Passover to Pentecost – Class in Session       Week 4 Day 1

He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.  Acts 1:3

We have looked at several of the recorded meetings Jesus had with the Eleven and the other disciples.  We are not finished with them yet, but I want to think about this forty-day seminar on the Kingdom.  To do this we will look at what the disciples taught, put into action, and how some of the churches lived out these teachings.  Jesus had actually promised this training time while they were in the Passover meal in John 16: 25 – Though I have been speaking figuratively, I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father (NIV).  I talk about His use of parables and other teaching styles in Jesus the Master Teacher.  A good parable would affect the crowd at many different levels and give them a lot to think on.  That can be good and bad for the understanding of because two people next to each other can take away two completely different ideas.  That is why the disciples would ask for clarification to lessons for the information they did not want to miss; Jesus would help them understand (Parable of the Sower).   This mini-session, however, would be different, no parables just straight talk and answers.  A great thing, there was no notes!  They would soon receive the Holy Spirit and He would help them remember the lessons.

In my current thinking mode, it is very easy for my mind to drift to Moses and two forty day sessions on Mount Sinai, and then the months of construction so the Ark and the Tabernacle would be finished for the second Passover.  All of these things and activities reflect the Teacher who is giving His last lessons here on earth.  Imagine the teaching that took place in Jesus’ last forty days.  Jesus and the disciples are in Galilee after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, so with travel time that is about thirty days before they needed to be on the Mount of Olives.  They are sitting on Mount Tabor able to see “forever” in the clear blue sky and Jesus is ending His teaching just before the meal.  500 people are listening and he gives them the “Great Commission” (Matthew 28:16 and Luke 24: 46, there is a version in Mark but that really reflects the doing of what was said).  He had trained and sent the Twelve, then seventy-two, and now he has commissioned a small army.  When Jesus actually gave the lesson from Acts 1:4 – Wait for the Holy Spirit; I have no idea.  I will, however, put it after the “second month Passover” which would have been three weeks from Thomas’ restoration.

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