Jesus After the Empty Tomb: Ascension, Waiting, Pentecost

Kimberlea Hardy
8 hours ago
5 min read

The Ascension

Jesus ascended into Heaven to join God the Father and the Holy Spirit forty days after He rose from the grave. We now call this Ascension day.

During those forty days on earth, He appeared ten times to different people and groups. The first day He was busy. He appeared to Mary Magdalene in the garden, to the women returning from the tomb, to two disciples on the road to Emmaus, to Peter in Jerusalem, and to ten of the apostles in the upper room. The man got His steps in that day.

He appeared 5 more times to various groups before ascending to Heaven.

He appeared to the eleven in the upper room. This is when Thomas doubted Him. (John 20:24-29 ESV)
He appeared to seven apostles by the Sea of Galilee. This is when Jesus showed up on the shore and told them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat. (John 21:1-6 ESV)
He appeared to the eleven apostles and 500 believers on Mount Tabor. This is when He gave the command to make disciples, also known as the great commission. (Matthew 28:16-20 ESV)
He appeared to the eleven and James in Jerusalem. This is when Jesus told them that God would send the Holy Spirit. (Luke 24:49 NLT)
He appeared to the eleven on the Mount of Olives. Jesus walked with them to the Mountain, blessed them, and ascended to Heaven. (Luke 24:50-53)

The time had come for the disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit. I cannot imagine what the apostles felt as they waited for their helper to arrive. The anxiousness of what is going to happen next. The excitement of sharing the Gospel. The nervousness of beginning something new. The joy from being with other believers. They felt it all while they waited for Jesus’s promise to be fulfilled.

The Waiting Room

I don’t know about you, but I do not like to wait. I have a track record of jumping ahead of Jesus and not waiting on His timing. Have you ever been in God's waiting room?

I have.

While we are sitting in the Lord’s waiting room, God is working, and only His timing will allow all the pieces to fall into the right place. He is working out all the details we don’t even realize need attention. A friend and mentor told me recently, “God knows,” and that simple phrase eased my anxious heart.

Being in the waiting room isn’t always the most comfortable place to be. We’re waiting on God to do something in our lives or to tell us what to do next. We feel anxious, and we want Him to answer our prayers yesterday. Every time we become impatient with waiting, we can take it to God in prayer, just like the disciples did when they were waiting in the upper room. (Luke 24:53)

Whatever the reason for the delay of the Holy Spirit, we know it wasn’t wasted time, just as our waiting is not wasted. He is making a way for us to do the work He has planned, and sometimes that takes longer than we think it should. God’s timing doesn’t always align with ours. We recognize God is in control, but we tend to focus on ourselves and our timeline, not God’s.

How often do we get impatient with God’s timing and do something that was not meant for us to do?

When we jump ahead of God and His timing, we are more likely to mess things up. We have to trust that waiting on the Lord is the best way to fulfill our purpose. The disciples waited for the day of Pentecost, and we can wait too, knowing that Jesus will fulfill His promise.

The Pentecost

What is the day of Pentecost? The disciples waited fifty days after Jesus rose from the grave to receive the promise of the power of the Holy Spirit and to speak in tongues.

The power of the Holy Spirt allowed the apostles to speak in tongues so they could fulfill their purpose of spreading the Gospel. The teaching of how to be a follower of Jesus began on the day of Pentecost.

The apostles did not wait until the next day to start telling others about Jesus and His love for them. They started the day they received their gift.

I don't know about you, but when the Holy Spirit moves in me it is hard to sit still. I am eager to do what God has told me to do, but I also tend to worry what others might think. I hesitate, then I remember God is for me, and it doesn’t matter what they think. We are to listen to God and use the talents He has given us. Once we start using our gifts to glorify God, we don't worry as much about what others will think.

Yes, there will be days when we doubt our calling. There will be days when God says stop or slow down. When He does this, it is for our own good. He wants us to do things in the correct order, and sometimes His ways do not make sense to us.

That is when we can look in the Bible and see what He did for the apostles. He kept His promise to send a helper to guide them as they fulfilled their purpose, and we have this same promise.

Once we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. He will guide our steps and help us to fulfill our calling. The catch is that we have to be willing to let Him work on us as we go through life so we can love others the way God intended.

If we are in God’s waiting room, there is a reason. We may never know the who, what, when, where, why or how, but we can trust that God knows. I want to encourage you to keep giving all your concerns, fears, and worries to Him.

When we trust God in the waiting room, even if it is the hardest-darkest moments of our lives we will receive His peace. It may not work out the way we want it to or even the way we think it should, but it will work out so that God’s will and purpose for our lives are fulfilled and He receives the glory. (Romans 8:28)