Peace042 – Did the disciples of Jesus spread His teachings after His resurrection?

Question

After Jesus was crucified and died, He was laid in a tomb. After three days and three nights, He resurrected. He appeared to His disciples during the next 40 days before He ascended to Heaven that they witnessed.

One scene during these 40 days was in John 21 where the disciples Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples went fishing in the Sea of Tiberias. It seems that the disciples of Jesus just went back to their former occupations and did not spread His words. His resurrecting and appearing to them did not give them the enthusiasm and zeal to preach His gospel.

That is why Jesus asked Peter three times, “lovest thou me”. Peter said that he did but became irritated for being asked the same question three times. And Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”

It was only after He ascended to Heaven and the disciples received the Holy Spirit during that festival in Jerusalem that they became motivated and bold to spread His gospel.

Do you think the disciples did not have the motivation to spread His gospel when their Rabbi Jesus died?

Answer 1

The disciples had left their jobs, their family, and friends to walk with Jesus for three years. They saw Him perform miracles. They listened to Him teach like no one they had ever heard. Many stopped following Him because His "teaching was too hard." Jesus even asked the 12 "Will you leave too?" Peter I believe it was responded "Where will we go, you have the words of life."

Jump to Jesus' death. The disciples saw their friend, their teacher, their rabbi mutilated by the Romans. They saw Him speared in the side and the blood and water came out. They heard Him cry out, "It is finished." They saw Him die.

They had given their lives for this man. Now he was dead. For that time before they received the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost they were likely dejected. The was leaderless. In their minds they had thought that Jesus as the Messiah would have taken down the Roman Empire. But that was not the plan.

But when they received the promise of the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room, their lives were transformed. They went and preached. In fact, Peter preached a sermon that first day and 3000 came to Christ. That was power! Eventually, they were killed, but the message never died.

The message lives today that Christ died, rose again, for you and fore me. He's coming back soon for those that belong to Him. Are you one of His?

Answer 2

you addressed the question to atheists, but I've recently found a name I like much, much better (Deist) so i'm not sure if I can answer. I think the message being delivered is important, but whenever Anyone receives ANY information one must consider the source. the grace of god came with strings attached many, many times. this i'm referring to the apostles, the papacy, the missionaries, the crusades, you know the general spread of the Christian message. generally I don't think the historical Jesus matters very much. The message is what matters and from everything I've heard Jesus would say the same thing, be he allegorical, literal, historical, spiritual, or literary he would put the message before his own recognition. What I think is important of Jesus either from the Hellenism, Judaism or his equivalents in more exotic Mythologies is the idea of the God-Man. The embodiment of us people and that divinity within us. He represents the intimate matter of mortal physicality imbued with that divine breath of power, omnipresence, and the responsibilities that go with that. he's the sequel to the story of Adam, the resolution to the story of Abraham's sacrifice and the redemption of Fallen Lucifer himself. Personally, just as a fan of myth, lore and belief it really is the greatest story I've come across.

Answer 3

Yeshua/Jesus did not come to promote belief in the Messiah/Christ. Neither did he come to promote the worship of Messiah/Christ. He came to teach the people TheWay to become Messiah/Christ, and fulfill the vision of a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation of Anointed Disciples who are set aside for the service of the Most High God that Yeshua taught was the Father of all of mankind. This is not a forum to dispute opinion and manmade doctrine. It is a forum to discuss walking in the Light of TheWay, and to learn and discuss the essential lifestyle and mindset necessary to enter the Kingdom within, receive the Sacred Manna, and Learn directly from the One Teacher of Truth and Light. The journey of the disciple of Yeshua is one of absolute dedication to TheWay. The disciple must become a Nazirene who is consecrated and wholly set apart as they walk the Narrow Way, enter through the Strait Gate, and learn the Sacred Knowledge of the Kingdom directly from the Lord. The Disciple must be an Ebionite (poor one) who is in the world and not of it. In the manner of an Essene (healer) they must make their physical body and mind a fit dwelling for the Temple of G-d -- and they must become a Consecrated and unblemished sacrifice upon the Spiritual Altar of the Genuine Temple of the Most High. The Disciple of the Nazirene is the "good ground" within which the Living Word has been planted, and is the manifestation of the prodigal son who endeavors to return to the Kingdom of Origination. This discussion group is for serious Disciples of The Way who understand that the soul evolves to a Perfected and Complete state over the course of many lifetimes -- that we are the prodigal sons of our Heavenly Father -- and that as physical beings, we must still undergo a soul and spiritual birth, before the final birth which can only be achieved by those who pick up their own cross and follow in the footsteps of Yeshua/Jesus.
Owner Homepage: http://nazirene.org http://mystic.nazirene.org

Answer 4

This is an interesting question. In Acts, after Stephen's stoning, the Jewish believers where scattered, but the Apostles stayed behind in Jerusalem, presumably awaiting Christ's return. It's recorded that there were other believers in Jerusalem (Paul speaks of this at the Jerusalem Council meeting I believe when he went to protest Jewish believers infiltrating his ranks teaching that Gentile believers must keep Jewish customs).

Paul (as stated by another poster) was largely responsible for the widespread evangalism at the time.

I'd like to study more on this, because as you, I want to learn more about the Word being spread.

In Christ,

Dennis

Answer 5

The rise of Christianity was due largely to Paul a generation after the fact, not so much the disciples.

Answer 6

Yes, they were in fact scared. But after talking to the risen Christ they became highly motivated and never feared for their lives. Read the first two chapters of the Acts of the Apostles.

Answer 7

They did spread the Gospel. They still had jobs. Paul was a tent maker. Peter was a fisherman.

Answer 8

I don't think you need to worry about it. Jesus was their teacher and I'm sure he was capable of motivating and instructing them of what they were to do.

Teacher-disciple is an intimate relationship... contrary to popular belief, many of the more important things are not known to us.

Answer 9

i think that they were scared after jesus died, and feared death themselves if they spoke up, but after he appeared to them, they realized that he kept his promise and he gave them strength, and they became bold enough to begin spreading the word of god.

Answer 10

they were still humans. they were a little scared i suppose. whatever it may be. 1 thing is for sure. they were finally motivated. have u researched how they died. please do. u will be overwhelmed.