"The Bible" series on The History Channel was an epic 5 part film on stories of the bible.  The last 3 episodes focused mostly on Jesus on the disciples.  What can we learn from the stories of the disciples?

One of the main things we can learn from the disciples is that they were scared for their lives on Saturday, the day before the resurrection.  The man they had followed, Jesus, had been killed and they did not know where to go from there.  The hope that they had in a new life and a new kingdom had been wiped away in an instant and all that was left was fear and confusion.  

Then, of course, Sunday came and Jesus rose to defeat sin and death.  It wasn't enough that he just rose for the disciples though.  If someone would have just told them Jesus rose and they never saw proof of it, they would have never known for sure.  But of course Jesus does show himself to the disciples in the upper room and they are able to see and even touch Him.  

Jesus mentored the disciples for another 40 days before ascending into the heavens, but that 40 days is what makes Christianity what it is to this day.  Jesus defeated sin and death and made sure that the disciples knew this.  This renewed their strength and gave them a mission and passion like they had never had before.  All of the disciples but John ended up being killed for their faith.  Death did not scare them now because they knew Jesus was waiting for them in heaven and eternity.  None of them would have risked their lives for a Jesus they were not sure was alive and risen.  

Let that be the encouragement we as Christians need today.  Many of us are in "Saturday" spirits.  We are lonely, confused, hurting, questioning.  We aren't sure if God is listening or if He cares about us.  However, we do have the disciples to look back upon.  They were scared and confused as well, but Jesus showed up.  This event was so inspiring for them that they all died because of it.  

So let us remember that Jesus has already defeated sin and death and conquered any problem that we could ever have.  Things come and go but Jesus will live forever.  Let us live in that peace and joy that no matter what is going on in this life, we have forever in heaven to look forward to and God is keeping us on this earth to make a difference for that Kingdom.  So lets not just pass through live waiting for heaven, lets help bring a few more people along with us before we go.