When Paul calls himself and his coworkers ambassadors for Christ, he is describing a commission to deliver God’s message of reconciliation. I want to understand that commission before applying his words to every Christian. We are called to make Christ known, but using His name does not give our opinions divine authority. Paul’s explanation tells us both what the message is and how those who carry it ought to live.
Paul’s Ministry and the New Creation
Paul wrote to the Corinthians as a minister whose character and authority had been challenged. Some people boasted in outward appearance rather than what was in the heart (2 Corinthians 5:12). Paul’s ministry did not fit the impressive image they admired. He had been hard-pressed, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down, yet God sustained him through those afflictions (2 Corinthians 4:8–9). He preached Christ Jesus the Lord and described himself as their servant for Jesus’ sake (2 Corinthians 4:5).
Paul explained why he continued serving despite the cost. Christ’s love compelled him, because Christ died for all so that those who live would no longer live for themselves. They were to live for the One who died and rose again for them (2 Corinthians 5:14–15). His purpose was not to secure a comfortable position or build a following around himself. He belonged to Christ and wanted the Corinthians to understand their lives in light of what Christ had done.
He then writes, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). When I speak about regeneration, I mean that new birth. A person has received life through Christ rather than merely adopted a Christian label. Church attendance, baptism, improved habits, or an emotional experience cannot bring that life into existence. God gives it by grace as a sinner hears and believes the gospel.
Someone truly born again is forgiven and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit seals him, and he is eternally secure in Christ. His life should show a new direction, though that does not mean he immediately understands every doctrine, ceases to face temptation, or never needs correction. Calling himself a Christian while defending a settled refusal to obey Christ is no adequate evidence of new life. Obedience grows from the life God gives; it neither earns salvation nor keeps us saved.
Paul says God reconciled “us” to Himself through Jesus Christ. God also gave “us” the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18). Reconciliation through Christ is the blessing every believer receives. Here, however, Paul is explaining the ministry entrusted to him and his coworkers. He writes as an apostle of Jesus Christ, one of the messengers through whom God’s authoritative gospel was being proclaimed.
That is the setting in which he calls them “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20). The apostles had a foundational role in giving the church its authoritative witness to Christ. No modern teacher can take their place, add to the completed Scriptures, or demand that a private message be received as new apostolic revelation. The church continues their witness by believing and proclaiming what they delivered. I can make Christ known wherever He has placed me, but I remain under that revealed Word.
The Message Is Reconciliation Through Christ
Reconciliation brings us into peace with God. The breach came from our sin, not wrongdoing on His part. We have rebelled against our holy Creator and brought guilt, death, and judgment upon ourselves. Paul describes people as dead in trespasses and sins and by nature children of wrath (Ephesians 2:1–3). A better opinion of ourselves cannot remove that guilt, and more information alone cannot make us right with God.
God took the initiative to provide peace. Paul says God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them. He also entrusted the word of reconciliation to His messengers (2 Corinthians 5:19). To impute here means to reckon or charge to someone’s account. God has provided forgiveness through His Son, rather than leaving sinners to find a way to cancel their own guilt. His forgiveness does not declare sin harmless or give us permission to keep rebelling.
Christ died for the whole world. God genuinely calls every person to repent and believe, so I can offer the gospel without making someone wonder whether Christ died for him. But the offer can be resisted and rejected. Paul therefore pleads, “Be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20). Christ’s death for the world does not mean that everyone is already saved or that every religion leads to God. People must come to the Savior God has provided.
Paul explains the basis of that appeal: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus is the eternal Son, fully God and fully man, born of a virgin and completely sinless. He never needed forgiveness and did not deserve death. When Paul says He was made sin for us, I understand him to be describing Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. Jesus did not become sinful or morally corrupt.
Jesus voluntarily gave Himself to be slain as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Wicked men tortured and crucified Him, and He shed His innocent blood and gave His life in obedience to the Father. The Father did not punish, curse, abandon, strike, bruise, or pour wrath on Jesus. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were united in the work of salvation. His offering remained holy and willing, and He completed His saving sacrifice through His blood and death before His burial.
On the third day Jesus rose bodily from the grave. Death had not defeated Him, and His completed sacrifice needs no supplement. He is the only Mediator between God and mankind, the One through whom we are reconciled to the Father. A human priest, a saint, a church ritual, or a spiritual experience cannot occupy His place or provide what He alone gives.
Through Christ, believers become the righteousness of God in Him. We do not become divine, and we have no grounds for self-righteousness. Our acceptance rests in Christ’s righteousness rather than our moral achievements. If I stand before God on that basis, I stand as someone who has received mercy. That should shape both the confidence with which I proclaim the gospel and the humility with which I speak to another sinner.
What an Ambassador Is and Is Not
An ambassador represents the ruler or government that sent him. He carries an authorized message rather than inventing policy or bargaining away instructions he dislikes. Paul’s description helps me see why Christian witness requires care. We have been given something definite to say about Christ, and we are responsible for delivering it faithfully.
We can explain the gospel in ordinary words, answer objections, and adapt an explanation to what a person understands. We cannot change who Jesus is, omit the reality of sin and judgment, or promise salvation without repentance and faith. Nor can we attract someone with a guarantee of wealth, health, or success that Christ has not made. Compassion calls us to make His actual invitation clear, rather than manipulate a person into responding to a different offer.
The same responsibility applies when our opinions become entangled with the message. I may have firm views about an election or a public policy, and Christians should take civic duties seriously. But attaching Christ’s name to my preferred platform does not turn it into His command. The church’s saving message remains reconciliation through His Son. Someone should not have to adopt my political preferences before I will explain the gospel to him.
Calling someone an ambassador for Christ does not give him a church office. God entrusts the leadership and authoritative teaching of a local congregation to qualified men. Witnessing to Christ does not make a believer an elder. Each believer may confess Christ, pray, serve others, and help make disciples according to the gifts and responsibilities God has given.
A teacher’s responsibility to explain Scripture gives him no right to demand unquestioning loyalty to himself. If I use Christ’s name to gain status or control people, I am abusing the position of a servant. Every ministry must be tested by Scripture, and a teacher should welcome that examination. Our confidence belongs in the King and His message, rather than in a teacher’s personality.
The Whole Church Bears Witness With Its Life
Before ascending, Jesus commanded His disciples to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to observe everything He commanded (Matthew 28:18–20). The church’s continuing mission includes both proclaiming the gospel and teaching those who believe to follow Him. Baptism follows salvation and identifies the believer with Christ; it does not cause the new birth. The study on discipleship considers this growth in learning and obeying His Word.
The members of Christ’s body carry out different responsibilities. Some preach publicly or travel as missionaries, while others support their work or teach and serve within their own communities. Paul’s comparison of the church to a body gives us no reason to despise a member because his work is less conspicuous (1 Corinthians 12:12–27). Faithful service at home or in the workplace does not become less valuable because fewer people see it.
Our conduct gives people a setting in which to hear what we say about Christ. If I am dependable at work, tell the truth when a mistake will cost me, and treat a difficult colleague with patience, people can see something of the obedience I profess. The same is true of sexual purity, generosity, forgiveness, and care for someone weak. These actions cannot replace explaining the gospel, but dishonesty or cruelty would contradict the message I claim to bring.
Paul connected his message with his manner of life. He said that he and his coworkers sought to give no offense so their ministry would not be blamed (2 Corinthians 6:3). He did not mean that nobody ever objected to their preaching. The following verses describe afflictions, imprisonment, patience, kindness, and sincere love (2 Corinthians 6:3–10). He endured opposition while refusing to give people a legitimate reason to discredit his conduct.
Jesus likewise told His disciples to let their light shine so that people would see their good works and glorify their Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). Their good works were meant to honor the Father, and I need to remember that when I want people to applaud me. Helping a neighbor, welcoming a stranger, patiently teaching children, and supporting faithful workers can honor God without becoming a performance arranged around my reputation.
Christians still sin, and protecting a respectable appearance is no excuse to conceal wrongdoing. If I have lied, I need to correct the lie with the people who heard it. If I have mistreated someone, I should confess it and seek reconciliation where possible. Repentance does not make the original harm disappear, but it means admitting the truth and trying to repair the damage. We should receive God’s forgiveness rather than maintain a dishonest image of ourselves.
Faithful witness also requires sound doctrine. Denying Christ’s deity, His shed blood, His bodily resurrection, or the need for personal faith would deprive people of the gospel itself. Love does not require us to accept every spiritual claim as true. We can identify false teaching firmly while remembering that we, too, needed mercy. The study on evangelism examines how to make that saving message known, rather than merely win approval for Christianity.
Faithful witness does not require us to withdraw from unbelieving people. Jesus prayed that the Father would keep His disciples from the evil one rather than remove them from the world (John 17:15–18). We still live among relatives and neighbors, work alongside colleagues, and raise children who need to hear the truth. We can maintain those relationships and fulfill our ordinary responsibilities without allowing the world’s rebellion to set our moral direction.
Faithfulness May Be Costly
Paul’s ministry gives us no basis for promising that faithful witness will always bring admiration or prosperity. He endured beatings, imprisonment, slander, opposition, and the burden of concern for the churches. His hope in the risen Christ and the coming resurrection sustained him through suffering (2 Corinthians 4:13–18). His hardships did not prove he lacked faith, and a Christian who suffers rejection today should not automatically be blamed for trusting God too little.
We do, however, need to examine why opposition has come. If I ridicule someone’s question, speak carelessly about him, or provoke a quarrel over politics, I should not call the consequences persecution for Christ. Those actions need correction. At other times a person may reject the gospel precisely because it confronts sin and calls him to repent. We must be willing to face that rejection without giving ourselves permission to respond cruelly.
Peter tells believers to be ready to explain the reason for their hope with gentleness and reverence, keeping a good conscience (1 Peter 3:15–16). If I am trying to embarrass the person asking, I am disregarding Peter’s command. We can answer clearly and firmly while treating the other person with respect. We are to overcome evil with good and leave judgment to God.
I do not want the church to hide the gospel to preserve its comfort, but seeking a confrontation so we can look courageous is misguided too. We should speak when obedience calls for it, pray for strength, and accept the cost of telling the truth. Our aim is to honor Christ and help people understand His message, rather than produce an impressive display of our own boldness.
Citizens of Heaven Speak for Their King
Paul says our citizenship is in heaven, from which we eagerly await the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:20). My highest allegiance therefore belongs to Him. That does not cancel my obligations to earthly neighbors or make public life unimportant. My final hope rests in Christ and His kingdom, beyond the reach of changes in human government.
Jesus will return bodily. I understand Scripture to teach that He will gather His church before the Tribulation and later return to deliver Israel and reign for a literal thousand years. Christians do not have to manufacture that kingdom through political power or cultural pressure. We announce the King who will establish perfect righteousness in His time, and we can serve steadily while we wait for Him.
Meanwhile, we pray for rulers and seek peace. We obey lawful commands, but must refuse a demand that would require disobedience to God. Every ruler remains accountable to Him. Our confidence in Christ should help us carry out present responsibilities without making our hope depend on the fortunes of human institutions.
Prayer for rulers is part of our dependence on God as we live among people who need Christ. Paul’s instructions to the Colossians show how prayer should shape that witness. He asked them to pray that God would open a door for the Word and help him explain the mystery of Christ clearly. He was speaking of truth God had now revealed through His Son. The Colossians were also to walk wisely toward people outside the church. Their speech was to be gracious and seasoned with salt so they would know how to answer each person (Colossians 4:2–6). The study on prayer examines our dependence on God as we make those requests.
We can begin by asking for opportunities and the courage to speak faithfully. When an opportunity comes, we should listen to what the person actually believes. Someone confused about who Jesus is needs that question answered, while someone trusting his own goodness needs to understand why moral effort cannot remove guilt. We can open Scripture, explain sin and judgment honestly, and point to Christ’s mercy without forcing every conversation through the same script.
Neither clever wording nor pressure can produce the new birth. The Holy Spirit convicts people through the truth and gives life as they believe the gospel. We depend on Him, but that dependence is no excuse for silence. God uses His people to speak His Word; our task is to deliver it faithfully, pray, and keep serving without claiming control over another person’s response.
My Final Thoughts
I cannot claim the apostles’ unique authority for myself or rewrite their message to gain approval. I can tell people what they proclaimed: God has provided reconciliation through the crucified and risen Christ, and sinners must come to Him in repentance and faith. Those of us who have received that mercy should speak with humility and live in a way that agrees with our words. The King we represent is worthy of our allegiance now, and He will return.
Jesus spent forty days with His disciples between His resurrection and ascension, giving them evidence they would later proclaim to the world. These were men who had struggled to believe the first reports that He was alive. As He met with them, He explained Scripture and prepared them to bear witness, including Peter, who had denied knowing Him. Following those meetings helps me understand both the testimony they carried and the confidence with which the church can serve its ascended Lord.
Jesus Gave Forty Days of Bodily Proof
The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
Acts 1:1-11
Luke tells Theophilus that Jesus presented Himself alive through many infallible proofs. The term translated as proofs describes convincing evidence, as Thayer’s entry for tekmerion explains. Luke then identifies the period as forty days, during which Jesus spoke about the kingdom of God. The apostles’ later testimony rested on repeated encounters with the risen Lord.
The Gospels and 1 Corinthians record selected appearances rather than a daily itinerary. We can follow the broad sequence without pretending to know the precise date or location of every meeting. Together, the accounts establish that the One who had been crucified was alive and preparing His disciples to testify about Him.
The body laid in the tomb had been raised. Jesus showed the disciples His wounds, invited them to handle Him, and ate in their presence. They were meeting their living Lord, not merely preserving His memory or interpreting a shared impression as a resurrection.
His risen body was physical and glorified, no longer subject to death. John says Jesus stood among the disciples while the doors were shut, but does not explain how He entered. The passage does not require us to conclude that His body passed through wood. Nor does their initial failure to recognize Him mean that His body was immaterial; His wounds and His invitation to touch Him establish otherwise.
Our hope also includes the resurrection and transformation of the body. Christ is the firstfruits, the beginning of the resurrection harvest. God’s promise for His people reaches beyond continued life after death to the raising of their bodies, patterned after the risen humanity of Jesus.
The Risen Jesus Met Doubt With Witness and Scripture
Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.” So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
Matthew 28:1-10
The women left the tomb with fear and great joy after hearing that Jesus had risen as He promised. They were hurrying to tell the disciples when He met them, and they held His feet and worshiped Him. The Lord they had come to seek among the dead was alive before them, accepting their worship and telling them not to be afraid. Matthew gives us a bodily encounter, with the women’s joy grounded in whom they had actually seen.
Mark 16:9, in the received text, identifies Mary Magdalene as the first person to whom Jesus appeared. John describes her meeting in detail, while Matthew describes an encounter involving a group of women. Neither writer gives every movement of every person that morning. We need not force both descriptions into the same instant in order to receive them together.
Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.'” Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.
John 20:1-18
Mary initially assumed that someone had removed Jesus’ body. After Peter and the other disciple investigated the tomb and went home, she stood outside weeping because she did not know where He had been taken. Even when Jesus spoke to her, she supposed He was the gardener. Then He called her by name, and she recognized Him and answered, “Rabboni,” which John explains means Teacher. Her search for a missing body had brought her face to face with the living Lord.
His words, “Do not cling to Me,” cannot mean that every touch before the ascension was forbidden, because the women in Matthew held His feet and He later invited Thomas to examine His wounds. Jesus gave Mary a message to carry: He was going to the Father. I understand Him to be directing her onward rather than allowing her to hold on as though their former circumstances could simply resume. She was now to tell the disciples that she had seen Him, and John records that she did.
The women were entrusted with resurrection testimony, and Scripture honors their indispensable part in bringing it to the disciples. I would distinguish that witness from the church’s authoritative teaching office of elder, which Scripture assigns to qualified men. Recognizing that distinction should never diminish the testimony Jesus actually gave these women to bear.
Later that day, two other disciples were walking away from Jerusalem with questions the reports from the tomb had not resolved.
Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him. And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?” Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?” And He said to them, “What things?” So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.” Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them. Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.
Luke 24:13-35
Cleopas and his companion explained why they were troubled: Jesus had been crucified, while they had hoped He would redeem Israel. They knew the women had reported an empty tomb and angels announcing that He was alive, but they had not understood how His suffering belonged to God’s promised deliverance. Their eyes were restrained from recognizing the One now walking beside them.
Jesus began with Moses and the Prophets, explaining the Scriptures concerning Himself. He showed these disciples that the Messiah’s suffering belonged to God’s purpose and would be followed by glory. They had to understand His death in light of all that God had said, including the suffering they had not expected. Their hope that He would redeem Israel needed that fuller understanding of Scripture.
They recognized Jesus when He broke the bread, after which He vanished from their sight. Luke does not identify this meal as the Lord’s Supper or say that the bread gave them saving grace, so I would not build a sacramental teaching on their recognition of Him at the table. They returned to Jerusalem that same hour, remembering how their hearts had burned while He opened the Scriptures. When they arrived, they heard that the Lord had also appeared to Simon and added their own testimony.
Luke’s closing passage begins with Jesus appearing to the gathered disciples that evening and carries the account forward to His ascension. Acts supplies the forty-day interval, so the whole passage should not be read as one uninterrupted evening.
Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence. Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.
Luke 24:36-53
At that evening meeting in Jerusalem, the disciples were terrified because they thought they saw a spirit. Jesus showed them His hands and feet and invited them to handle Him, explaining that a spirit does not have flesh and bones as they could see He had. Luke then describes their joy and astonishment as they still struggled to believe what was before them. Jesus asked for food and ate in their presence, giving these frightened disciples further evidence that He was bodily alive.
He also opened their understanding of the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms. They needed more than evidence that He was alive; they needed to understand His suffering and resurrection in the light of Scripture. Repentance and remission of sins, meaning forgiveness, were to be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
John gives further details of that first evening and a second meeting eight days later. Thomas had been absent when Jesus met the gathered disciples the first time, and he would not accept their testimony without examining Jesus’ wounds for himself.
Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
John 20:19-31
Jesus met Thomas’s demand directly. John does not say that Thomas actually touched Him or fell to his knees. Thomas answered His call to believe with the confession, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus accepted that acknowledgment of His deity.
Jesus’ blessing on those who have not seen Him bodily does not commend believing without evidence or without knowing whom we trust. Later believers receive the apostles’ testimony, and John explains why he recorded these signs: readers can believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and have life in His name. I do not need Thomas’s physical encounter in order to receive the witness God preserved through him and the other apostles.
Jesus Restored Peter and Appeared to Many Witnesses
After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Then Jesus said to them, “Children, have you any food?” They answered Him, “No.” And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea. But the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from land, but about two hundred cubits), dragging the net with fish. Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.” Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken. Jesus said to them, “Come and eat breakfast.” Yet none of the disciples dared ask Him, “Who are You?”–knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish. This is now the third time Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was raised from the dead. So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep. Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.”
John 21:1-19
Seven disciples fished through the night at the Sea of Tiberias without catching anything. When they cast the net at Jesus’ direction, they caught 153 large fish, yet the net did not break. I take the number as a detail of the actual catch, consistent with the eyewitness character of John’s account. The passage gives no interpretation that would make it a hidden numerical code.
When the disciples reached the shore, Jesus had bread and fish waiting and invited them to breakfast. He provided a meal for the men who had fished all night before He spoke to Peter about his love and responsibility. His care for them extended to that ordinary need as well as to the remarkable catch.
Peter had denied knowing Jesus three times, and now Jesus asked three times about his love and repeatedly entrusted His sheep to Peter’s care. Peter grieved at the third question, yet Jesus was entrusting His people to him as He called him back to faithful service. I understand this as restoration before his companions, rather than a ritual in which three answers mechanically erased three denials.
That service would be costly. Jesus spoke of Peter being taken where he did not want to go, and John explains that He was indicating the death by which Peter would glorify God. Restoration did not come with a promise of safety or comfort. Knowing what lay ahead, Jesus still said to him, “Follow Me.”
Paul also preserves a summary of resurrection appearances while reminding the Corinthians of the gospel they had received.
Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you–unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
1 Corinthians 15:1-8
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and rose on the third day according to the Scriptures. Paul then names witnesses: Cephas, another name for Peter, followed by the Twelve as an established apostolic group. The designation does not require Judas to have been present.
More than five hundred believers saw Jesus at once, and Paul notes that most were still alive when he wrote. His claim concerned an event with living witnesses who could be consulted. Jesus also appeared to James, His brother, who had not believed during His earthly ministry but later became a leader in Jerusalem. Paul then names an appearance to all the apostles. Scripture does not give us enough information to place every one of these meetings on a precise day.
Some Corinthians were denying bodily resurrection, which would empty their profession of the very event the gospel announces. Paul’s warning about believing in vain calls them back to the message they had received and in which they stand. I do not read it as a threat that a genuinely born-again person can lose the new life Christ has given. A denial of the resurrection attacks the substance of the gospel, and Paul refuses to treat it as an inconsequential difference of opinion.
Paul’s own encounter with the risen Christ occurred later, after the ascension. He includes it here as the basis of his distinct apostolic witness. It does not belong within the forty days or make him Judas’s replacement among the Twelve.
The Risen Lord Taught the Kingdom and Commissioned His Church
During the forty days before His ascension, Jesus prepared His disciples to understand the kingdom and proclaim its King. Their question in Acts 1 was whether He would now restore the kingdom to Israel. Jesus told them that the times and seasons remained under the Father’s authority; He did not deny Israel’s future restoration. I understand His answer to withhold the timing while leaving God’s literal promises to Israel intact.
They would receive the Spirit’s power and bear witness from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. The church neither replaces Israel nor establishes Christ’s promised kingdom through political conquest. Its responsibility is to announce Him and make disciples while awaiting the public reign He will establish. Earlier, at an appointed meeting in Galilee, Jesus had given them the commission Matthew records.
Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Matthew 28:16-20
On the appointed mountain in Galilee, the disciples worshiped Jesus, though Matthew also says some doubted. The verb distazo means to doubt or waver, as Thayer’s entry explains. Matthew neither identifies each doubter nor explains the precise cause of the hesitation. I would not turn his brief statement into a claim that some apostles had become settled opponents of the resurrection.
Jesus came near and declared His authority over heaven and earth. Their mission rested on that authority. They were to make disciples of all nations, baptizing believers in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey all He had commanded.
Making disciples requires us to care about what happens after someone professes faith. Those who believe are to be baptized and taught to obey Christ within the life of His church. Counting decisions while neglecting sound doctrine and continuing instruction leaves that work unfinished. Jesus’ promise to remain with His people through the end of the age gives us reason to persevere in it. Although He ascended bodily into heaven, He continues to work among us through His Spirit and Word.
I receive Mark 16:9-20 as part of the Textus Receptus, or received Greek text, and the Byzantine manuscript tradition. In this passage, Jesus rebukes unbelief, sends His disciples to preach throughout the world, and then is received into heaven. As with Luke’s closing account, Mark brings the commission and ascension together without giving a daily chronology.
Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
Mark 16:14-20
Belief and baptism belong together as faith and its expected public expression. Mark 16:16 names unbelief as the ground of condemnation. It does not teach that water produces salvation. The thief saved beside Jesus had no opportunity for baptism, and Scripture teaches justification through faith apart from works. We should obey the command to baptize believers without making baptism the means by which they are born again.
The accompanying signs confirmed the word as the apostles carried it outward. These descriptions do not command believers to handle snakes or drink poison as a test of faith. I believe the gifts of the Spirit continue, but that does not mean every believer must perform a miracle to prove that he belongs to Christ. The tongues were actual spoken languages, and they are not required of every Christian. We must test claims about spiritual gifts by Scripture rather than accept an impressive claim as proof of the Spirit’s work.
Before beginning the witness Jesus had assigned them, the apostles were to remain in Jerusalem for the Father’s promise. John had baptized with water, but they would shortly be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Pentecost fulfilled that promise in the public beginning of the church. Their responsibility was to obey and wait for what God had promised; no private technique could produce the Spirit’s coming.
Every true believer is indwelt and sealed by the Holy Spirit at salvation. He is a divine Person who gives new life and empowers obedience, and we should seek His filling as we submit to His written Word. We do not need a second experience to become saved or establish that we belong to Christ. A strong feeling, however memorable, cannot take the place of understanding and believing the gospel.
The Bodily Ascension Established Christ’s Present Ministry
Before Pentecost, the disciples watched Jesus depart from the Mount of Olives. Luke places His departure as far as Bethany, while Acts says they returned from the Mount of Olives. Bethany lies on the eastern side of that mount, so the descriptions fit naturally together. Neither book identifies a modern shrine or gives the exact spot from which He ascended.
Jesus lifted His hands and blessed the disciples. While they watched, He was taken up and a cloud received Him from their sight. The same Lord who had shown His wounds and eaten with them was ascending bodily into heaven. This was an event they witnessed, not a metaphor for His influence continuing after death.
The cloud recalls the scriptural pattern of God’s presence at Sinai, the tabernacle, the temple, and the Transfiguration. Daniel 7 also portrays the Son of Man coming with clouds to receive dominion. Those connections are fitting to Christ’s glory, but they do not explain the cloud as a vehicle or map the geography of heaven. The messengers directed the disciples toward Jesus’ promised return and the responsibilities He had given them.
The disciples worshiped Jesus and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, continuing together in prayer as they awaited the Father’s promise. Their response fits what had happened: Jesus had not been taken from them by death again. He had risen, blessed them, and gone to the Father as He said He would.
The eternal Son did not become divine at the ascension or leave His humanity behind. In the incarnation He took human nature, becoming fully man while remaining fully God. He rose and ascended as the God-man, and His humanity was not a temporary condition that ended when He returned to the Father. He remains our one Mediator, the One through whom we approach the Father.
His sacrifice for sin was complete, but His ministry to His people continues. From heaven He reigns, sends the promised Spirit, intercedes for believers, and supplies what they need as He builds His church. Peter explained the connection between Christ’s exaltation and the Spirit’s coming at Pentecost.
This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”‘ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
Acts 2:32-36
Peter announced that the crucified Jesus had been raised and exalted to God’s right hand. He used Psalm 110 to identify Him as the Lord whose enemies would become His footstool. The right hand expresses supreme honor and authority; it does not make the Son a lesser deity. Father and Son remain distinct Persons, co-equal within the one God.
When Peter says God “made” Jesus Lord and Christ, he is speaking of the incarnate Son’s exaltation to His promised messianic rule. The Father did not create the Son or make Him divine at Pentecost, for the Son is eternally God. Peter is announcing that the Jesus whom his hearers had crucified now holds the place of honor and authority promised in the Psalm. God has publicly declared and installed the crucified and risen Jesus as the Lord and Messiah Peter proclaims.
Christ’s present session means His position of rule at the Father’s right hand. He is Lord and Christ now, even while we await His public reign on earth. The church therefore serves under His authority, whatever strength an earthly ruler may possess. Rulers can oppose His people, but neither they, death, nor demonic powers can remove Him from that position. His endless life also means that His priestly ministry can never be cut short by death, as Hebrews explains.
Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.
Hebrews 7:23-28
Paul, the author of Hebrews, contrasts priests whose service ended at death with Jesus, who lives forever. His priesthood is permanent and does not pass to a successor. The wording is explained in Thayer’s entry for aparabatos. Because He always lives to intercede for those who come to God through Him, He saves them completely.
Intercession is Christ’s continuing ministry on behalf of those who come to God through Him. It does not mean that the cross was insufficient or that He must offer another sacrifice in heaven. Our holy High Priest offered Himself once for all, and we depend on that completed sacrifice and His endless life. Other believers can pray for us, but no saint, earthly priest, or religious institution can share or replace His unique work as our Mediator.
The Ascended Jesus Will Gather His Church and Return to Rule
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Paul addresses believers who are grieving for those who have died, and his comfort is that death will not exclude their loved ones in Christ from His coming. The Lord Himself will descend from heaven, the dead in Christ will rise first, and living believers will be caught up together with them to meet Him in the air. Their hope rests on what Jesus will do: raise His people, bring them together, and keep them with Him forever. Paul does not forbid their sorrow; he gives them a reason to grieve with hope.
The phrase “sleep in Jesus” refers to believers whose bodies have died. It does not teach that the person has ceased to exist consciously between death and resurrection. The believer is with Christ while awaiting the resurrection and transformation of the body.
I understand Scripture to place this gathering before the literal seven-year Tribulation. At this gathering, believers meet the Lord in the air; His later visible return brings Him to earth to rule. I distinguish these events within the prophetic order, while recognizing that the same bodily Lord is central to both. Revelation describes the public return with the clouds in terms that reach beyond the gathering of His church.
Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
Revelation 1:7
After the Tribulation, Christ will return bodily and visibly with clouds. Every eye will see Him, and the nations will face the pierced King as He overthrows rebellious power. He will establish His literal thousand-year reign on earth. That promised rule cannot be reduced to the church’s present influence, an inward spiritual experience, or a program of social improvement.
The messengers in Acts promised the return of the same Jesus in the manner the disciples saw Him go. That bodily Lord will come from heaven. He will neither be reincarnated nor be replaced by an institution, and His promised return cannot be reduced to a symbol for His continuing influence.
The question, “Why do you stand gazing?” sent the witnesses back to His instructions. They were to return to Jerusalem, wait for the Spirit, and then testify. It did not forbid hope in His return or careful study of prophecy. They needed to obey what He had told them rather than remain on the hillside staring.
That obedience continues in the church as we worship and pray together, grow in holiness, show mercy, and carry the gospel to others. When people believe, we baptize them and teach what Christ commanded. Patient teaching and care for others are part of how we wait for Him. Setting dates or pursuing sensational claims about clouds draws our attention away from what He has told us to do.
The message we carry rests on the work of the eternal Son, fully God and fully man, born of a virgin and without sin. He willingly gave Himself to be slain as the perfect sacrifice for our sins; His atonement rests on His perfection and that sacrifice. Wicked men inflicted real bodily suffering as they tortured and crucified Him, and He shed His innocent blood and died. His saving sacrifice through His blood and death was complete before His burial, and He then rose bodily from the dead. The Father did not punish, curse, abandon, strike, bruise, or pour wrath on Jesus; Father and Son remained united in redemption. His resurrection vindicates His identity and shows that death did not defeat Him.
The risen Lord sent His witnesses to the nations because His saving provision is for the whole world. God’s offer is genuine, though people can resist His grace and reject Him. Everyone who repents and believes is forgiven and justified, meaning declared righteous before God. Through regeneration, or genuine new birth, that person is made new, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and sealed as eternally secure. Obedience follows as evidence of that new life; it neither earns salvation nor keeps us saved. Security gives no permission for lawlessness, and an empty profession does not establish that someone has been born again. Baptism follows salvation as a public identification with Christ’s death and resurrection, which is why the church baptizes those who believe the message it proclaims.
My Final Thoughts
The witnesses who first struggled to believe that Jesus had risen were given repeated encounters with Him and an understanding of the Scriptures they would proclaim. Peter was restored to service, but he was also told that following Jesus would cost him his life. I need to receive their testimony with that seriousness. The Lord they saw is bodily alive in heaven, interceding for His people and directing His church. I can wait confidently for Him to gather us and return to rule, while giving my attention to the people who need His gospel now. His ascension leaves us with work to do under His authority and with His promised presence.
When Jesus called fishermen to become “fishers of men,” He joined a command to a promise. They were to follow Him, and He would prepare them for work they had not yet learned to do. I need to keep that order in view when thinking about evangelism, because learning how to get a response from people can never take the place of following Christ.
Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Matthew 4:19, NKJV
Follow Me, and I Will Make You
Peter and Andrew were casting a net into the Sea of Galilee when Jesus called them. Nearby, James and John were in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending nets. Their boats and nets were the tools of a demanding trade that provided their income. Jesus was calling them to leave that work and follow Him. Matthew records Peter and Andrew’s response:
They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
Matthew 4:20, NKJV
Mark 1:16–20 records the same immediate response. They followed before they had become experienced teachers or understood everything Jesus would require of them. His command “Follow Me” meant coming under His authority and learning from Him. A disciple trusts the Lord enough to let Him direct his life, including the work he does for Him.
These men were called to leave their work for direct training with Jesus. We should not turn that particular summons into a demand that every believer resign from a job or abandon family responsibilities. The New Testament expects Christians to work responsibly and provide for their households, and some of these disciples later fished again. Christ’s claim on our lives means that our responsibilities must be carried out under His authority; we cannot reserve obedience for the occasions when it does not interfere with our plans.
Luke 5 describes a related encounter at the Lake of Gennesaret, another name for the Sea of Galilee. Jesus taught the crowd from Simon Peter’s boat, then told him to go into deeper water and let down the nets. Simon had worked all night without catching anything, but he agreed to lower the net because Jesus had spoken.
The catch was so great that the net began to break. The fishermen signaled to their partners in the other boat for help, and both boats filled until they began to sink. Astonished at the catch, Peter fell at Jesus’ knees, confessed that he was a sinful man, and asked Him to depart.
And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.”
Luke 5:10, NKJV
The Greek verb zogreo means to catch or take alive. In this setting, Jesus was commissioning Peter to gather people to Him through His message. Peter had confessed his sin, and Jesus answered with “Do not be afraid” before speaking about the work ahead. The man who would tell others about the Lord’s mercy needed that mercy himself.
Jesus’ promise “I will make you” also explains who would prepare the disciples. The Greek poieo is a common verb meaning to make or do; here Jesus promises to make these followers ready for their new work. They were responsible to follow, but they were not expected to equip themselves independently of Him.
Their preparation included correction. The Gospels describe their arguments over who was greatest, their fear during storms, and their difficulty understanding Jesus’ coming death. They scattered under pressure, and Peter denied knowing Him. Even after those failures, the risen Lord restored Peter and continued preparing His followers for service. We do not have to be naturally fearless or have an answer to every possible question before we can serve Christ.
What It Means to Fish for People
Fishing provides the illustration for the mission, but it gives us no right to treat people as prey or as trophies for a ministry. They bear God’s image, and Christ died for them. The purpose of our witness is to bring them to Him, rather than to make a messenger look successful.
Some Old Testament fishing passages concern judgment, where people are caught and carried away. In Matthew 4, however, Jesus is announcing the kingdom, calling people to repent, and gathering disciples. We need to understand His invitation in that setting. His followers would proclaim the message through which sinners could be rescued, not hunt people down to punish them.
I think it is dishonest to promise someone benefits the gospel does not offer, or to conceal the cost of following Jesus in order to secure a profession of faith. We should explain the truth and invite a person to believe it. Emotional pressure may get someone to say what we want to hear, but it cannot give him new life in Christ.
The dragnet in Matthew 13 makes a different point. A large net gathered different kinds of fish, which the fishermen brought ashore and sorted. Jesus used that catch to describe a final separation.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
Matthew 13:47-50, NKJV
The net gathers “some of every kind,” and the final separation belongs to the angels at the end of the age. I understand the mixed catch as a picture of the visible response during this age: not everyone who is gathered into religious activity belongs to Christ. A crowd can include sincere believers and people who remain unconverted. The parable gives us no basis for treating the size of a gathering as proof of spiritual life.
Churches still have a duty to test teaching and examine conduct where Scripture requires it. That responsibility does not make us the judges of someone’s final destiny. God knows the heart, and our work in evangelism must remain under His direction.
The warning also requires us to take the final fate of unbelievers seriously. Revelation 20 places their bodily resurrection and judgment at the Great White Throne after Christ’s thousand-year reign. Those condemned are cast into the Lake of Fire, which Scripture calls the second death. I understand this as the irreversible destruction of the human body and soul, with no eventual restoration to God. Human beings do not possess an inherently immortal soul, though the dead are conscious while awaiting resurrection; final destruction should not be confused with soul sleep. Revelation 20:10 specifically describes endless torment for the devil, the beast, and the false prophet. I do not apply that particular statement about those three to every lost human being.
We cannot faithfully proclaim Jesus while concealing His warning about judgment. That warning makes the invitation urgent, but urgency does not give me permission to coerce someone. I am speaking to a person who needs the Savior, as I do, and should be concerned for his good even if he refuses to listen.
The Gospel Is the Net
We gather people to Christ by proclaiming His gospel. Paul reminded the Corinthians of the message he had received and delivered to them.
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
1 Corinthians 15:3-4, NKJV
Jesus is the eternal Son, fully God and fully man, who lived without sin. He voluntarily gave Himself to be slain as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Wicked people tortured and crucified Him, and He willingly shed His blood and died to redeem us. Father and Son acted in unity; the Father did not punish, curse, abandon, strike, bruise, or pour wrath on Jesus. Christ completed His saving work through His blood and death before His burial and bodily resurrection on the third day.
Inviting someone to become a better person does not tell him why Christ died or how he can be reconciled to God. A warm welcome into a church or an emotional religious experience cannot replace that explanation. We need to explain who Jesus is and what He has done, then call people to Him in repentance and faith.
Christ died for the whole world, so God’s offer is genuine for every person. I reject limited atonement, the claim that His sacrifice was made only for a select group. People can resist His grace and finally reject Him, but everyone who repents and believes in Jesus is forgiven and born again. God makes that believer a new creation, and the Holy Spirit indwells and seals him for the day of redemption.
Salvation is received by grace through faith. Works, religious rituals, and family heritage cannot purchase it. Genuine believers are eternally secure because God keeps those He has saved, though that assurance gives no permission to live in lawlessness. A profession of faith or an immediate response does not by itself establish that someone has been born again. We should see evidence of the new creation in how a believer lives, with obedience following salvation rather than earning or preserving it.
Paul calls those entrusted with this message ambassadors for Christ. An ambassador represents the one who sent him and has no right to invent a different message to suit the audience.
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.
2 Corinthians 5:20, NKJV
Reconciliation is needed because sin has separated people from God. God has provided the remedy through His Son, and His messengers plead for people to receive it. We are asking them to turn to the Savior, not merely add Christianity to their existing preferences. Honest care for practical needs should accompany that message, but it cannot take the message’s place.
Romans 10 explains why speaking is necessary. Paul describes Israel’s need for righteousness by faith and says that whoever calls on the Lord will be saved. But a person cannot call in faith on someone he has not heard about.
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
Romans 10:14, NKJV
The preacher is the person announcing the message, not necessarily someone standing behind a pulpit. A believer may explain the gospel to a neighbor, answer a relative’s questions over a meal, or speak with a coworker during a break. A consistent life makes those words more credible, while hypocrisy gives people reason to distrust the messenger. Our conduct alone cannot explain Christ’s death for sins and bodily resurrection. People need to hear the truth as well as see its effect in us.
Witnesses Under Christ’s Authority
The disciples were to carry Christ’s message while continuing to depend on Him. On the night before His death, Jesus explained that dependence by comparing them to branches joined to a vine.
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
John 15:4, NKJV
To abide in Christ is to remain dependent on Him, receiving His word and continuing to obey it. A branch cannot manufacture its own life, and we cannot produce spiritual fruit independently of the Lord. We need His word and prayer as we serve, rather than assume that experience has made us capable of doing His work without Him.
If my main concern is getting a response that makes me look successful, I have begun using the work to serve myself. I need Christ to correct that motive as well as teach me what to say. Dependence on Him should produce concern for the people before me and give me courage when speaking truth brings opposition.
After His resurrection, Jesus commissioned His followers to make disciples among all nations. He grounded that mission in His authority.
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”
Matthew 28:18-19, NKJV
We go because the risen Lord commands us, not because Christians are superior to their neighbors. His commission includes baptizing believers as a public identification with Him and teaching disciples to obey His commands. We are to help people learn to follow Jesus, with care that continues beyond their first response to the gospel.
Acts 1:8 promised power when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples so that they could bear witness to Christ. He empowers believers to speak and works through the truth they proclaim. Preparation and careful answers serve that work, but we cannot make a person spiritually alive by becoming more persuasive. We need the Spirit’s work in the person hearing the gospel as well as His help in speaking it.
Faithful Work While God Gives Life
Depending on God does not relieve us of the work He has given us. Fishermen prepared their nets, went out, and labored even when the catch was poor. We need to learn the gospel well enough to explain it, pray for opportunities, and notice people already near us. Listening to someone’s actual question will serve him better than rushing through a presentation that does not address it.
We can also admit when we do not know an answer. Pretending to understand a passage or a person’s grief will do him no good. We can take time to look carefully at Scripture, continue the conversation, and offer practical care while doing so. Being willing to listen does not weaken the message we have been entrusted to speak.
In 2 Timothy 2:24–26, Paul tells the Lord’s servant to be gentle and able to teach. He is to correct opponents with humility and patience, looking to God to grant them repentance. A quarrelsome spirit does not help that work. If I humiliate someone and win an argument, that victory does not mean I have brought him to Christ. I need to explain the truth without treating the person who resists it as an enemy I am entitled to despise.
Jesus had compassion on crowds who were weary and scattered like sheep without a shepherd. Knowing that judgment is real should deepen that concern in us. We can speak frankly about sin without taking pleasure in sounding severe. The person we are addressing is someone God loves and someone Christ died for.
Sometimes we explain the gospel clearly and see no visible response. We may pray for a person for a long time before he is willing to talk. That does not prove the work was wasted. One believer may sow and another water before anyone sees the result, and a conversation may leave a person considering Scripture long after we have parted.
I cannot measure everything God is doing by what happens before the conversation ends. Nor should I respond to disappointment by applying more pressure the next time. Our responsibility is to speak faithfully, invite people to repent and believe, and continue caring about them. The Lord who forms His witnesses is also the One who gives new life.
My Final Thoughts
Jesus’ words still hold command and promise together: “Follow Me, and I will make you.” I need to keep learning from Him so that both my message and the way I deliver it reflect the Lord I represent. We can speak openly because Christ died for the whole world, and we can remain patient because we are not able to produce the new birth ourselves. If you feel inadequate, learn His gospel and be ready to speak when an opportunity comes. You do not have to become a different personality before you can faithfully tell someone about the Savior.
