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We’ve been talking about the “aftermath” of the Resurrection – what happened after Jesus rose from the dead. What did Jesus expect his followers to do in light of the fact that he’d been raised from the dead? As a start, Jesus wanted us to see that there are two kingdoms – the old kingdom of darkness and the new Kingdom of God – the kingdom the Jesus the King had brought to earth. Jesus now has “all authority” – and he wants us to exercise that authority on his behalf in our time here on earth as residents and renovators of the “fixer-upper” house that he purchased for us with his blood.

Today’s baptisms are a beautiful symbol of the “aftermath” of Easter – of lives changed by the death and resurrection of Jesus, and of the Full Life that he offers us. In this new series, we’ll look at the aftermath of the Resurrection, and how Jesus’ disciples worked out the implications of that resurrection. They did so with “worship and doubt” – then Jesus gave them their marching orders.

The amazing truth about the first Easter is that nobody believed. The disciples were hiding in fear and sorrow, and even the women who went to Jesus’ tomb that Sunday morning went with burial spices – because they expected him to be dead, and to stay dead. Then, when the women told the disciples the incredible news that Jesus had risen, the disciples “decided it was nonsense.” But as Jesus was dying on the cross that previous Friday, one person believed in him before anyone else: “the thief on the cross,” Dismas.