Let us enumerate all the meetings which the Lord Jesus had with His disciples after His resurrection. On the day of His resurrection, He firstly appeared to one sister, Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-18; Mark 16:9-11); then the second time, also in the morning, He appeared to a few sisters (Matt. 28:8-10; Luke 24:9-11). Later in the day He appeared to Peter (Luke 24:34; 1 Cor. 15:5). Then in the afternoon or evening He appeared to two disciples as they walked to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35; Mark 16:12-13). At night, when all the disciples were gathered together, Jesus met with them—that was the first meeting He had with a good number of His disciples after the resurrection (John 20:19-23; Luke 24:36-49). Then, on the next Lord’s day, a week later, He appeared again to have the second meeting with them. In the first meeting Thomas was missing, but in the second meeting he was there (John 20:24-29). After these two meetings, which were held behind closed doors in Jerusalem, the disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain appointed by Him. There He met with them (Matt. 28:10, 16-20). Another time He met with them on the shore of the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1-24). Then, according to 1 Corinthians 15:6, the Lord appeared to five hundred brethren at once. He even appeared to James, His brother in the flesh (1 Cor. 15:7). Then, eventually, He met with them back in Judea on the Mount of Olives, quite near to Jerusalem, where, in full view of His disciples, He was received up to the heavens (Mark 16:19; Luke 24:50-52; Acts 1:6-13). From the Mount of Olives, they returned to Jerusalem and went up into an upper room, where they met together for continual prayer. There they tarried, as they were commanded by the Lord, till they were clothed upon with power from on high (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5).
Of all these meetings we can discern two kinds: the first is the meetings with the resurrected Christ; the second is the meetings for the ascended Christ. What kind of meetings are we having today? Today people say they are having Bible study meetings, prayer meetings, fellowship meetings, Gospel meetings, etc. I would not say it is wrong to arrange things in this way, but we must realize that whenever we meet, we meet firstly with the resurrected Christ and then for the ascended Christ.
Have you ever noticed a change, or we may say a contradiction, in the last chapters of the four Gospels and the opening chapter of the book of Acts? In both Matthew and John, there is no record of the Lord Jesus having ascended. According to these Gospels, He is still here. Matthew says, “Lo, I am with you all the days, until the completion of the age” (Matt. 28:20, J. N. Darby’s translation). Accordingly, the Lord Jesus is still on this earth; He has never left us. We may have full assurance that the Lord Jesus is among us at this very moment. Hallelujah! John also did not tell us anything regarding the Lord’s ascension. Why? Because John’s message is that the Lord is the life within us forever. He could never leave us, for He is our very life. Matthew tells us that the Lord Jesus met with the disciples on the mountain. John tells us that He met with His disciples on the one hand in a room shut up, secretly, and on the other hand by the seashore. That is all. Neither Matthew nor John tells us that after this, the disciples saw Jesus ascend into the heavens. According to the record of Matthew and John, the meetings which the Lord Jesus held with His disciples were of the first kind, the meetings with the resurrected Christ.
Then we come to the Gospels of Mark and Luke and the book of Acts. These three books tell us clearly that this resurrected Christ who met with His disciples after His resurrection ascended to the heavens. While He was holding one of the meetings with His own, He ascended up before them. The worldly people did not see Him, but His disciples steadfastly beheld Him received into heaven. Who could take away such an impression from them? This was not something of doctrine or information—this was the greatest sight-seeing! They all saw the ascension. Once you have seen something, you can never say that you have not seen it. In a sense, they did not see His resurrection. They saw the empty tomb, but they did not see Jesus in the act of being resurrected. But they saw His ascension. They not only saw the ascended Christ, but the ascension itself. If I were there, I would jump in excitement. This is the reason Peter became so bold and probably determined he would never go back to fishing. “For this,” he said in effect, “it is worthwhile to sacrifice my life.” Suppose that today, before your very eyes, you saw the Lord ascending. Could you sleep? I’m afraid that if I saw the Lord’s ascension, I could not sleep for three days! I would be beside myself. I would shout, “Hallelujah! I saw Jesus ascending!”
I say again, this is not a kind of teaching or information; this is a kind of sight-seeing. So many people went to Cape Kennedy to see Apollo 13 leave for the moon. But the disciples on that day saw Jesus ascend not to the moon, but to the heavens. It is marvelous! Immediately their meetings were changed into another category. Before they met with Christ; now they began to meet for Christ. Before they met with the resurrected Christ; now they met for the ascended Christ. Let us look into these two kinds of meetings.