Forty Days

Easter is a time when the focus is either on bunnies and their reproductive cycles or the specifics of resurrection. What many people ignore is just how long Jesus spent milling around after his triumphant return. From what I can tell through quick google searches (versus a close reading of sacred texts) he was back for forty days. That’s long enough to develop new habits. But what did he do? What did he say? And where did he go? 

I think the answers to all these questions are quite obvious. He did all the things he couldn’t do in life. He went to fancy restaurants without reservations. He confronted people he never liked. He took long walks without giving sermons. He ate well, he drank well, and he laughed a lot. The thing about forty days is that it’s long enough to get comfortable, but just short enough to still feel relatively fresh. After say, eighty days, he might not have received the same sort of welcome. That’s when he would get side glances and subtle head shakes. The muttering of people wondering, “when is he ascending anyway?” Forty days is enough time for people to be happy to see him. 

What Jesus craved, besides fish, wine, was social acceptance. He wanted to walk into any establishment and have the whole place stop. “Look, it’s Jesus. Let’s go say hi.” The way a mafia don demands constant respect. By the end of the forty days, everyone who needed to see him, saw him, and even those who didn’t want to, had to begrudgingly relent. It’s not every day you see someone nailed to a cross and then ordering shots for the entire bar.  

The problem with the story is how boring it was. You have to remember what he didn’t have. Sure, Jesus could dance, but he couldn’t shoot a shaky video and post it on TikTok. Yes, he could “call on his disciples,” but he couldn’t text them cryptic messages. Jesus didn’t have an iPhone or a iPad. He never tweeted. He didn’t know what a QR code was or why all memes use a similar font. I’m not certain he ever ordered anything on the menu. He was strictly a servant of daily specials, trusting the expertise of a kitchen staff and enjoying the culinary surprises from a gifted chef. But after forty days, you start to see some repeats. 

The truth is, if you look at the forty days carefully, you see that Jesus did everything he wanted. He got his “money’s worth,” as it were. This is why he hasn’t come back. Not because he can’t, but because he’s not interested. He doesn’t want to wait in line at the Genius Bar or deal with traffic on the BQE. He got enough of the whole resurrection thing back then. Despite Marvel’s insistence, most people abhor sequels.