After the beautiful Passion Week that began with the celebration of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, followed by the remembrance of His sacrificial death on the cross and finally climaxing with the wonder and awe of His miraculous resurrection from the dead, it’s possible you’re wondering what next and what now. It’s not at all uncommon to experience a bit of a spiritual low following the holy high of Easter. That being said, the truth is the celebration of Easter and all that it symbolizes is not relegated to merely a yearly holiday observance, but rather serves as a continual reminder of all that belief in Christ represents. For believers in Jesus, much more than a religious ritual or a yearly holiday, the reality of Easter is a paramount teaching of the Christian faith.

 

Jesus’ entire earthly ministry was devoted to teaching the principles of the Kingdom of God and discipleship. In the same manner that the Son modeled obedience to the Father through selfless living, sacrificial serving, and unconditional love, Jesus was now instructing His followers to do likewise with the charge of carrying His gospel to the world. In the week leading to His crucifixion, and over a period of forty days prior to His ascension, Jesus continued his mission with heightened focus, preparing His followers with final instructions regarding life on earth and ministry in His physical absence. The principle teachings and kingdom mission that Jesus entrusted to His disciples over 2,000 years ago are the very same ones He has entrusted to His followers today. Following the reality of all that is true and beautiful regarding everything Easter represents, we as believers in Christ have been commanded and commissioned to carry out His work by continuing with the following.

 

 

Communion

 

On the night before His death, Jesus spent quality time with His disciples in a private room he secured for their meeting. This time alone with his friends was not intended solely for touch time, but for more significantly teach time. As Jesus led His disciples through the ritual of the traditional supper, He symbolically revealed Himself as the sacrificial Passover Lamb.

 

“And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body, which is being given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup, which is poured out for you, is the new covenant in My blood.’”
Luke 22:19-20 NASB2020

 

 

Although His disciples did not understand the significance of this act or the reality of Jesus’ words in that moment, later they would understand and would honor and remember Jesus by sharing this covenant meal together. And disciples of Jesus continue to remember Him through the act of communion today.

 

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
1 Corinthians 11:26 NASB2020

 

 

Serving

 

On that same night during the Passover meal, Jesus arose from the supper table, wrapped a towel around his waist, picked up a basin of water, and in a posture of true humility, washed the feet of every disciple present. This demonstration of love was extraordinarily striking when considering that Jesus was washing the feet of one of who would betray him, one who would deny Him, and the remaining who would abandon Him in His darkest hour. And being fully aware of all of this and, even in spite of this, in a display of astonishing agape love, Jesus washed the feet of His disciples. After every disciple had been served by their rabbi, teacher and friend, Jesus spoke these words to His friends:

 

“So if I, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example, so that you also would do just as I did for you.”
John 13:14-15 NASB2020

 

And these very same words continue to inspire his disciples today.

 

 

Loving

 

And finally, following the Passover meal on the night before His crucifixion, Jesus instituted a new commandment. 

 

“I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.””
John 13:34-35 NASB2020

 

Although the first century Jewish disciples would have been well trained in the greatest commandment recorded in the Mosaic law, this new covenant, unlike the first, recognized loving others as equally important as loving God. The disciples of Jesus were called to love one another as a witness to the world, and this same calling is applicable to disciples of Jesus today.

 

“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us.”
1 John 4:11-12 NASB2020

 

 

Fruitfulness

 

In the gospel of John, Jesus instructs his disciples by way of an illustration. In this teaching Jesus paints a picture of Himself as the vine, His Father as the vine dresser and His followers are described as branches. Through use of analogy Jesus stresses the extreme importance of His followers (the branches) remaining connected to him, (the vine) as the sole pathway to fruitful living. In addition, Jesus reminds his followers of additional critical pieces of information regarding fruitfulness.

 

“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He (The Father) takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”
John 15:2 NASB2020

 

“…Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me.”
John 15:4 NASB2020

 

“I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5 NASB2020

 

“My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”
John 15:8 NASB2020

 

And Jesus’ words continue to exhort His followers towards fruitful living today.

 

“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain…”
John 15:16 NASB2020

 

 

Praying

 

Prayer for Jesus was not an activity (something you do), a religious duty (something you have to do), or a public spectacle (something you do to be seen). Rather prayer for Jesus was how he consistently lived and how he practically survived. Continuous communion with His Father was Jesus’ sole lifeline while on Earth. In addition to times alone with His Abba, Jesus spent quality and quantity time praying with and for his disciples, instructing them in the ways of prayer and leaving them with a model to follow. (See Matthew 6:9-13.)

 

This being said, it should then be of no surprise that during the Passion Week and following the resurrection, prayer continued to be a top priority in the life of the Messiah.

 

 

Jesus taught His disciples to:

 

 

• Pray in His Name

 

 

 

“And whatever you ask in My name, this I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”
John 14:13-14 NASB2020

 

 

• Pray in Faith

 

 

 

“And Jesus answered and *said to them, “Have faith in God. Therefore, I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you.”
Mark 11:22, 24 NASB2020

 

 

• Pray against Temptation

 

 

 

“Keep watching and praying, so that you do not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Matthew 26:41 NASB2020 (see also Luke 22:40)

 

 

• Pray for God’s Will

 

 

 

“And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, ‘Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.’”
Luke 22:41-42 NASB2020

 

 

• Pray to Forgive

 

 

 

“And whenever you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you for your offenses.”
Mark 11:25 NASB2020

 

And from the Cross, Jesus modeled the ultimate prayer of forgiveness.

 

“Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
Luke 23:34 NASB2020

 

 

Witnessing and Discipleship

 

After Jesus’ resurrection, He extended His earthly ministry for an additional forty days. During this time he visited disciples (always unannounced), restored a broken relationship with a guilt-ridden disciple, walked and talked with two seekers on the Emmaus road, encouraged a doubting friend, and even visited (also unannounced) groups totaling in the hundreds.

 

And finally, before Jesus ascended to heaven, He commissioned His disciples, both in the present and in the future, by entrusting them with His great work of advancing the Kingdom of God.

 

“And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”
Mark 16:15 NASB2020

 

 

And included in this charge is a most beautiful, empowering, eternal promise:

 

“…behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””
Matthew 28:20 NASB2020

 

 

In closing, I am reminded that the mega-mission that Jesus entrusted to His disciples was one they would never be able to accomplish on their own. Jesus, being fully aware of all things, already had a plan in place to send His Spirit to empower His friends to do the work of the Kingdom. Ten days after Jesus’s ascension to heaven, His Holy Spirit descended upon His disciples as they were meeting together, waiting for the gift that had been promised them. Immediately upon receiving the Holy Spirit, the disciples were filled with power (dunamis), spiritual boldness, and a holy confidence. On this historical day in the early church, the words that Jesus had previously spoken over His disciples were now fully realized. And these same life-giving words continue to empower disciples of Jesus today.

 

“…but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.””
Acts 1:8 NASB2020

 

 

My dear friends, I pray that now, following Easter, you will continue to be inspired, encouraged and strengthened, fully aware that God’s presence is with you, and depending on His Spirit to work through you.

 

 

Blessings,

 

Carol

 

 

“Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I am going to the Father.”
John 14:12 NASB2020