The story of Easter normally finishes with Jesus – risen from the dead – appearing to his disciples and commissioning them to go out into the world and spread his message of good news. Of the four Gospel stories we have, three of them – Matthew, Mark and John – finish in this way. The fourth Gospel – Luke – continues the Jesus story for another thirty years, thus giving us a valuable insight into what happened after the first Easter.
What did the disciples do? Luke tells us that they waited in Jerusalem and gathered together in prayer in the days leading up the Pentecost, when God’s Spirit was poured out upon them. This gift of the Spirit seemed to give the disciples a new boldness and confidence and they started telling people about Jesus and even healing people in a way similar to Jesus. This got them into trouble with the authorities, just like Jesus. Eventually the disciples were scattered and wherever they went, they continued to share the story of Jesus. And small communities began, formed of followers of Jesus.
Christian communities today are the spiritual fruit of the efforts of these early followers of Jesus who shared their message through both their words and their actions. The challenge for us today is to continue the never complete mission of Jesus to bring good news to the world. Many of us are comfortable doing this through actions of love and compassion. But we need to also tell the story of Jesus – in words. May God’s Spirit give us the boldness and confidence to do so and also the wisdom to know the right words to speak at the right time.