Synopsis

For the first time ever, the forty days of resurrection appearances by Jesus Christ, the Son of God have been broken down into forty, day-by-day sections. The reader will discover:

  • How many resurrection appearances Jesus made
  • The correct order of Jesus’ resurrection appearances
  • How many people risen Jesus appeared to
  • Where he appeared to his disciples and the significance of those locations

In this revelationary book you will see the days and dates when: 

  • Jesus Rose from the dead
  • Jesus first appeared to his Apostles
  • Jesus appeared to Thomas
  • Jesus’ disciples travelled to Galilee
  • Jesus appeared to his disciples in Galilee
  • Jesus disciples returned to Jerusalem
  • Jesus ascended into heaven

As I researched and wrote my first book, ‘The Jesus Diary’1 (the most comprehensive chronology of events in the life of Jesus ever written), one area of his life that demanded most attention was his forty days of resurrection appearances. Now I am taking an in-depth, day-by-day look at how Jesus’ appearances break down into a forty day period. It reveals the days he appeared to his disciples and the days when he did not. There is as much to learn about Jesus and his disciples in his absences as there is in his appearances. Join me on this day-by-day journey of forty days to discover what Jesus’ disciples learned from his resurrection appearances and what they learned from the times when he did not appear to them over the forty day period. The things they learned reveal things that can be applied to our own lives and will change the way we view Jesus, his resurrection and ourselves forever.

The Chronology of Jesus’ Life Part 3

’40 Days of Jesus’ Resurrection Appearances’ is Part 3 of the Chronology of Jesus’ Life series. This is a four part series. ‘The Jesus Diary’ is Part 1 of the series and gives the most comprehensive chronology of the events of Jesus’ life ever written. Part 2 of the series is, ’24 – Jesus’ Final Hours’, which gives an hour-by-hour breakdown of his final day as a human on Earth. And Part 4 of the Chronology of Jesus’ Life series is, ‘Jesus’ Birth’, which looks at the chronology of the birth of Jesus, the Son of God in human form.

Methodology

To break down events into forty, one day segments the best approach is to believe what is written in the Bible. It is the method I used in writing ‘The Jesus Diary’1, which produced the most comprehensive chronology of events in Jesus’ life ever written.

Acts 1:3 says Jesus appeared to his disciples and gave many proofs he was alive for forty days. Luke 24:21 says he rose on the third day following his crucifixion on Friday. Passover always fell on a full moon. There are only two dates in Jesus’ time on earth when a full moon fell on a Friday Passover: 7/4/30AD2 and 5/4/33AD3. Scholars are split on which year it was. If Jesus died on Friday, 7/4/30 then he would have risen on Sunday, 9/4/30 and ascended forty days later on Thursday, 18/5/30. If Jesus died on Friday, 5/4/33 he would have risen on Sunday, 7/4/33 and ascended on Thursday, 16/5/33. The timeframes, 9/4/30-18/5/30 and 7/4/33-16/5/33 help set out risen Jesus’ forty days of appearances in a day-by-day basis.

The timing of some resurrection events is clear: Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week (Mark 16:1; Luke 24:1 and John 20:1). He appeared to ten disciples that night and a week later he appeared to Thomas (John 20:19-26). Forty days later he ascended (18/5/30 or 16/4/33). The timing of other events is less clear. Matthew 28:16-20 and John 21:1-23 say the disciples saw Jesus in Galilee. So they must have travelled there after he appeared to Thomas and before his ascension from the Mount of Olives (Luke 24:50-51). 

Knowledge of Israel’s geography and the times taken to walk set distances helped place his disciples’ journeys to and from Galilee and the time they spent there in the right chronology. Also, the timing of religious celebrations, holy days and Sabbaths, which fell in this forty day period helped set the events of Jesus’ appearances in the right timeframe. Events in Galilee involved work (fishing, cooking and going up and down a mountain) and walking long distances (from and to Jerusalem). These were forbidden under Jewish law on holy days. So the dates of the holy days would have affected the timing of Jesus’ Galilean appearances.

Layout of the book

The events of Jesus’ resurrection that took place on each of the forty day are laid out on separate pages with the accompanying Bible verses. Then there is a short explanation as to how the date for those events was established. Join me on this day-by-day journey of Jesus’ forty days of resurrection appearances. Read the Bible verses for each day. Meditate on them. Ask God what He is saying to you in those verses and receive a new revelation of Jesus. I guarantee that you will see even more of the life, the love and the character of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the World who died and defeated our sins on the cross at Calvary, then trampled those sins under his feet when he rose from the dead.