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From Heaven With Love
This was the only interview that Jesus had with many of the
believers after His resurrection. His words, falling from lips that
had been closed in death, thrilled them. Now He declared that “all
power” was given to Him. The minds of His hearers were lifted to
the highest conception of His dignity and glory.
Christ’s words were the announcement that His sacrifice in behalf
of man was full and complete. The work for which He came to this
world had been accomplished. He was on His way to the throne
of God. He had entered upon His mediatorial work. Clothed with
boundless authority, He gave His commission: “Go therefore, and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you
always, to the close of the age.”
Matthew 28:19, 20
, RSV. He
commissioned His disciples to proclaim a faith that would have in it
nothing of caste or country, a faith adapted to all peoples, nations,
all classes of men.
Christ plainly stated the nature of His kingdom. His purpose was
to establish a spiritual kingdom, not to reign as an earthly king on
David’s throne. He said, You see that all I revealed to you concerning
My rejection as the Messiah has come to pass. All I said in regard
to the humiliation I should endure and the death I should die, has
been verified. On the third day I rose again. In all these things the
specifications of prophecy have been fulfilled.
Christ commissioned His disciples to do the work He had left in
their hands, beginning at Jerusalem. Jerusalem had been the scene of
His amazing condescension for the human race. Few had discerned
how near heaven came to earth when Jesus was among them. At
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Jerusalem the work of the disciples must begin.
The disciples might have pleaded for a more promising field, but
they made no such plea. Christ had scattered the seed of truth, and
the seed would yield an abundant harvest. The first offers of mercy
must be made to the murderers of the Saviour.
Many in Jerusalem had secretly believed on Jesus, and many had
been deceived by the priests and rulers. They were to be called to
repentance. While all Jerusalem was stirred by the thrilling events
of the past few weeks, the preaching of the gospel would make the
deepest impression.