I only have a vague knowledge of the life of Jesus Christ which is pretty much tied to our annual holidays. I know that Christmas is, for Christians, a celebration of his birth and that Easter celebrates his death on the cross and subsequent resurrection.
What happened after that? Did he go on to live a full life and then die again?
I’m asking this as a factual question in terms of the story as presented by the bible, I’m not interested in discussing whether any of this really happened.
Basically for forty (I think) days after the resurrection he appeared to various people (specifically, Jews) most notably his disciples and spread some good ol’ fashioned heavenly news. Then afterwords he was chatting with his disciples, covered himself in a cloud, ascended bodily into heaven and said “okay, be back later to finish the rest of the prophecy regarding the messiah, see ya!”
The various accounts in the Bible say that he ascended to heaven on Sunday, the same day as the resurrection, or that he walked the earth for eight days (John), or that he ascended 40 days later (Acts). Which version do you like?
You may be interested in Dan Barker’s Easter Challenge to weave all the Biblical accounts of the resurrection and ascension into a coherent whole. Good luck.
Voiceover: Jesus Christ, you’ve been crucified and now risen from the dead. What are you going to do next?
JC: I’m going to Disney World!
The thing that always confused me was that when re-apperated he didn’t look like he did before. I never understood that. Can someone explain what that was about?
He did look the same, and didn’t “re-apperate”, his corpse actually resurrected, so he was walking around in his original body, crucifixion wounds included.
At one point he appears to two of his followers and their “eyes are kept from recognizing him”. Whether that means he used Jesus magic to keep them from recognzing him or just wore a disguise isn’t specified, but later he reveals himself and they do realize its him.
I thought that by “revealing himself” he said “hey, it’s me dudes” (in Aramaic of course). But as I say, I never understood that part. Where should I look in the NT to read the relevant passages?
The book of Acts.
I’m guessing it had to be magic. How the hell do you not notice the guy with holes in his wrists and feet and a big bloody gash in his torso? Didn’t Jesus also have major wounds from being whipped? (It was once described to me, in tones of excitement not normally associated with high school teachers, that His kidneys were hanging out.)
Or perhaps not. Maybe some church in the backwaters of nowhere has as its pride and joy a bloody Groucho mask. “Religion is a wonderful institution, but who wants to be institutionalized?”
Well now that you mention it, he did look a bit funny. Must have been one of them foreigners.
Zombie? What zombie?
Come on, you’d be in denial too if this happened to you. 
Thanks for the answers all.
The last chapters of each of The Gospels also tell about Jesus after the resurrection. Here’s Matthew’s version; next, you can check out Mark, Luke & John.
The accounts vary considerably. But they’re pretty short. Why not engage in a bit of Bible study? Then, move on to Acts.
The link provided uses King James Version–with a dropdown offering different translations in many languages. I like the KJV because of the language; others like it for other reasons.
You’re referring to the “road to Emmaus” incident, which is described in Luke 24:13-35. One theory I’ve heard is that the two men in question didn’t rcognize Jesus partly because they hadn’t ever seen him up close before. As far as I know, these particular men (one of whom is named Cleopas) aren’t mentioned anywhere else in the Bible, so they might not have been part of the group who had hung around with Jesus. They might have only seen him at a distance (and of course, they wouldn’t have seen him on TV or on the cover of Newsweek, and they might not have had their contact lenses in when attending a gathering where Jesus was present). Plus, they weren’t really expecting to run into him on the road, Jesus having been crucified and all. It was when he performed his characteristic action of breaking bread that they realized, “Hey, that’s just how Jesus used to do it!”
Thanks. Boy, Matthew is a little anti-semetic:
I’ve heard it suggested that this was the point when they first noticed his hands.
The Jewish leaders don’t fare all that well throughout the New Testament, so they seem like obvious targets to use to counter the immediate conclusion many would come to when Jesus’ body disappeared, if you’re a Christian author.
“Yesss. Jesus is what they called me. Jesus the Grey.”
“But I am Jesus the White.”
The Apostles’ Creed, very similar as spoken by Roman Catholics, British Anglicans and American Episcopalians and Presbyterians, specifically says that Jesus descended into Hell for three days after being crucified, before rising again: Apostles' Creed - Wikipedia