Following Easter: What Now?

Now that we are five days post-Easter, I’m wondering where you may find yourself emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. I think we would all agree that the Passion Week, culminating with the grand celebration of Easter, is a spiritual supercharge. Because of this you may be experiencing a bit of a slump now that it’s over, much like you might when returning from a spiritual retreat, a lovely vacation, a family reunion, or even a honeymoon. After weeks of preparation, build up, and excitement, Easter has once again come and gone. It’s at this point you may find yourself considering, what now?

After the Resurrection

After the resurrection Jesus remained on the earth an additional 40 days. During this time He made many unannounced appearances before His final departure from earth. His disciples didn’t question, but rather welcomed His impromptu visits. At the same time, they were understandably perplexed, still grasping to comprehend the otherworldly sequence of events that they had recently experienced. I think it’s worth considering the enormous emotional roller coaster the followers of Jesus rode for 40+ straight days! This tortuous ride began with Jesus’s betrayal and arrest, plummeted with His crucifixion, soared with His breathtaking resurrection, and came to a final stop with His ascension.

Put yourself in the sandals of these folks for even a moment. Can you even imagine how overwhelming this would be? On the one hand, I would guess Jesus’s friends were elated. After all, He was in fact alive! They saw Him, touched, ate, and talked with Him! It was truly more than they had hoped or dreamed, but now He was gone again, and they had no idea when He would return. In light of this, I think it’s fair to assume that at this point Jesus’s followers were also considering, what now?

Final Words

The truth is Jesus had clearly addressed the What Now? for His followers. For three years He’d been faithfully training, teaching, molding, and preparing His disciples to continue His mission in His absence. But, in all fairness, He shared many things with His disciples, most of which were confusing as they were not capable of understanding. In just a short number of days however, ten to be exact, they would receive a promised Gift that would empower their comprehension and mobilize them to action.

However, in this moment as Jesus prepared to return to heaven, His followers were emotionally drained, somewhat anxious, and absolutely clueless. And just when they thought they couldn’t possibly see, hear, or experience anything more astonishing than they already had, Jesus commissioned His disciples with a massive assignment. Then having shared these final words, He lifted from the earth as His followers stood together watching Him ascend into the clouds.

The Great Commission

This massive assignment, widely known as The Great Commission, is recorded in all four gospels and the book of Acts. Although the wording is somewhat varied in each book, the assignment is still quite clear. In essence, the assignment, better understood as a mission, is for every follower of Jesus to share His Good News, a.k.a. The Gospel, with the whole world. I think we would all agree this would be a lot to digest.

Perhaps like the early disciples receiving this mandate, you too are pondering what this truly means and how it’s practically lived out. It’s interesting to note that neither the Father nor the Son provides a whole lot of details when fielding assignments. Typically, They simply provide an initial directive, followed by divine daily instruction regarding how to fulfill the assigned task most effectively and successfully. This requires faith, surrender, and trusting dependence for every individual receiving an assignment.

The Great Promise/The Priestly Prayer

If we were left on our own to carry out our corporate and individual mission, we would have legitimate reason to cower and shrink back. However, this is simply not true. Instead, included in Scripture are many amazing prophetic promises (and one in particular regarding the Great Commission) that fuels confidence and provides empowerment. On top of that, we have an actual recording of Jesus’s intercessory prayer offered on behalf of all believers; and this includes us.

First the Promise…

As I consider the promise included in Jesus’s commission, I realize that the promise “to be with us always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20) far outweighs the assignment. What could possibly be more assuring than knowing the God of the Universe is continually with us? We are never, as in not even one nanosecond, alone. God did not leave us to journey through life on our own, nor to accomplish our life assignments apart from Him. Instead, He invites us into a dependent relationship with Him through the act of abiding (John 15:4-5) and He promises to work through us faithfully and fruitfully.

Next the Prayer…

Jesus’s prayer is just as breathtaking as His promise. If anyone had the Father’s ear, it was Jesus. He even thanked His Father publicly through prayer for always hearing Him (John 11:41). I have specific people in my life that I call upon when I need prayer. These are people that love me, love God, and believe He answers prayer. I trust and hope you have people like this in your life as well. But even if you don’t and if I didn’t, how radically amazing it is to realize that we were included in Jesus’s prayer for all believers. Moreover, we are assured through Scripture that He continually offers prayers on our behalf to His Father (Hebrews 7:25). I don’t know about you, but I think I just held my head a bit higher in godly courage and confidence!

God Works Through Us

Now that we understand the Great Commission is the collective assignment for every believer and the mission field is the entire world, our next consideration must be how this is accomplished. While the gospel message is unchanging, the way, where, and how we share it is uniquely different. This has always been the plan of God.

He chooses and uses ordinary people like the early disciples and like you and me. As our relationship with Him continues to flourish, He reveals His good plan and purpose for our lives. This empowers and releases us to share the good news with others.

It’s truly that simple, but this doesn’t mean it’s easy. If sharing the gospel were easy, we would be tempted to work apart from God, which is never a good thing. Instead, we turn from a posture of trying to a position of relying, and as we place our full trust in God, He works His through us to accomplish His will (Philippians 2:13).

Getting Started

I would have to say that beginning anything new, or restarting something that has been dormant for a while is the hardest part; at least it is for me. But the truth is without a start, there can be no finish of which I am certain we all agree. And this leads me to my final thought, more specifically exhortation, regarding getting started in Jesus’s massive mission. And the exhortation is simply this, Go! But this isn’t my charge. Rather this was the charge spoken by Jesus before He ascended to heaven. And this is the same charge that Jesus continues to speak to all believers in every generation. Go therefore!

So, if perhaps you’ve found yourself considering What Now? in the afterglow of Easter, wonder no longer. You’ve been commissioned with a God-sized, God-glorifying mission that is unique to your calling, location, and influence, and this begins with a willingness to go. Go into your communities, your offices, your fitness centers, schools, grocery stores, board meetings, Zoom calls, Little League bleachers, and PTA meetings. Go, and as you go, share God’s love, share His Truth, shine His Light, and be His witness.

And as we each commit to living on mission with Jesus like this, one day at a time, one person at a time, the good news of the gospel will eventually be carried to the whole world and the Great Commission will be fulfilled.

Remember you already possess everything in this world you could possibly need to be successful in God’s mission. You have Jesus. You are equipped. You are called and you are empowered. So, Go.

Extend grace to others! If you’ve been encouraged, strengthened, or edified by this week’s post, please consider sharing Grace Notes For You with a friend.

Reflect

In what ways does knowing that you are included in Jesus’s Great Commission mandate impact the way you live your life and the decisions you make?

Encourage

Share your response to this discussion prompt with others this week HERE.

Share a personal experience from the recent celebration of Passion Week leading to Easter where you were encouraged, challenged, or inspired.

Pray

Amazing Father, we are so grateful for all you have done for us. The fact that you care to know us, choose to love us, and call us your children is more than we could ever hope, think, or imagine. It is a privilege to be commissioned by You for kingdom work. We recognize that this is not something we can accomplish on our own and we thank you we don’t have to. Thank you for empowering, equipping, and calling us to carry your gospel. We humbly accept your invitation, and so we will Go.

All Glory to Jesus, Amen.

Worship

Casting Crowns – Nobody ft. Matthew West