Did the Apostles and Disciples Miss Jesus?

Luke 24:44-53 NASB “Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all the things that are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “So it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising God.”

Try as you might, to put yourself there with the early disciples and Apostles, and wrap your mind and heart, about what they all saw and experienced. Visualize if you will, that you are there and your own eyes and ears have witnessed what is written about in this passage of Scripture.

I don’t know about you, but after having witnessed all or much of what Jesus said and did, and then to see Him die on the cross, followed by His appearances after His resurrection, concluding with His ascension, should have been enough to literally blow anyone’s mind and heart into a totally different realization. Just notice the sequence in this passage alone:

1. These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all the things that are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.
2. Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
3. So it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
4. You are witnesses of these things.
5. And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.
6. And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.
7. While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven.
8. And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising God.

Notice that after witnessing all these things that they worshipped Jesus, then returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising God.

Had we been there, what would witnessing this event, have done to the average person’s mindset, faith and worldview? It obviously would have to change literally everything, wouldn’t it? It would literally have to. In fact, I would ask, how could it not?

And when I read this passage of Scripture, I am also reminded of John 14:16-20 NASB where Jesus says: “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever; the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you.” I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. After a little while, the world no longer is going to see Me, but you are going to see Me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I in you.”

Notice the sequence here again when Jesus says:
1. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper
2. so that He may be with you forever
3. He is the Helper, the Spirit of truth
4. whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him or know Him
5. but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you.
6. I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you
7.  After a little while, the world no longer is going to see Me, but you are going to see Me; because I live, you also will live
8.  On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I in you.

So here we have the promise of God’s Holy Spirit, being given to us, as requested by Jesus, by the Father, who will remain with us forever and will be in us. And Jesus considers the Holy Spirit as being Himself coming to us, which correlates with the trinity of God being Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And although none within this world is again going to see Jesus (until His second return), which includes ourselves as believers (prior to His second return), while we or others are alive, yet when we die, we will see Jesus again, because Jesus lives and we also will live. And on that day, we will no longer have a hope, but we will KNOW that Jesus is in the Father, and we are in Him and He is in us.

So this departure of Jesus, enables Jesus as the Son of God, to no longer be subject to time and space but now exercise His full power and authority as God, as noted in Ephesians 1:18-23 NASB where the Apostle Paul states: “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and made Him head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Emphasis is mine.

And as promised, Jesus is now available and able to guide all of us, speak to all of us, wash all of us, feed all of us, forgive all of us and save all of us, who believe in Him.

So, to answer the question of the title of this post, did the early disciples and Apostles miss Jesus? I am sure they did. Why? Because the one on one, face to face, always immediate available response, wasn’t there anymore. But now God’s indwelling Holy Spirit is there, as promised. But it’s not exactly the same is it? 

Even when we have God’s Holy Spirit within us, we can still make mistakes, just like Peter did, as noted in Galatians 2:11-14 NASB, where the Apostle Paul states: “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of some men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and separate himself, fearing those from the circumcision. The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?” 

Could anyone deny that Peter had the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit? The answer to that question is no. Yet Peter made a mistaken judgement. Peter. God obviously used Paul to correct him. But what does that tell us? It tells us or at least me, that I also am subject to making mistaken judgements and not to automatically assume just because I have God’s Holy Spirit within me, that I will always be absolutely correct in all my judgements. And that if I do make a mistaken judgement, God is thoroughly able to bring correction my way, in the manner in which He choses to do so. 

Would I prefer the one on one, face to face, immediate response of the guidance of Jesus, today? I’d have to say yes, because that would immediately address my deepest heartfelt needs. But, it isn’t all about me is it? And it isn’t subsequently all about you either. I do long for that one to one, face to face and God’s Word tells me it will come, but in the interim, while we are in this flesh, we all walk the walk of faith. Just like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and many others did. And although I may not thoroughly understand God’s wisdom behind this necessity, I do understand enough to know that because Jesus is the Son of God and represented our heavenly Father in a manner in which we could partially comprehend, I can trust in His wisdom over my own preferences. 

Worthy is the Lamb! Blessings!