00:14:58.950 because Thomas is a central player in this 40 00:14:58.950 --> 00:15:04.190 Days business. Thomas gets a bad rap, but he 00:15:04.190 --> 00:15:08.080 also gives voice to what I think most of us actually 00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:13.539 feel. I want to believe, but I need to see it 00:15:13.539 --> 00:15:17.059 for myself. And what's beautiful when we see 00:15:17.059 --> 00:15:20.320 this, right? Sometimes I think we trash Thomas 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:24.480 so hard in that story, we don't actually see 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:28.700 the cool grace Jesus does. Because he doesn't. 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:33.700 I'm risen from the dead, Thomas. You know me. 00:15:33.779 --> 00:15:36.360 We have hung out together for the last three 00:15:36.360 --> 00:15:40.700 years. And you still need proof? Think about 00:15:40.700 --> 00:15:43.080 how you would be if you were in those sandals. 00:15:43.299 --> 00:15:46.539 But Jesus doesn't reply with a rebuke or with 00:15:46.539 --> 00:15:52.940 condemnation, but with accommodation. He invites 00:15:52.940 --> 00:15:57.200 Thomas to touch, to explore, to wrestle. And 00:15:57.200 --> 00:15:59.759 what comes out of the encounter is the most direct 00:15:59.759 --> 00:16:03.379 confession of Jesus' divinity in the entire gospel. 00:16:03.779 --> 00:16:09.389 My Lord and my God. And let's be honest, and 00:16:09.389 --> 00:16:12.169 we have talked about this a ton, and I hope that 00:16:12.169 --> 00:16:15.730 you feel the same way I do. Doubt is not the 00:16:15.730 --> 00:16:20.169 opposite of faith. Doubt is often the doorway 00:16:20.169 --> 00:16:27.830 to a real, sincere, and deep faith. Jude 1 and 00:16:27.830 --> 00:16:31.490 22 says, have mercy on those who doubt, and Jesus 00:16:31.490 --> 00:16:34.990 does exactly that. He meets Thomas where he is. 00:16:36.009 --> 00:16:40.429 and leads him into a deeper belief. And what 00:16:40.429 --> 00:16:45.870 happens after that? Fun fact. Church tradition 00:16:45.870 --> 00:16:49.129 holds that Thomas went all the way to India, 00:16:49.250 --> 00:16:54.350 spreading the gospel. So don't sleep on doubters. 00:16:55.149 --> 00:16:57.610 They might end up taking the longest journeys. 00:16:58.889 --> 00:17:04.680 Now, imagine this scene. A misty morning. Some 00:17:04.680 --> 00:17:08.599 tired fishermen. And a mysterious man on the 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:14.099 shore. It's deja vu. Another miraculous catch. 00:17:15.140 --> 00:17:18.339 The gospel's closing scene isn't fireworks, no. 00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:25.019 It's forgiveness. And fish. John chapter, this 00:17:25.019 --> 00:17:29.920 is John 21, 1 through 19. John chapter 21 and 00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:33.500 12 says, come, Jesus' words, come. and have breakfast. 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:39.039 It's the most Jesus thing ever, too, because 00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:43.640 while they're eating, he has a specific discussion 00:17:43.640 --> 00:17:48.640 with a specific person, his friend Peter. And 00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:51.460 he doesn't throw a theological lecture at Peter. 00:17:52.099 --> 00:17:55.900 He grills him breakfast, and he asks him about 00:17:55.900 --> 00:18:01.660 love. Remember, Peter denied Jesus three times. 00:18:02.670 --> 00:18:06.890 And here, Jesus gives him three separate opportunities 00:18:06.890 --> 00:18:12.170 to affirm his love. And each one followed by 00:18:12.170 --> 00:18:19.329 a commission, by an order. Feed my sheep. And 00:18:19.329 --> 00:18:23.509 think about it. Close friends denied me when 00:18:23.509 --> 00:18:29.089 the fire was happening. Ran and hid my best man. 00:18:29.329 --> 00:18:33.240 Ran and hid in my worst time. This is reconciliation, 00:18:33.240 --> 00:18:37.299 though. And this is reconciliation in high definition. 00:18:37.900 --> 00:18:43.319 Psalm 23, he prepares a table before me. 2 Corinthians 00:18:43.319 --> 00:18:48.420 5 and 18, God reconciled us and gave us the ministry 00:18:48.420 --> 00:18:52.920 of reconciliation. This scene in the story with 00:18:52.920 --> 00:18:55.519 the fish and Peter and the feed my sheep, this 00:18:55.519 --> 00:19:02.099 scene isn't about Peter. It's about us. And it 00:19:02.099 --> 00:19:05.680 shows restoration might always be on the menu 00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:11.299 when you're with Jesus. Now, up, up, and away. 00:19:12.740 --> 00:19:17.440 Jesus doesn't ascend in silence, but rather he 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:23.539 goes out with a blessing. Luke 24 and 50, lifting 00:19:23.539 --> 00:19:28.359 up his hands, he blessed them. Acts 1 and 9, 00:19:28.599 --> 00:19:35.099 he was lifted up. and a cloud took him. The cloud, 00:19:35.099 --> 00:19:40.279 guys, isn't just weather, right? It wasn't because 00:19:40.279 --> 00:19:43.980 it was an overcast day. Clouds, in the Bible, 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:48.920 theological symbols. In Daniel chapter 7, in 00:19:48.920 --> 00:19:52.140 the prophecy of Daniel, the Son of Man comes 00:19:52.140 --> 00:19:57.299 on the clouds and receives dominion, power. In 00:19:57.299 --> 00:20:01.390 Exodus, right, in the desert, The cloud was God's 00:20:01.390 --> 00:20:07.569 presence to them. So Jesus' ascension is also 00:20:07.569 --> 00:20:13.029 his enthronement. And the disciples, again, were 00:20:13.029 --> 00:20:15.849 walking in their sandals looking up kind of like, 00:20:16.089 --> 00:20:21.589 what has happened? They just stand there staring 00:20:21.589 --> 00:20:26.089 into the sky until two angels show up with the 00:20:26.089 --> 00:20:29.799 ancient equivalent of nothing to see here. Move 00:20:29.799 --> 00:20:35.180 along, folks. Except Acts 1 and 11 says this, 00:20:35.299 --> 00:20:39.559 this Jesus will come in the same way, right? 00:20:39.619 --> 00:20:44.019 We have a promise of a return, right? In the 00:20:44.019 --> 00:20:48.400 same way. It's the beginning of what we call 00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:52.319 the already and the not yet, right? Already, 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:56.400 Jesus has died. His ministry lives on today. 00:20:56.599 --> 00:20:59.799 He rose from the dead. giving us faith in the 00:20:59.799 --> 00:21:02.819 power of God and his love, right? We have the 00:21:02.819 --> 00:21:06.900 ability to change our lives now. But there's 00:21:06.900 --> 00:21:09.740 also in our lives something called eschatology. 00:21:10.039 --> 00:21:16.440 That's the not yet. It doesn't end here, right? 00:21:16.740 --> 00:21:19.900 This is just the middle part of a continuing 00:21:19.900 --> 00:21:24.079 story. So we're in the already, but the not yet, 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:29.720 okay? The ascension though, Does it mark Jesus' 00:21:29.960 --> 00:21:33.940 absence? That's why he says, I have to go away 00:21:33.940 --> 00:21:37.380 so that the Spirit can come upon you. Why is 00:21:37.380 --> 00:21:42.839 that important? Well, based on what we have seen 00:21:42.839 --> 00:21:46.740 and how Jesus was received and how he preached, 00:21:46.980 --> 00:21:50.700 how many people could Jesus convert in a crowd? 00:21:51.819 --> 00:21:57.750 One crowd. How many people can... The Holy Spirit 00:21:57.750 --> 00:22:04.190 converts when it's in the heart of all the followers. 00:22:05.130 --> 00:22:08.130 Jesus is saying, look, I'm not one at a time 00:22:08.130 --> 00:22:12.690 here anymore. We're mass communicating, right? 00:22:12.849 --> 00:22:16.009 I need this to go to the whole world. I don't 00:22:16.009 --> 00:22:17.609 need you to just walk around and tell people 00:22:17.609 --> 00:22:20.869 in your neighborhood. The Holy Spirit comes and 00:22:20.869 --> 00:22:26.730 this is going to move the entire world. The ascension 00:22:26.730 --> 00:22:29.349 doesn't mark Jesus' absence in our lives, but 00:22:29.349 --> 00:22:32.309 it does mark the beginning of his cosmic reign. 00:22:33.390 --> 00:22:37.890 And it's not the end of the story. It's actually 00:22:37.890 --> 00:22:42.589 the start of Act 2. But that's for next week. 00:22:45.210 --> 00:22:56.240 So, what did Jesus do in those 40 days? Well, 00:22:56.339 --> 00:23:00.460 he taught, touched, ate, commissioned, restored, 00:23:00.900 --> 00:23:05.779 and ascended. He didn't just rise. He readied 00:23:05.779 --> 00:23:09.920 his people. And the resurrection wasn't the end. 00:23:10.059 --> 00:23:14.319 It was the beginning of the church. And the ascension 00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:20.480 wasn't an exit. It was an exaltation. We live 00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:24.880 between two clouds. the one he ascended in and 00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:29.000 the one he'll return on. Like I had mentioned, 00:23:29.099 --> 00:23:34.059 it's the already and the not yet. So until next 00:23:34.059 --> 00:23:37.700 time, keep your faith anchored, your questions 00:23:37.700 --> 00:23:41.339 honest, and your coffee strong. This has been 00:23:41.339 --> 00:23:43.940 the semi -seminarian where theology is deep, 00:23:44.019 --> 00:23:47.339 the jokes are cheap, and the spirit is willing. 00:23:47.700 --> 00:23:49.000 I'll see you next time.