The book that connects the Old Testament times to the church age is the book of Acts. It is transitional in that it moves us into an era of time that the Old Testament pointed to. Acts 1:3 says, “To whom he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” Focus on a couple of words in the verse. “Alive after the passion” is the first focus. He did not shew himself only before but after the passion. Of course, we know that the passion is his death by crucifixion. Once the torturous crucifixion was finished, Jesus was not. He made several appearances to individuals and groups totaling into the hundreds. I Corinthians 15 gives us the list. The second focus is the little phrase “many infallible proofs.” These proofs are incapable of being mistaken or wrong. What are some of those proofs? I just mentioned one of them. The appearances of our resurrected Lord Jesus to hundreds of people. The stone that covered the mouth of the tomb is one. Weighing as much as two tons it would take several men just to roll it into position. The Roman Guard must also be considered. Under penalty of death, they were commanded to keep the tomb secure. They could not. What about the contents inside the tomb? Within the grave burial clothes are found on one side and the face covering, called the handkerchief in our Bible, is folded on the other side. Continuing with the contents one thing that was conspicuously absent was the body. It was there, then it was not. Perhaps the greatest of all the “infallible proofs,” that of a changed life.
The apostles were a very common band. No aristocracy if found anywhere in the bunch. They are not considered to be well educated. They are referred to as “ignorant and unlearned.” Fishing is a common profession, tax collecting fairly common, and fighting (think Simon the Zealot) very common. Israel wanted to throw out the Roman occupiers; they just did not have the power to do it, but they would fight about how they could make it happen one day. Just a common bunch. During the three years Jesus was training them, failure and misunderstanding Jesus’ words were a daily item. While we see Jesus arrested and crucified, all but John fled or watched at a distance with their appearances changed hoping to stay alive. But something happened after the resurrection. Changed lives. These common men would stand before hundreds proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ without fear and without looking for favor from the authorities. They confounded the educated with their reason and logic and were silenced by the power with which they preached. Their mantra was “let God be true and every man a liar.” Perhaps the major proof, of the many, is that of a changed life. II Corinthians 5:17 tells us that “if any man be in Christ (saved, born again) he is a new creature (creation) old things are passed away and behold all things are new.” When you became a Christian was there a change in you? Did you realize that something was not the same? Did your desires become a little different? We all still have our sin natures and will have that sin nature until we get our new bodies. But when you sinned after trusting Christ, did you have guilt or conviction because of it? I am fearful for many claiming to be believers, yet the fruit of a changed life is nowhere to be found. These apostles were different once they saw Jesus and knew the resurrection was the real deal. They would ultimately give their lives as martyrs but their work for the kingdom of God continues to this very day. If we know the resurrected Lord we will be changed. It is impossible not to be.