This Week's Story
click here to play audioJesus was our coach, teacher, and friend; yet we did not know Him.
This Week’s Story relives American history and the Bible through brief inspiring stories presented on mp3 audio recordings and text for reading.
The Day He Left, part one
The day He left, He met with us, His team. He had been our coach, teacher, and friend for three years. He had chosen us. Then there were twelve of us. Now we are eleven.
Forty days ago, we saw Him, Jesus, crucified. Since He returned from death, we have seen Him often. At one time more than 500 people saw him.
We have spent many hours discussing our questions with Him. He has explained many parts in the Scriptures which predict what happened to Him during His crucifixion and resurrection.
We asked, “Why did you let Roman soldiers crucify you? Why would you let a soldier spear you to make sure that you were dead? After you were buried in a tomb closed with a huge boulder, how did you get out? How do you have power over life and death and space?”
Thomas, one of our team, did not see Jesus when we did. We told Thomas, “Jesus is alive. We have seen Him.”
Thomas was certain that Jesus could not come back to life. He
said, “I won’t believe it, unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand by the wound in his side.”
Jesus did not get angry at Thomas’s doubt. He gave Thomas proof. “Thomas, put your finger here and see my hands. Put your hand to the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”
Thomas exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!”
We have no question that we saw Jesus live, do miracles, and speak to crowds. He was our teacher, yet we did not know who He was.
One day before the crucifixion Peter, one of our team, seemed to understand. He told Jesus, “You are the Messiah, the son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “My Father in heaven revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.”
How little Peter knew! That was evident the night Jesus was arrested and tried. When Peter was questioned, he denied that he knew Jesus.
During our last day with Jesus we were with Him at Mount Olivet. We asked Him, “When are you going to free Israel to be a nation?”
His answer baffled us. “The Father sets those dates. You do not need to know the date, but know this: When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will receive power and tell people about me here in the city of Jerusalem, the provinces of Judea and Samaria, and throughout the world.”
Now we have more questions.
Shortly after, He quietly went into the air and was surrounded by a cloud. Two men dressed in white came and stood by us. They asked us, “Why are you staring at the sky? Jesus has been taken away from you into heaven. Some day just the way He left, He will return.”
We returned to Jerusalem, just as Jesus had told us to do.
This is Barbara Steiner with a familiar and world-changing news account based upon many sources, but mainly the apostles’ primary records in the New Testament.
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