#57: Where Is Jesus Now and Why Does It Matter?

This week we ask the question that follows Easter morning: if Jesus is truly risen, where is he now and what is he doing. We walk through Acts 1 and Peter’s Pentecost sermon to see how the resurrection leads to the ascension, the sending of the Holy Spirit, and a king who reigns through gospel witness.
• Easter and the “now what” question after the resurrection
• Acts 1 and forty days of convincing proofs
• why the disciples struggle to imagine resurrection categories
• the kingdom of God as Jesus’ post-resurrection focus
• the command to wait in Jerusalem for the Father’s promise
• the Holy Spirit as power for witness rather than political takeover
• the ascension and the promise that Jesus will return
• Pentecost as the public outpouring of the Spirit
• Peter’s claim that death could not hold Jesus
• Psalm 16 as Scripture pointing to resurrection
• Psalm 110 and Jesus exalted at God’s right hand
• Christ reigning now and advancing his kingdom through the church

Transcript

Easter Question After The Resurrection

SPEAKER_02 0:03

Welcome to Be on the Pulpit. Exploring the life and ministry of Walnut Creek Church downtown. Walnut Creek Church exists to glorify God by making authentic disciples of Jesus Christ who love and worship him in all they do. Well, alright, welcome to Beyond the Pulpit. My name is Derek Wadley, and I'm joined here by Lou Cookie. Hey everyone. And Dan Root. Good morning, everybody. And this last weekend was Easter weekend, Resurrection Sunday. That's right. It is dope. Just such a wonderful time. You know, uh, as a church, we we look at the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus often. Um, it's good to take a special season to really emphasize it. Um, but there's there's a question that comes with uh the resurrection is like, okay, Jesus rose. So so now what happens after the resurrection?

SPEAKER_01 0:52

That's a good question. You know, there's a you know, it the natural question you would ask is if he rose from the dead and he's alive, okay, does he continue to live to today? I mean, what's how does this work? Because I I think when I was a kid, I wouldn't have said it like this, but I I think I I thought that Jesus rose from the dead and then he died again, and then he went to heaven, and he's in heaven because he like died. Like lived another 40 years or something like that. He lived to be, you know, 93 years old. That's right. And then he died or something, you know, like I obviously no one taught me that, but but just kind of the way I abs I absorbed information. I know what I thought. Yeah, it's like I'm like out of the policy.

SPEAKER_02 1:42

I had no thoughts.

Forty Days Of Convincing Proofs

SPEAKER_01 1:42

Yeah, because it's kind of like if he rose from the dead and he okay, where is he then? If you mean because if he's if he's alive from the dead, then shouldn't you be able to like go visit him? You know, talk to him, go talk with him. Yeah, I mean, seriously, like where where is he? And so I think I just kind of assumed, okay, he lived, he died, he rose again, and then he died again. You know, it's like then he went to heaven, that's he's in heaven now. Um but that's not what the Bible teaches. So uh so if he's alive, then where is he? Um because we we believe in a uh a risen living savior. That's why Peter calls our hope a living hope. You know, because our hope is Christ who's alive. So Acts chapter one, the book of Acts continues the story after the resurrection of Jesus. And um it says in verse one, I wrote the first narrative, that's the gospel of Luke. So Luke is writing this. I wrote the first narrative, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach. So it's not the complete list, it's the he started to do and teach. Until the day he was taken up, after he had given instructions to the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen, after he had suffered, he also presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. Now that sounds awesome.

SPEAKER_02 3:07

Yeah, yep.

SPEAKER_01 3:09

He spent a lot of time just talking about that. That's some good stuff. Yeah, he spent so he spent 40 days with his disciples, and what is he doing over the course of 40 days? He's providing many convincing proofs. Yep. Now, why did he need to do that? Because there was still doubt among skeptics. Uh among the disciples. Yeah. Yeah. And you see that in Matthew 28. Um, I think it's verse 16. It says, when when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. And so he he just he's continuing to to prove I'm alive. He's like, Is that a is that a fish sandwich? Give it to me. I'm gonna eat it. And then uh um, you know, is that a glass of water? I'm gonna drink it. He's like, Touch my body, you know, look at my wounds that have healed, I'm alive. Put your hand in my side. You know, when they saw him, uh remember their first reaction when they saw him? It says, I believe it's in the Gospel of Luke. They say it's a ghost. Yeah, it's a ghost. He's like, No, no, no, ghosts don't have flesh and John. Yeah. Is it John? Is it John? Yeah, yeah. I it might be John. I don't remember. It's in one of the gospels.

SPEAKER_02 4:16

This is just a lesson that we're always, always learning. Lifelong learning.

SPEAKER_01 4:23

Yeah, it's a ghost. It's a ghost. I mean, I understand. Yeah, I would have thought the same thing too. And so they're there, they were predisposed to not believing in the resurrection. So in their calculation, they said it's more likely that there's a ghost than he's actually.

SPEAKER_00 4:36

Shows that he had just deep-seated their own paradigm of the Messiah was. Like they just still, no matter what, even they couldn't they they didn't have a uh the category of the resurrection, totally the death and resurrection of the Messiah.

SPEAKER_01 4:51

Totally. And I think that's important because uh many people present the resurrection of Jesus. Why do people believe in it? Well, it's because they just wanted to believe in it so badly, they willed themselves into believing something that didn't make any sense. Right. You know, it's kind of like uh I'm gonna will myself into believing that carbs do not taste good. Carbs do not taste good, carbs do not taste good, carbs. You know, you just sugar will not make me fat. Sugar will be fine. Sugar will not make me fat. Sugar will, you know, it's it's like you kind of will yourself into believing something that you want to be true, yeah, but you know it's probably not. But it's like the exact opposite here. They they they had no category for it. They they didn't expect the resurrection, and so Jesus just has to continue to prove I'm alive. Look at me, hey, look at me. I'm talking to you. I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive. So he many convincing proofs over the course of 40 days. And then he taught them about the kingdom of God. That would be awesome. That would be sweet. If YouTube was was there uh back then. I mean, if you could record these. Oh, okay. If YouTube, if we had YouTube was there, you wouldn't have been to worship. They would have been clear.

SPEAKER_02 6:05

Bono would have been a worship leader. He would have been strumming along Bono in the edge. That would have been the best album Apple could have forced upon us.

Wait For The Spirit’s Power

SPEAKER_01 6:16

Amen. Amen. So teaching about the kingdom of God, and I I think about uh I think it's obvious Jesus is teaching them about what's to come next. Yep. Okay, so then what happens? Uh verse four says, While he was with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father's promise, which he said, You have heard me speak about for John baptized with baptized with holy water, no, just with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days. So you're gonna be baptized with something more than water. You know, you're gonna be baptized with the Holy Spirit power.

SPEAKER_02 6:53

And would this statement be similar to a point that you made on Sunday was the you know, the figure that they ran into at the tomb was like, he's in Galilee, like he told you. Like he told you. And it's like here, Jesus is like, you've heard me speak about this, like this is just remember, remember I've already told you this.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

In the upper room, yeah, Jesus says that he won't, it's better for me to go because if I stay here, the Father will not send the Spirit, you know, the Spirit will not come. And um and so the promise of the Holy Spirit coming is connected to the ascension of Jesus. Uh verse six says So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, are you restoring the kingdom of Israel at this time? Is this when we're gonna take over? They still don't quite understand it.

SPEAKER_00 7:41

This is we're gonna rule in your kingdom. Yeah, I know, seriously.

SPEAKER_01 7:43

I I would have thought the same thing too. I mean, Jesus just conquered the grave. I mean, who do you want on your side? It's the guy who can't die anymore. That's right. That's right. All powerful God. You you want him on your side. So they're like, is this the time when we take over? And I think this is a big reason why he says, Don't leave Jerusalem. Don't leave Jerusalem. You don't have the spirit yet. And if you don't have the spirit, uh you don't have the power you need. You don't, you're not gonna understand what you need to understand. You're just gonna mess it up. You're gonna ask dumb questions, like, is this the time we're gonna take over the world? You know, like so he says, just wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. He said to them, It's not for you to know the time, times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. So when the Spirit comes, um, you'll receive power. And that's connect uh connected to the ascension of Jesus. So when Jesus uh ascends to the Father, it's like a it's like a I don't know the right way to say this. It's like a bomb detonates. There's like the button is pushed, or whatever that is, and here comes the spirit's gonna come.

SPEAKER_00 8:58

Well, and you notice it's like they ask the question, is the kingdom gonna be restored now? And Jesus says essentially, no, but you're gonna receive my spirit for what purpose to be my witnesses. Like there's still work to be done before the kingdom fully uh comes.

The Ascension And The Promise

SPEAKER_01 9:13

The party's just getting started in here. The party's just getting started. Verse 9, after he had said this, he was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight. So he just ascends. Like he now that would be an experience. Oh Lord. While he was going, I love this. While he was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by, two angels. White clothes stood by. They said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? I love that question. That feels like a dumb question.

SPEAKER_02 9:46

I'm like, did you not did you not see that? Like what else why aren't you looking up?

SPEAKER_00 9:53

What else should we be doing at this moment in time when Jesus is taking off like a rocket ship? It's like the Artemis. That's right. That's all right. But you know.

Pentecost And Peter’s Bold Sermon

SPEAKER_01 10:05

I don't know how fast he went, but he just coming out. Okay, this same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven, so that's where he goes, taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen him going into heaven. So one day he will descend. So Jesus physically ascended, and uh there's coming a day in history where the resurrected Christ will come to judge the living and the dead. He will he will descend. Now there's a lot more we could read in Acts chapter one and acts chapter two, but we're gonna skip to Pentecost. Uh and uh the first sermon that uh Peter Peter preached, and um it says that the Holy Spirit came upon the hundred and twenty in the upper room, and they started to uh the spirit came upon them like flames of fire, and they were speaking in different languages, gathered a huge crowd, and then Peter, Peter preaches, and I'm gonna pick it up midway through the his sermon in verse 22. It says it says, Fellow Israelites, listen to these words. This Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through him, just as you yourselves know. Though he was delivered up according to God's determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him. He's not pulling any punches here. The the crowd that was gathered, uh, many of them would have been the people calling for his blood. Oh, yeah. Like us. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:41

They were the ones of not long ago who were screaming, free Barabbas.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

Free Barabbas. Barabbas. Give us Barabbas. And he says, You guys killed him. Now it's God's plan, though. So you rebelled against God, but God used your rebellion to accomplish his purposes. God raised him up. Verse 24 is one of the most incredible verses in the New Testament. God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death. It's not possible. He couldn't stay dead. That's right. He just it's like he couldn't stay dead. Now, why could he not stay dead? Have you ever thought about that before? Why it says it was not possible for him to be held by death. So why was it not possible?

SPEAKER_00 12:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

What's the answer? What's that? Because he's God. He's God. You can't kill God. Can't kill him. I mean, he did die. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:32

Yeah.

Psalm 16 And Death Defeated

SPEAKER_01 12:33

And it's a real death. It was a real death, but he couldn't stay dead. Yeah, right. In the sense of permanent. That's one reason. But the reason that Peter gives it is fascinating. And so what Peter does is he he goes to Psalm 16. So why was it impossible for Jesus to stay dead? And this is what this is what he says. He says, um it's because the scriptures had to be fulfilled. It's impossible for God's word to not be fulfilled. So he quotes Psalm 16, which was written about a thousand years before Jesus uh lived and died and rose again. And he says David was looking ahead to the resurrection. Even though I don't know if David could have put all the pieces together exactly, but David was speaking of the resurrection. It says, For David says of him, David was writing about Jesus. I saw the Lord ever before me, because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices. Moreover, my flesh will rest in hope. Because why? Because he will not abandon me in Hades, that's the grave. Or allow your holy one to see decay. You have revealed the paths of life to me. You will fill me with gladness in your presence. And so the uh the the psalm in the Psalm 16, David is bothered by something, and what you see what you see David is bothered by is by uh the pain of death, the reality of death. What's going to happen to me when I die? And what was revealed to him in Psalm 16 is that um that God would not allow his holy one to rot in the grave, but that he would be raised from the dead. You will not allow your holy one to see decay. You will not appe abandon me to Hades, that God would raise him up from the dead, which is awesome. And and and Peter says, that's why Jesus had to rise. It's so that God's word would be fulfilled and so that God's purposes would be fulfilled. Verse 29, brothers and sisters, I can confidently speak to you about the patriarch David. He is both dead and buried in his tomb, is with us to this day. So they could have gone to the tomb of David, theoretically, and taken out his bones. So Peter's like, hey, let's go to his tomb and we can get David's bones. So we here's what we know about David. This isn't this is not this is not talking about David. We can go look at his bones. He has decayed. Verse 30, since he was a prophet, David was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn an oath to him to seat one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was to come, he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Messiah. Because David was talking about Jesus rising from the dead. He was not abandoned in Hades or the grave, and his flesh did not experience decay. God has raised this Jesus, and we are all witnesses of it. Therefore, since he had been exalted to the right hand of God, he ascended to the Father. He has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit. He has poured out, poured out what you both see and hear. So he's explaining the coming of the Spirit. For it was not David who ascended into the heavens. See, G remember what Peter just saw? It was Jesus who was raised from the dead and ascended into the heavens. For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but he himself says, The Lord declared to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Therefore, I love this, therefore, let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah. Mic drop, baby. That's right. Now what does he he why does he quote uh Psalm?

SPEAKER_00 16:28

Hence why they say Luke says when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart. I know. What are we supposed to do? I mean, there's only one good reaction response to that to Peter's sermon. You're like, oh man, what are we doing what do we do now? It's incredible.

Psalm 110 And The Right Hand

SPEAKER_01 16:46

It's incredible. And verse 34, uh Peter is quoting not Psalm 16, but Psalm 110. And Psalm 110 uh is the most quoted psalm in the New Testament. And I think I would need to double check it. I think it's the most quoted Old Testament passage in the Old Testament in the New Testament.

SPEAKER_02 17:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:06

Psalm 110. When you read it the first time, it it feels a little bit obscure, but there's so much theology in Psalm 110 for the first time. Yeah, you read Psalm 10 for the first time, 110, you're like, uh, what is this? But it's it's loaded with theology. Okay, so do you see what what Peter what point Peter's pulling out from Psalm uh or in verse 34 from Psalm 110? Do you see what he's saying? The Lord declared to my Lord. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 17:33

So David's writing this. Yes. Saying the Lord declared to my Lord. Yes. Which is an important context.

SPEAKER_01 17:39

Yeah. So that means first that the descendant of David would be the Lord of David. Yep. Yes. The Lord said to my Lord. Yes. Who is crazy after David, yeah. Who's after David? So David says, I'm going to have a descendant, but that descendant who's going to come after me is actually going to be my lord.

SPEAKER_02 18:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:02

And the Lord said to my Lord, he's greater than me. Yeah, I'm going to have a son who's greater than me, which is a totally foreign. Especially when you're thinking of King David. The greatest king of Israel.

SPEAKER_02 18:13

Yes. And it's not like the same anticipation. David probably didn't have the same anticipation Adam and Eve had when it was like they had a son after the fall, like you know, that that Cain was the seed uh who would crush sin. It's like David, like even when he got the the covenant promise, was pretty aware of his children. Yeah, pretty aware of their lives. He's like, well, it ain't them.

SPEAKER_01 18:36

It's not these guys. Totally. Yikes. Yeah. Totally. So then in verse 34, Peter is talking about how David knew that one of his descendants would be the Lord. And then he says, Sit at my right hand. And so Peter's saying, David knew that after the resurrection, Psalm 1, or Psalm 16, that the Lord would ascend. Right. That he would ascend back into heaven. And that he would sit down at the right hand in the position of honor and glory and authority and the kingdom. That's right. And and so Jesus, Jesus died according to the scriptures, like Paul says. And he was raised according to the scriptures. And he ascended according to the scriptures. And one day he will return according to the scriptures. And Peter's like, and we all missed it. We all missed it.

Christ Reigns Through His Church

SPEAKER_00 19:33

That's incredible. Yeah, so Jesus, you know, I mean, because you see the pattern or the theology taught throughout the New Testament of where is Jesus now? And he's ascended to the Father and he's sitting at the right hand of the Father, uh, in all power and authority, that the earth, when you think about the earth is this footstool. And speaking of you know the Artemis mission, you're like they're slingshotting around the moon. You're thinking that's wild. Like that, you know, the the earth, the world, all of its inhabitants, it's the footstool of God. He's just sitting there above it all. That's right. Paul says in Ephesians one, he exercised this power in Christ by r raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens, far above every ruler, authority, power, dominion, and every title given, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And he subjected everything under his feet. That's right. He's he's ruling and reigning. Yeah. That's where Christ is at.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

Yeah, and he's accomplishing his mission. Exactly. He's he's continuing to accomplish the mission. Uh and so I I love I love the image of Jesus. Uh he has ascended to the right hand of the Father. Uh he is sat down uh because the work of making uh sacrifice for the sins of the world finished. It's finished. And he he is he is um making his enemies his footstool. Now when I hear that I think about a sword in his hand, but it's actually not Jesus is not uh converting the world through a sword. Right you know, he's converting the world uh through the gospel. He's through his kindness through his kindness. Jesus is the king who reigns over everything who died for his enemies. I mean you think about that. What what king dies for his enemies? He he dies for his enemies uh in order to redeem them. And that's the type of king that we serve. Now, one one day he will come with a sword and he will execute justice, judgment on the earth. But now what is he doing? He is he's he's compelling people, bringing people into his kingdom uh by his grace, uh by his by his blood. And that's the mission that we're involved with. So when we think about what happened to Jesus after uh the resurrection, he ascended into heaven and he is he is uh he's advancing his kingdom through his through his church, through his people, which is pretty exciting.