When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.
Parallel Translations
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When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.
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And when he had spoken these thinges whyll they behelde he was take vp and a cloude receaved him vp out of their sight.
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And when he had spoken these things, while they behelde, he was taken vp: for a cloude tooke him vp out of their sight.
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Contradictions (3)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Acts 1:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Daniel 7:13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
- Luke 24:50-51 He led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. While he blessed them, he withdrew from them, and was carried up into heaven.
- Mark 16:19 So then the Lord, after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
- Exodus 19:9 Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” Moses told the words of the people to Yahweh.
- John 6:62 Then what if you would see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?
- Acts 1:2 until the day in which he was received up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
- Ephesians 4:8-12 Therefore he says, “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to people.” Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ,
- Luke 21:27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
- Revelation 11:12 I heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” They went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies saw them.
- Isaiah 19:1 The burden of Egypt. “Behold, Yahweh rides on a swift cloud, and comes to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence; and the heart of Egypt will melt within it.
- Psalms 68:18 You have ascended on high. You have led away captives. You have received gifts among people, yes, among the rebellious also, that Yah God might dwell there.
- Exodus 34:5 Yahweh descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed Yahweh’s name.
- Revelation 1:7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so, Amen.
- Revelation 14:4 These are those who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed by Jesus from among men, the first fruits to God and to the Lamb.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 9. The readers may learn out of our Institutions…
9. The readers may learn out of our Institutions what profit we reap by the ascension of Christ. Notwithstanding, because it is one of the chiefest points of our faith, therefore doth Luke endeavor more diligently to prove the same; yea, rather, the Lord himself meant to put the same out of all doubt, when as he hath ascended so manifestly, and hath confirmed the certainty of the same by other circumstances. For, if so be it he had vanished away secretly, then might the disciples have doubted what was become of him; but now, sith that they, being in so plain a place, saw him taken up with whom they had been conversant, whom also they heard speak even now, whom they beheld with their eyes, whom also they see taken out of their sight by a cloud, there is no cause why they should doubt whither he was gone. Furthermore, the angels are there also to bear witness of the same. And it was needful that the history should have been set down so diligently for our cause, that we may know assuredly, that although the Son of God appear nowhere upon earth, yet doth he live in the heavens. And this seemeth to be the reason why the cloud did overshadow him, before such time as he did enter into his celestial glory; that his disciples being content with their measure might cease to inquire any further. And we are taught by them that our mind is not able to ascend so high as to take a full view of the glory of Christ; therefore, let this cloud be a mean to restrain our boldness, as was the smoke which was continually before the door of the tabernacle in the time of the law.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain After that Christ had promised the full virtue of…
After that Christ had promised the full virtue of the holy Ghost, wherewith he would govern his Church, although he should be absent in body, he took up his body from us into heavenly tabernacles, there to continue until the latter day of judgment, as the Angels witness.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 9 And when he had spoken these things, while…
9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
Ver. 9. And a cloud] Look not therefore for revelations from heaven (saith Aretius), but search the Scriptures, for those are they that testify of Christ.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Mr 16:19; Luk 24:51. As he did not actually…
Mr 16:19; Luk 24:51. As he did not actually give up his life till all was fulfilled, so he did not leave the world till all was revealed by him that was necessary for us.
While they beheld; that they might be eye witnesses, and most unexceptionable.
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He was taken up; not by an external help of angels, but by his own power, and the agility of his now glorious body.
And a cloud received him out of their sight: this, though a true cloud, yet was a more than ordinarily glorious one, suitable to the majesty of him that used it.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Here an account is given of our Saviour’s triumphant…
Here an account is given of our Saviour’s triumphant ascension into heaven, with several remarkable particulars thereunto belonging.
Observe, 1. Who and what it was that ascended; even the same that descended. Christ Jesus, in his divine nature as God, and in his human nature as man, his person consisting of soul and body, he now ascended in both.
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Observe, 2. The place he ascended from; from this world in general, and from Mount Olivet in particular, that very place where he began his last sorrowful tragedy. Where his heart began to be sad, here it is now made glad.
Learn thence, That God can make the very places of our trouble and torment, (as sick-beds, prisons, strange countries) to become places of comfort and triumphant joy unto us, when he pleases.
Observe, 3. The place whither he ascended, into heaven; that is, the third heaven, the throne of God, the seat of the blessed. Hence he is said to ascend far above all heavens; that is, above the aerial and starry heavens which we see, into the highest heavens; unto the place where he was before, as himself expresses it, Joh 6:62.
Thence learn, That the Lord Jesus Christ is returned back again to that sweet and glorious bosom of delight and love, from which he came at his first incarnation; What and if he shall see the Son of Man ascending up where he was before?
Observe, 4. The time when our Lord ascended, forty days after his resurrection. The care and love of Christ to his church was manifested by this his stay with them. Unspeakable glory was prepared for him, and did now await him; but he would not go to possess it, till he had settled all things for the good of his church. And when he had settled his family in order, and given charge to his disciples concerning the discipline of his house, he would stay no longer, lest he should seem to affect a terrene life.
Note hence, That Christ desired to be no longer here, than he had work to do for God and souls. A good pattern for our imitation, to desire life upon the score of usefulness: To be willing to be gone when our work is done.
Observe, 5. How and after what manner Christ ascended up into heaven. he ascended, as well as was raised from the grave, by his own power, verse 10 Whilst they looked stedfastly, he went up: that is, by his own divine power. True, the angels did attend him, but they did not assist him. Elias went to heaven in a chariot of fire, but he was fetched up, he could not carry himself up: but Christ needed no chariot, no carriage of angels for his conveyance, being the author of life and motion.
1. He ascended magnificently, with great triumph into his kingdom in heaven; God went up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. A cloud is prepared as a royal chariot, to carry up this King of glory to his royal pavilion: A cloud received him out of their sight.
And oh! what jubilations of the blessed angels were heard in heaven! The triumphs and universal acclamations are not ended to this day, nor ever shall end.
2. He ascended munificently, shedding forth innumerable and inestimable gifts upon his church at his ascension; When he ascended up on high, he gave gifts to men, prophets, apostles, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.
And oh! how many thousands now in heaven, and upon earth also, are blessing Christ at this day, for these his ascension-gifts!
Observe, 6. The witnesses of our Lord’s ascension. Elias had but one witness of his rapture into heaven. St. Paul not one, but Christ will neither have all eye-witnesses of his ascension, nor yet too few; he did not carry all Jerusalem forth to see his glorious departure, but the select company of his disciples only: The number of witnesses were about an hundred and twenty. Those who had been partners with him in his humiliation, are now made witnesses of his glorious ascension. If we will converse with Christ in his lowly estate here on earth, we shall be made happy with the sight of his transendent glory ere long above.
Observe, 7. The cause and reasons why he thus ascended; namely, because had he not ascended, he could not have been inaugurated and installed in the glory he now enjoys above. Had he not ascended, he could not have interceded, as now he doth, for us here below. Had he not ascended into heaven, we could never have entered heaven: He entered as our forerunner, as our head and representative, and we ascend after him, in the virtue of his ascension before us.
In a word, had he not ascended before us, the Holy Spirit had not been enjoyed by us, as a sanctifier, and as a comforter, at least not in that measure in which he has been since enjoyed by his church. If Christ had not gone, the Comforter had not come. He begins where Christ ended. Take we good heed then, how we treat the Holy Spirit whom Christ sent down from heaven at his ascension thither; that we do not grieve him by our unkindness, nor vex him by our disobedience, nor quench him by our sinful neglects of duty: for in grieving our Spirit, we grieve our Comforter, and in grieving our Comforter, we grieve ourselves. But let us entertain him kindly, on the account of his nature, for he is God, Acts 5. On the account of his office, and the benefits we received by him; for he is Vinculum Unionis, the bond of union betwixt Christ and our souls, without which we can never have either interest in Christ, or communion with him.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And when he had spoken these things,.... That the…
And when he had spoken these things,.... That the times and seasons were not to be known by them, but to be kept a secret by the Father: that they should tarry at Jerusalem, and in a few days be baptized with the Holy Ghost, and receive such power, abilities, strength, and courage thereby, as to bear a noble testimony for Christ, not only there, but in all the world; and when he had given them a fresh commission, and told them where they should go, what they should preach, and what miracles they should perform, and blessed them,
While they be held; all the Oriental versions, add, "him"; that is Christ, while they looked wistly at him, being attentive to what he said to them, so that they were not asleep; nor did Christ become invisible to them, or disappear before his ascension, but was visible to them in it; hence they were eyewitnesses of it:
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he was taken up. Luke in his Gospel says, "carried up": very likely by angels, since these not only attended him in his ascension, but are the chariots of the Lord, in which he went up to heaven; see Psa 68:17 nor is this at all inconsistent with his proper deity, or that divine power he had of elevating himself, which he could do without the assistance of others; but this makes for the glory of his majesty,
And a cloud received him out of their sight; which was done partly for the same purpose, to add to the grandeur and magnificence of Christ's ascension; and partly to check the curiosity of the disciples, and prevent their gazing any more at him: and it may be that this, cloud was no other than a number of angels that appeared in this form; just as Elijah was taken up to heaven by angels, who appeared in the form of horses and chariots of fire; and the rather this may be the sense here, since it is certain, that there was a large number of angels which attended Christ at his ascension; and by whom he was then seen, Psa 68:17 whereas, if these are not intended by the cloud, no more than two are here taken notice of, and these not as going along with Christ, but staying behind to converse with his disciples; to which may be added, that Christ was "received" by this cloud which descended to meet him, and joining him, escorted him to heaven: at least it may be thought, if it was a real cloud, that there was a multitude of angels in it, which accompanied him to the heavenly regions; for it can hardly be thought that a multitude of the heavenly host should descend at his birth, and sing glory to God upon his coming into this world; and not as large a number attend him with shouts and acclamations, at his going out of it, when he had done his work he came about, and was ascending to his God and Father, to take his place at his right hand on his throne; see Psa 47:5. The Ethiopic version adds, "and he ascended to heaven".
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 9. He was taken up] He was speaking…
Verse 9. He was taken up] He was speaking face to face with them, and while they beheld he was taken up; he began to ascend to heaven, and they continued to look after him till a cloud received him out of their sight-till he had ascended above the region of the clouds, by the density of which all farther distinct vision was prevented. These circumstances are very remarkable, and should be carefully noted. They render insupportable the theory that states, "that our Lord did not ascend to heaven; that his being taken up signifies his going into some mountain, the top of which was covered with clouds, or thick vapours; and that the two men in white garments were two priests, or Levites, who simply informed the disciples of his revisiting them again at some future time." One would suppose that an opinion of this kind could hardly ever obtain credit among people professing Christianity; and yet it is espoused by some men of considerable learning and ingenuity. But the mere letter of the text will be ever sufficient for its total confutation. He that believes the text cannot receive such a miserable comment. Foreign critics and divines take a most sinful latitude on subjects of this kind.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Act 1:9-11. And when he had spoken these things…
Act 1:9-11. And when he had spoken these things — Had given them these instructions; while they beheld — And had their eyes fixed upon him, with great earnestness and high expectation of some extraordinary event, consequent on this solemn preparation, and while they were receiving his blessing, (Luk 24:51,) he was taken up — Was lifted up from the ground, in a miraculous manner, gradually rising higher and higher, till at length a cloud — Conducted probably by the ministry of angels; received him out of their sight — That is, covered him about, and carried him into heaven; not in a sudden, but leisurely manner, that they might behold him departing, and see the proof of his having come down from heaven. He did not grant his disciples the privilege of seeing him come out of the grave, because they might see him after he was risen, which would be a satisfaction sufficient; but as they could not see him in heaven while they continued on earth, he granted them the favour of seeing him go up toward heaven, and of having their eyes fixed upon him with so much care and intention of mind, that they could not be deceived. Observe, reader, our Lord ascended into heaven from the mount of Olives, at or near the place where he had been apprehended and bound, and from whence he had been led away like a felon to be tried for his life, insulted, scourged, and condemned to crucifixion! He now goes off in triumph from the same mountain, into a place and state worthy of his innocence and dignity. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven — That is, continued with their eyes fixed the way that he was gone; as he went up — In his triumphant ascent; behold two men — Two angels in the form of men; stood by them — Unexpectedly. Though they had assumed the form and garb of men, they were, by the majesty and splendour of their appearance, known of the apostles to be angels. And, indeed, as his resurrection had been honoured with the appearance of angels, it was natural to think that his ascension into heaven would be so likewise; in white apparel — Emblematical of their holiness and happiness; which also said, Ye men of Galilee — So they call them, to put them in mind of the meanness of their original condition: Christ had put a great honour upon them, in making them his ambassadors; but they must remember they are men of Galilee, illiterate and despised by the wise and learned of the world. Why stand ye here, gazing up into heaven — With so much surprise and amazement? it seems, they looked up steadfastly after he was gone out of sight, expecting, perhaps, to see him come down again immediately. This same Jesus, which is taken up into heaven — Who is gone to that world from whence he came, and in which he is to make his final abode; shall so come as you have seen him go into heaven — He shall come in like manner, that is, visible, in a cloud, in his own person, with the same body, and with such majesty and glory as you have now seen him ascend with. “The angels spake of his coming to judge the world at the last day, a description of which Jesus had given in his lifetime, saying, (Mat 16:27,) The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, &c. We may therefore infer that the cloud whereon he now ascended, being like that in which he is to come again, was more bright and pure than the clearest lambent flame; for it was the glory of the Father, that is, the shechinah, or visible symbol of the divine presence, which appeared to the patriarchs in ancient times; which filled the temple at its dedication, (2Ch 7:3,) and which, in its greatest splendour, cannot be beheld with mortal eyes, and so, for that reason, is called the light inaccessible, in which God dwells, 1Ti 6:16. It was on this occasion, probably, that our Lord’s body was changed, acquiring the glories of immortality, perhaps, in the view of his disciples; for flesh and blood, such as he rose with, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Accordingly, the body which he now has is called a glorious body, and declared to be of the same nature with that which the saints shall have after their resurrection, Php 3:21. Wherefore, though the Scripture is silent as to the time when this change passed upon Christ’s body, we must suppose that it happened either immediately before his ascension, or in the time of it, or soon after it. As he ascended up into the skies, the flaming cloud which surrounded him, leaving a tract of light behind it, marked his passage through the air, but gradually lost its magnitude in the eyes of them who stood below, till, soaring high, he and it vanished out of their sight.
“In this illustrious manner did the Saviour depart, after having finished the grand work which he came down upon earth to execute; a work which God himself, in the remotest eternity, contemplated with pleasure; which angels anciently with joy described as to happen; and which, through all eternity to come, shall, at periods the most immensely distant from the time of its execution, be looked back upon with inexpressible delight by every inhabitant of heaven. For though the little affairs of time may vanish altogether and be lost, when they are removed far back by the endless progression of duration, this object is such, that no distance, however great, can lessen it. The kingdom of God is erected upon the incarnation and sufferings of the Son of God, the kingdom and city of God comprehending all the virtuous beings that are in the universe, made happy by goodness and love; and therefore none of them can ever forget the foundation on which their happiness stands firmly established. In particular, the human species, recovered by this labour of the Son of God, will view their deliverer, and look back on his stupendous undertaking with high ravishment, while they are feasting without interruption on its sweet fruits, ever growing more delicious. The rest of the members likewise of the city of God will contemplate it with perpetual pleasure, as the happy means of recovering their kindred that were lost; and, it may be, as the grand confirmation of the whole rational system, in their subjection to him who liveth and reigneth for ever, and whose favour is better than life.” — Macknight.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain While they beheld - While they saw him. It…
While they beheld - While they saw him. It was of importance to state that circumstance, and to state it distinctly. It is not affirmed in the New Testament that they “saw him rise” from the dead, because the evidence of that fact could be better established by their seeing him after he was risen. But the truth of his “ascension to heaven” could not be confirmed in that manner. Hence, it was so arranged that he should ascend in open day, and in the presence of his apostles; and that not when they were asleep, or were inattentive to what was occurring, but when they were engaged in a conversation that’ would fix the attention, and even when they were looking upon him. Had Jesus vanished secretly, or had he disappeared in the night, the apostles would have been amazed and confounded; perhaps they would even have doubted whether they had not been deceived. But when they saw him leave them in this manner, they could not doubt that he had ascended to heaven, and that God approved his work, and would carry it forward. This event was exceedingly important:
(1) It was a confirmation of the truth of the Christian religion.
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(2) It enabled the apostles to state distinctly where the Lord Jesus was, and at once directed their affections and their thoughts away from the earth, and opened their eyes on the glory of the scheme of religion they were to establish. If their Saviour was in heaven, it settled the question about the nature of his kingdom. It was clear that it was not designed to be a temporal kingdom. The reasons why it was proper that the Lord Jesus should ascend to heaven rather than remain on earth were:
(1) That he had “finished” the work which God gave him to do “on the earth” Joh 17:4; Joh 19:30, and it was proper that he should be received back to the glory which he had with the Father before the world was, Joh 17:4-5; Phi 2:6, Phi 2:9-10.
(2) It was proper that he should ascend in order that the Holy Spirit might come down and perform his part of the work of redemption. Jesus, by his personal ministry, as a man, could be but in one place; the Holy Spirit could be in all places, and could apply the work to all people. See note on Joh 16:7.
(3) A part of the work of Christ was yet to be performed in heaven. That was the work of intercession. The high priest of the Jews not only made an atonement, but also presented the blood of sacrifice before the mercy-seat, as the priest of the people, Lev 16:11-14. This was done to typify the entrance of the great high priest of our profession into the heavens, Heb 9:7-8, Heb 9:11-12. The work which he performs there is the work of intercession, Heb 7:25. This is properly the work which an advocate performs in a court for his client. As applicable to Christ, the meaning is, that he, as our great high priest, still manages our cause in heaven; secures our interests; obtains for us grace and mercy. His work, in this respect, consists in his appearing in the presence of God for us Heb 9:24; in his presenting the merits of his blood Heb 9:12, Heb 9:14; and in securing the continuance of the mercy which has been bestowed on us, and which is still needful for our welfare. The Lord Jesus also ascended that he might assume and exercise the office of King in the immediate seat of power. All worlds were made subject to him for the welfare of the church; and it was needful that he should be solemnly invested with that power in the presence of God as the reward of his earthly toils. 1Co 15:25, “he must reign until he hath put all enemies under his feet.” Compare Eph 1:20-22; Phi 2:6-11.
A cloud received him - He entered into the region of the clouds, and was hid from their view. But two others of our race have been taken bodily from earth to heaven. Enoch was transported (Gen 5:24; compare Heb 11:5); and Elijah was taken up by a whirlwind, 2Ki 2:11. It is remarkable that when the return of the Saviour is mentioned, it is uniformly said that he will return in the clouds, Act 1:11; Mat 24:30; Mat 26:64; Mar 13:26; Rev 1:7; Dan 7:13. The clouds are an emblem of sublimity and grandeur, and perhaps this is all that is intended by these expressions, Deu 4:11; 2Sa 22:12; Psa 97:2; Psa 104:3.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain He was raised up. Raised himself up, and ascended,…
He was raised up. Raised himself up, and ascended, &c. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain while they beheld, he was taken up--See on Luk…
while they beheld, he was taken up--See on Luk 24:50-53. Lest it should be thought He had disappeared when they were looking in some other direction, and so was only concluded to have gone up to heaven, it is here expressly said that "while they were looking He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight." So Elijah, "If thou see me when I am taken from thee" (Kg2 2:10); "And Elisha saw it" (Act 1:12). (See on Luk 9:32.)
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 3. The Ascension—the necessary condition before the advent of…
3. The Ascension—the necessary condition before the advent of the Spirit, Act_1:9-14.
Compare note on Luke, entire § 156. We assume that on Olivet, about a sabbath day’s journey from the city, yet within the limits of the Bethany territory, took place this converse and departure.
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How truly the ascension of Christ was the preceding condition to the sending of the Spirit, we, in fact, learn by turning from the writings of Luke to the Gospel of John. So do the different evangelists supplement and confirm each other. The narrators are several, the truth is one. See our notes to Joh_16:6-11.—”The ascension of Elijah,” says Baumgarten, “was as the flight of a bird, which none can follow; the ascension of Christ, as a bridge from earth to heaven for all who will to ascend.”
9. Taken up—Lifted up as the commencement of the movement.
Out of their sight—The terminal fact.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 9. while they beheld] That they might have as…
9. while they beheld] That they might have as clear proof of His Ascension as they had received of the reality of His Resurrection, He is taken from them while they are still gazing on Him and with His words yet sounding in their ears. In the Gospel (Luk_24:51) it is “while He blessed them.” From the narrative in this place the witnesses of the Ascension seem to have been only the eleven, and this is stated expressly in St Mark’s Gospel (Mar_16:14), so that although in St Luke’s Gospel (Luk_24:33) the two disciples who had returned from Emmaus are related to have come unto the eleven to report what they had seen, we are not to conclude that they remained with them during all the other events recorded in that chapter, an additional evidence that that chapter relates to events which happened in the course of several days and not all in close sequence on the same day. Cp. Act_1:3, note.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (9) He was taken up; and a cloud received…
(9) He was taken up; and a cloud received him . . .—It is remarkable how little stress is laid in the Gospels on the fact which has always been so prominent in the creeds of Christendom. Neither St. John nor St. Matthew record it. It is barely mentioned with utmost brevity in the verses which close the Gospel of St. Mark, and in which many critics see, indeed, a fragment of apostolic teaching, but not part of the original Gospel. The reasons of this silence are, however, not far to seek. It was because the Ascension was from the first part of the creed of Christendom that the Evangelists said so little. The fact had been taught to every catechumen. They would not embellish it—as, for example, the Assumption of the Virgin was embellished in later legends—by fantastic details. That it was so received is clear. It is implied in our Lord’s language, as recorded by St. John, “What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where He was before?” (Joh_6:62), and such words would hardly have been brought before believers at the close of the apostolic age if they had received no fulfilment. It is assumed in the earliest form of the Church’s creed, “He was received up into glory,” the verb being identical with that which St. Luke employs in St. Peter’s speeches (Act_2:33; Act_3:21), and in St. Paul’s epistles (Eph_1:20; 1Ti_3:16). We may add that there was something like a moral necessity, assuming the Resurrection as a fact, for such a conclusion to our Lord’s work on earth. Two other alternatives may, perhaps, be just imagined as possible: He might, like Lazarus, have lived out His restored life to its appointed term, and then died the common death of all men; but in that case where would have been the victory over death, and the witness that He was the Son of Man? He might have lived on an endless life on earth; but in this case, being such as He was, conflict, persecution, and suffering would have come again and again at every stage, and in each instance a miracle would have been needed to save the suffering from passing on to death, or many deaths must have been followed by many resurrections. When we seek, however, to realise the process of the Ascension, we find ourselves in a region of thought in which it is not easy to move freely. With our thoughts of the relations of the earth to space and the surrounding orbs, we find it hard to follow that upward motion, and to ask what was its direction and where it terminated. We cannot get beyond the cloud; but that cloud was the token of the glory of the Eternal Presence, as the Shechinah that of old filled the Temple (1Ki_8:10-11; Isa_6:1-4), and it is enough for us to know that where God is there also is Christ, in the glory of the Father, retaining still, though under new conditions and laws, the human nature which made Him like unto His brethren.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Said for spoken, A.V.; as they were looking for…
Said for spoken, A.V.; as they were looking for while they beheld, A.V. They were to be aujtoptai, eye-witnesses, of the Lord"s ascension, arid so it is particularly noted that he was taken as they were looking. He did not disappear from their sight till he reached the cloud which enveloped him.
Vers. 9-14. Wisdom in bereavement.
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We learn from these verses
I THAT THE CULMINATION OF HOPE IN ONE MAY PROVE THE DEPTH OF PRIVATION TO ANOTHER. For the joy that was set before him Jesus "endured the cross, despising the shame". (Heb_12:2)
Into that joy he now entered. As the "cloud received him out of their sight" (ver. 9), and he returned unto the Father, he took possession of the glorious inheritance for which he had paid so costly a price. But the time of his exaltation was the hour of his disciples sorrow. By his departure they lost sight of their dearest Friend, their wise Counselor, their great Teacher, their honored Lord. So must it be with us. The upright Christian statesman passes to a still larger sphere of usefulness and honor, and the nation mourns; the gifted and devoted pastor is called to a celestial ministry, and the Church is bereaved; the Beloved parent is translated to the skies, and the family hearth is desolate.
II THAT THE ATTITUDE OF HELPLESSNESS IS ONE FROM WHICH WE MUST SOON BE AROUSED. (Vers. 10, 11.) It was natural and right enough that, when the Savior was taken up and disappeared from sight, the disciples should continue to "look steadfastly toward heaven; their eyes may well have been riveted to the spot in inexpressible awe and wonder. Doubtless all thought was swallowed up in simple surprise and consternation; they stood in helpless, bewildering astonishment. This might last for some minutes, but it could not continue longer. The angels broke in upon it, not with the language of reproach, but with the voice of arousing. A kindly voice is this. When disposed to give way to helpless awe, or fruitless grief, or inanimate prostration of soul, we may thank the minister of God, in whatever form he may come, who says to us, "Why stand ye gazing"? Amuse ye! All is not lost. The past is past, but the future is in front of you.
III THAT TIME, WITH PATIENCE, WILL BRING HEAVENLY COMPENSATIONS. (Ver. 11, latter part.) Though the Master was taken, he would come again; and when he returned, it would, indeed, be "in like manner, etc., but in more glorious form and with more splendid surroundings (1Th_4:16; 2Th_1:7; Rev_1:7) Moreover, he would come again in unlike manner, but in a way as gracious and, perhaps, even more needful, viz. in the enlightening influences of the Holy Spirit (ver. 5). Heaven was taking away their Strength and their Joy; but let them wait in holy trustfulness, and Heaven would soon give them ample and blessed compensation. God takes from us-from the community and from the individual heart those that are very dear, things that are very precious to us; then we faint and are grievously distressed; we may be almost paralyzed with our sense of loss and desolation. But there is blessing on its way Divine comfort, solace, strength. The hand that takes our treasures has large compensations in reserve.
IV THAT BEREAVEMENT FINDS A PURE AND WISE RELIEF IN COMMUNION WITH GOD AND IN FELLOWSHIP WITH MAN. (Vers. 12-14.) The apostles, roused by the angels" speech, returned unto Jerusalem and went into the upper room, where they would meet their best friends those who had the deepest sympathy with them that they might commune with them and that they might "continue in prayer and supplication." In the time of bereavement and woe we may be tempted to shut ourselves in to our own chamber and nurse our grief. Nothing can be more unwise. Let sorrow, indeed, have its own chosen loneliness in its first dark hours; leave it alone with God, with the pitiful, patient Savior. Then let it come forth; let it go into the "upper room," where it can hold fellowship with human friends; let it go into the sanctuary, where, with the people of God, it can pour out its heart in prayer and supplication: it will not be long before it finds itself joining with them in the accents of praise. C.
Vers. 9-11. The uplifting of Jesus.
The evangelist employs two different words, both meaning he was taken or lifted up" (vers. 2, 9).
I THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE UPLIFTING. The human is raised into the Divine. The body of humiliation is translated into a form of glory. Exaltation crowns self-abasement. The self-emptied One for love"s sake becomes the depository for all time of the Divine fullness. For our sake the descent from heaven, and the return thither still for our sake. Heaven woos earth in the Incarnation, and in the Ascension earth is wedded to heaven forever. It is the pledge of permanent intercourse and special occasional visitations from God to man. "The Ascension that pole-star of our night!" (E. Irving).
II THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CLOUD. It was ever a symbol of God. It veils, yet reveals; hides, yet manifests him. The definite ever passes into the indefinite; the visible form into the fainter symbol. Men may ask, "Where is he who came and loved our clay?" The answer is in the cloud-symbol. As in its beauty we see it float between heaven and earth, half-dense and half-transparent with the solar glory, we have the image of the vanished Jesus in the world of pious thought. He is the indefinable link between the world of sense and the super sensual. We cannot analyze the truth. We see it, we feel it, by the spiritual aesthesis; and this is better than all definition.
III THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ANGELS" WORDS. We gaze into the mysterious Divine beyond of our life. Our limited horizon melts into the Infinite. What was more knowable than the living and loving Jesus of Nazareth? Here at last the spell of Divine silence seemed to have been broken, and the unutterable One had uttered himself in an articulate voice, and the indefinable and inimitable in form had clothed himself in a form recognizable by all. Yet now this form melts again into the indefinable; this voice ceases in a hush of mystery restored. Well may we stand gazing into the ether. Was the whole an illusion? Not so; but what God has once revealed remains a spiritual possession for all time. And more; it is the pledge that God will repeat the revelation. Christ will come again; the cloud will reappear; out of the mystery voices will again be heard, the express Image will again stand clear for recognition. Here is a Divine process; out of the indefinable into the definable, back to the indefinable again. Christ appears to disappear, again to reappear; and so
That one Face, far from vanish, rather grows; Becomes our universe that feels and knows!
Let us think that "every cloud that veileth love itself is love." In those alternate revealings and hidings of God from us lies the trial of faith, more precious than gold. J.
The Ascension.
Probably the only direct statement of the fact of the Ascension is by St. Luke. Other evangelists point to the same consummation, but do not describe it, for Mark (Mar_16:19, 20) probably a later addition. As an event, corresponds with the miraculous commencement of the Savior"s life, and his many announcements of return to heaven, especially as recorded by St. John. The important place of the fact in the Acts, and its manner of relation, show that it is not a mere halo of disciple-worship round the head of the Master, but the true beginning of the Church"s history. Yet, like many other essential facts, only partly presented to the eyes of men. There is a cloud of mystery, a veil over the secret depths of glory. Regard the Ascension
I IN ITS RELATION TO THE SAVIOUR HIMSELF.
1. As glorification, and so lifting up of the earthly facts into the higher sphere; scaling of authority; hiding of infirmity; manifestation of kingly power; connecting of the three offices of Christ, as Prophet, Priest, and King, with the one center of his personal existence, his heavenly throne.
2. As the commencement of the wider ministry of the Spirit. Before his ascension Jesus was almost entirely a minister to the Jews; from henceforth he was, through his messengers by the Holy Ghost, the Savior of the world.
II IN RELATION TO DISCIPLES.
1. As the completion of their faith.
2. As the correction of their errors, and the help to a more spiritual apprehension of Jesus.
3. As the embodiment of the promise of the Spirit, for the High Priest had thus visibly gone into the holiest place, and would return with the blessing.
4. As the discipline which would draw them together, and help them torealize the fact of their Church life as the life of the world.
III IN RELATION TO THE WORLD AT LARGE.
1. Proclamation of the kingdom of heaven.
2. The setting on high of the gospel facts as a sun in the sky from which the light should pour down over all the earth. The Nazarene speaks from heaven. The Crucified is the Glorified.
3. The help of men"s faith to lay hold of the invisible and eternal. He who has so gone, shall so return. "I go to prepare a place for you." The end of the world is in that ascension of the world"s highest to heaven. R.
Vers. 9-11. Heavenward gazing recalled to earthward watching.
they beheld, he was taken up as ye have seen him go into heaven." The exact aspect of the glories of the Ascension depicted here is not found in any of the accounts of the evangelists. Happy for us that second thoughts were brought to St. Luke, and that we were not left without the beautiful and valuable suggestions that arise from these verses! The resurrection of Jesus Christ stamped the stamp of undeniable royalty upon his brow; round his brow the Ascension flung royalty"s own golden crown a crown of unsurpassed worth and luster and unfadingness. Well may we pause and ponder the brief recital of that marvel of glorification. Let us notice
I THE ASCENSION ITSELF what is recorded of it. Nothing whatever is said of it in the Gospel by St. John. In that by St. Matthew the matter leads up to it, and abruptly stops, omitting all description of the great event itself. The language of St. Mark is," So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God." The invisible world was for one moment opened to the inspired vision of St. Mark, it would seem, as afterwards to that of Stephen. And the account of St. Luke in his "former treatise" is, "And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven." There are a detail and an added touch, however, in the passage before us very grateful to read: "When he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up." In the event itself, its unadorned majesty is the characteristic. In the description, the own dignity of brevity is pronounced. There is reason, as well as sublimity of effect, in both the one and the other of these things. Simplicity and brevity obviate distraction, and attention is fixed on the essentials. So we see again the scene with no bodily eye, it is true; men to the end of time shall see again and again the scene, it is true, with no bodily eye, but with a spiritual distinctness and a vividness that may leave nothing more to be asked for that could, in the nature of things, be given. Jesus does not die away on mortal view, but he soars away from mortal view, while the accents of his voice are still in the ear, "speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God," and repeating the "promise of the Father" in the gift of the Holy Ghost. And for what is seen it is this: he is borne in an unusual direction upward, clear in the eye of sense, till a cloud received him;" and beyond that cloud, only clear where the eye of faith pierces, he is seen received up into heaven, and on the right hand of God." In this ascension, therefore, notice:
1. The visibleness of it, as compared, for instance, with the departures, whatever they were, of Enoch and of Moses.
2. The deliberateness of it, as compared, for instance, with the departure in blaze and speed of Elijah. So much to the contrary the manner of ascent of Jesus, that in the all-brief description before us there are nevertheless contained as many as four verbal indications of the distinctness of the amazing phenomenon; e.g. "while they beheld out of their sight while they looked steadfastly as he went up in like manner as ye have seen him go.
3. The number of witnesses present to see whatever was to be seen.
4. Not a figment of an earthly trace of Jesus after ascension alleged by foe, not a fancy of it alleged by friend, as compared, for instance, with such things as we read in 1Ki_18:12; Luk_4:1, and as might have been conceivable.
II THE FASCNATION OF THE SIGHT FOR THE APOSTLES. One thing betrays it and describes it their rapt upward gaze. Beneath this one thing what wealth of suggestion may lie! It is probable that the apostles were forewarned of the coming ascension of their Master; of his departure, certainly. At all events prophecy (Psa_24:7-10 Psa_68:18; Eph_4:8) with which it is likely that they were on their own account acquainted, likelier that Jesus had made them acquainted, had advised them that the departure would be of the nature of an ascension. Yet, judging from the analogy of other forewarnings, mercifully vouchsafed but little improved (Luk_24:25-27, Luk_24:44-46; Joh_21:4-6) it is conceivablethat the moment found them now off their guard, and little prepared for the consummate event. Again, of the exact methods of Christ"s departure from his apostles and the women, and others to whom he graciously revealed his presence during the forty days, we are not distinctly informed in each several case. But in some we are told simply that he "vanished" out of their sight. Let it be supposed that this was the method of his going in each ease, and we may guide ourselves to the conclusion that at most the apostles imagined that some one of the occasions of their being blessed with the sight and the voice of him would inevitably prove the last. But what a vision this prepared for them! What a transcendent "gift" even of itself! His "speaking" suddenly but quietly ends. And while all eyes are calmly, attentively, lovingly turned upon the grace of his countenance, "he was taken up." And so their eyes also are lifted up, and thoughts and affections. "A cloud" which receives him "out of their sight" arrests their vision, but not their thoughts and affections. They still look "steadfastly toward heaven," and seem lost in wonder and in meditation. What is it they are seeing, or, so far as they retain the power to think, what is it they think they see? What is it they are experiencing while they gaze?
1. This upward gaze was their last earthly beholding of Jesus. One wonders not it was prolonged as much as possible. That last long look, judging from analogies of inferior matter, how was it wreathed all the way up with richest remembrances most vividly revived! Well indeed might it be so now, at all events. How fragrant crowd the flowers of memory, that nevertheless some while seem to mock our grief! They accord so ill, yet are so spontaneous; again seem to feed it, but fail not at length to help sanctify it, when our last earthly look has been taken of the companion we have so well loved and long time so cherished. But now, men"s eyes were being robbed of the welcomed beholding of a Friend of matchless power, and matchless wisdom, and matchless loving-kindness! That riveted gaze who could have wondered had it drunk out forever the light of earthly eyes?
2. This upward gaze was one that found elements of most impressive contrast with much of the apostles" former knowledge of Christ. There is a great difference between the thoroughest persuasion as to the intrinsic quality of some one whom we trust and love, who nevertheless is left lifelong in the cold shade of obscurity, and the cheerful light and satisfaction that make us proud sharers of the public success and the popularity and the manifestation of our idol. This latter portion Jesus had never sought. That he had never done so, nor shown the slightest disposition to do so, had been occasionally subject of remark and of petulance to some of even his faithful adherents. The Disciples of Christ had, as the overwhelming rule, seen his humiliation; and what of his intrinsic, most real glory they had been privileged to see, was nevertheless veiled with the garments of humiliation. They had seen his modest subjection, his calm, obedient observance of what was due to custom and religious rite, as in his baptism. They had seen his great works, his wise words, his holy life, his undeniable innocence, all flouted times without number, and yet no remedy, no fire from heaven, no thunderbolt, no conspicuous avenger, came to view. Then they had seen the garden struggle, the trial, the Crucifixion. And though they had seen the Transfiguration and the Resurrection, yet up to this present time what became even of these? He seems to take no visible, practical benefit from them. But what their eyes now see opens indeed their eyes! One could imagine that volumes of mist, dark masses of cloud, roll away; the obscurities and conflicting perplexities of some years "vanish," and count themselves all for nothing. The steps of Jesus are no longer on the level, no longer down to submission more submitting; depression is no longer the rule. He rises! Upward is the word! Glory and the realms of air and light are his, and his mode of entrance upon these, in its very uniqueness, awakens fresh impulses of unfeigned adoration. It is an illustration of how those who wait wait even unto the end shall be satisfied.
3. This upward gaze was a silent giving of themselves away at last. It made a willing weaning for them. Now have they done with "the things that are seen," and with self; and they have done with doubt and uncertainty; and they have done with the shadows that are felt, in favor of the momentous realities of which faith is henceforth the trusted and sufficient custodian. So it was no unfruitful gaze. It was not a flash, to leave no permanent effect. It left much more behind it than a mere "glory on the soul." It was convincing evidence, irremovable conviction; it was the kindling of genuine adoration, and a perennial spring of devotion.
III AN APPARENTLY UNCHARITABLE CHALLENGE OF THE ATTITUDE OF THE APOSTLES, AND AN APPARENTLY INCONCLUSIVE REASON FOR IT, ON THE PART OF TWO MEN, "WHO APPEARED IN WHITE APPAREL." The "two men in white apparel" were neither phantoms, creatures of the brain, nor specters, creatures of the air and heavens. The expression, no doubt, designates angels; it is likely enough such as had once been "men," such as Moses and Elijah, or two "of the prophets." Their interruption, one must imagine, must have been at first unwelcome to the apostles. It seems so at first to ourselves. We would have liked to know what close the apostles would have themselves put to their rapt gazing heavenward, Nor is the necessity or the expediency of the interruption visible upon the surface. Yet we may remark that:
1. We are, as it happens, in ignorance of what might have been the effect upon the spectators of the glorious scene of the Ascension, but for this interruption the strickenness of a trance, for instance.
2. Intently excited states of mind often answer to the corrective of the mere sound of the human voice, calmly addressed to them. Marvelous instances of this fact are furnished in the history of mental disease.
3. Genuinely exalted feeling may "exalt above measure", (2Co_12:7) and may need a prompt simple treatment, to obviate the necessity of future much more painful treatment. The simple treatment now was interruption, but with the comforting assurance that the separation was not absolute and forever, but distinctly the contrary.
4. Very vivid experiences of joy, of grief, or of an intricately mingled character, while on the one hand very prone to absorb undue attention for the present, are at the same time the very soil that abundantly rewards the introduction of the seeds of great aspects of the future. Nor could there easily be found a more certain example of this than in what is now before us. It was of first-rate importance that in the heart and mind of the first teachers and preachers of Christianity the second coming of Christ should be closely linked with his ascension. The Christian individual and the Christian Church may never linger too long in the past. It is a silent, wonderful testimony to the vitality of Christ"s truth, and its spirit of progress, wide as the world and lasting as the world, that a tremendous future career and consummation are ever marked for prominence. Side by side with the Ascension must the second descent of Christ be kept. Therefore side by side were these great facts (so to say) sown, in the apostolic heart. Further, that the descending Christ would be the same i.e, one of glorified human body, as the cloud bore him a minute or two ago out of human sight was a fact to be deeply impressed upon the Church of all time. And therefore, ab initio, it is so impressed on the apostolic heart, while nothing has yet occurred to efface from them the conviction of the real body of Jesus. The words of the "two men in white apparel" are the words of studied precision and emphasis. This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." We can be left in no doubt that the interruption was neither reckless nor heartless. It was not to spoil the infinite serenity, infinite solemnity, infinite charm of moments, that with the eye raised heart and soul to heaven. Momentous doctrinal truth was to be safely sealed and impressed upon the Church"s mind. And the choicest of Heaven"s seasons must be ungrudgingly given and unchurlishly accepted a tribute to the importance of that truth; a token, also, of another noteworthy thing, that the Church was infinitely dear to the heart of her Lord at all time; nor that even the purest joy of a few first apostles shall be permitted to stand in the light of the whole Church. In this case there is not the atom of a reason to think those apostles would have asked it. They breathe no murmur that their delicious reverie was disturbed.
5. Last of all, under any circumstances, heavenward gaze, contemplation, seraphic vision, must be exchanged a while for earth"s duty. That word is sacred, that call is sovereign. We must come down from the mount, whether it be the Mount of Beatitudes, or of Transfiguration, or of Olivet. Prayer, praise, and those acts of meditation and devotion that may be of sublimest significance, are the aliment of Christian life. It is in "the strength of such meat" that we must live the present life, and do the work of the present days, and teach the "truth as it is in Jesus," by living, humble example as well as by word. And we must ourselves "wait for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ," "comforting and edifying one another (1Th_5:11) with the words of the "two men in white apparel. B.
The Ascension as the visible sign of the acceptance of the Redeemer.
If the secret of the Redeemer"s life on the earth be this that he was working out for us a man"s obedience to God in a human body and human spheres, then the closing scenes of the record of that life may be thus represented. In the struggle of Gethsemane our Redeemer"s soul won a full triumph of trust, submission, and obedience. This inward soul-triumph was tested and proved, and came off perfectly and triumphantly victorious, in the bodily shame and suffering, and even in the death-agony, of Calvary. As a "man," his spirit and purpose of obedience, and his actually doing and beating in obedience, were thus perfectly tested and proved. What remained necessary to constitute him a perfect and all-sufficient burnt offering, to be presented to God for us? Manifestly this alone, that God himself should give some adequate and visible sign to us that with Christ he was infinitely well pleased, and that he would accept him as our Sacrifice. And just this we have in the Resurrection and Ascension. God raised him from the dead. God received him to his own right hand in the heavenly places. Disciples saw him go up to God; and if Enoch was manifestly accepted of God because of his translation; and if Elijah was declared to be God"s prophet by his wondrous fire-journey into the unseen world; much more was the Lord Jesus declared to be the "Son of God," and the accepted Sacrifice, by that breaking of grave-bonds, and passing, to mortal vision, up within the clouds. Our Redeemer"s work may be said to lack completeness until his soul-triumph of trust and submission, and his bodily act of obedience, in enduring the cross, as God"s will for him, have manifestly and in some open way gained the acknowledgment and acceptance of God. The Ascension properly completes the Resurrection, and both together are the Divine acceptance of the perfect Son, and the acceptance, be it remembered, of humanity in him who was its Head and Representative. Then two thoughts may be unfolded and illustrated
I THE RESURRECTION IS THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF MAN"S VICTORY. That is of Christ, as man, for man; of man in Christ. It is his victory over self, the evil power; and over sin, the evil Consequence. Christ mastered self, and obeyed perfectly, as a Son. Christ broke the bonds of death; for the penalties of transgression cannot lie on One who is infinitely acceptable. Now, in Christ, serf is no unbeaten foe; and "death hath no more dominion over us." We have hope in the struggle with self. We have security against the penalties of sin. In Christ death cannot hold us.
II THE ASCENSION IS THE BEGINNING OF GIVING THE VICTOR THE VICTOR"S PLACE AND HONOUR. He is "highly exalted, and given a name above every name." He is "glorified with more than the glory which he had with the Father before the world was." Exalted to position of highest honor, to a place of power and authority; entrusted with the "bringing on of sons to glory;" empowered to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins; set on God"s right hand, our one Mediator and Intercessor; and "Head over all things to his Church." In heaven we may not conceive him as dissociated from the place, relation, and work of earth, but occupying these still in relation to us, only in altogether higher, more efficient, and spiritual modes. He is the "Captain, or Author, of salvation." Able now, as the ascended Lord," to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by him. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain And when He had spoken these words, while they…
Act_1:9-12
And when He had spoken these words, while they beheld, He was taken up.
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Taken up
How we talk about up, took up I What eager, earnest; faces are looking up through the clouds of sorrow. The atmosphere above us seems palpitant with the hopes and aspirations of hearts below. The secret of this is, God is up, and Jesus was taken up. Note--
I. That the departed good are taken up. Jesus promised that the disciples should follow Him (Joh_14:2-5); and all good spirits find their higher level. Heaven is the rendezvous of all goodness, the barn of God into which He gathers His grain. Our loved ones are not far away, only the cloud separates us. But Jesus was not taken up until He had spoken these things, i.e., finished His work. When we have done that, like Him, we shall be taken up to our reward.
II. That God supplies the place of the departed good (Act_1:10). Jesus went up and the angels came down; and they took His place beside the desolate disciples, and who knows but that they hovered about until the Holy Ghost supplied the Masters place. So it is. If God takes Moses, He brings up Joshua; if He takes up Elijah, Elisha catches his falling mantle. This law of compensation is seen all through nature, human life, and religion.
III. That the departed good shall come again (verse 11). This was the disciples comfort in regard to the departed Christ. This same Jesus. So they that sleep in Jesus shall God bring with Him. Do not grieve then that the grave has closed upon them. (W. Johnson.)
The ascension
I. The Lord was taken up into heaven.
1. Fact of the ascension: stated here (Luk_24:1-53.; Act_1:1-26.)
2. Also implied--e.g., Joh_6:62; Joh_20:17.
3. And in Acts and Epistles asserted--e.g., Eph_4:10; 1Ti_3:16; 1Pe_3:22. Also in the Acts and Epistles, implied passim (the Saviour being ever referred to as living, invisible, glorified, and to come again from heaven). See, e.g., Act_7:55-56; Php_3:20; 1Th_4:16.
(1) An absolute miracle.
(2) And also a consoling and teaching truth, in what it says of the reality of heaven and as aiding us in grasping that reality (Col_3:1). Heaven is where He is.
II. He sat on the right hand of God.
1. The metaphor (from an Oriental throne, a seat admitting more than one occupant) implies the share of the incarnate Lord in the supreme glory--more than mere nearness to it.
2. See in support of this, Rev_22:1, etc. (throne of God and of the Lamb); and especially Joh_17:5 (where N.B. that with Thine own self is παρὰ σεαυτῷ, by Thine own side; and so at the end of the verse, τῇ ἱόξῃ εἰχον πρὸ τοῦ κόσμον εἶναι παρά σοι).
3. Reflect--the Son of Man (Act_7:55) is at the right hand of God. Not only is Christ there as God the Son (Joh_1:1, etc.), but as man--as Jesus (Act_1:11; Heb_4:14). What a pledge for His brethren (Joh_17:24, etc.).
III. After that He had spoken to them.
1. Merciful prelude. The clear, spoken revelation given before the mysterious removal. We see Him not (1Pe_1:8), but He has spoken--
(1) In human speech.
(2) In visible life.
(3) In atoning death (see Heb_12:24).
2. Application of this and the whole ascension truth (Joh_17:13). He has spoken. He is there. (H. C. G. Moule, M. A.)
The ascension of Christ and its lessons
I. The ascension of our Lord is a topic whereon familiarity has worked its usual results; it has lost for most minds the sharpness of its outline and the profundity of its teaching because universally accepted by Christians; and yet no doctrine raises deeper questions, or will yield more profitable and far-reaching lessons. First, then, we may note the place this doctrine holds in apostolic teaching. Taking the records of that teaching contained in the Acts and the Epistles, we find that it occupies a real substantial position. The ascension is there referred to, hinted at, taken as granted, pre-supposed, but it is not obtruded not: dwelt upon overmuch. The resurrection of Christ was the great central point of apostolic testimony; the ascension of Christ was simply a portion of that fundamental doctrine, and a natural deduction from it. If Christ had been raised from the dead and had thus become the first-fruits of the grave, it required but little additional exercise of faith to believe that He had passed into that unseen and immediate presence of Deity where the perfected soul finds its complete satisfaction. St. Peters conception of Christianity, for instance, involved the ascension. Whether in his speech at the election of Matthias, or in his sermon on the day of Pentecost, or in his address in Solomons porch after the healing of the crippled beggar, his teaching ever presupposes and involves the ascension. He takes the doctrine and the fact for granted. Jesus is with him the Being whom the heavens must receive until the times of restoration of all things. So is it too with St. John in his Gospel. He never directly mentions the fact of Christs ascension, but he always implies it. So, too, with St. Paul and the other apostolic writers of the New Testament. Is he exhorting the Colossians to a supernatural life: it is because they have supernatural privileges in their ascended Lord. If ye then were raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is seated on the right hand of God.
II. But some one may raise curious questions as to the facts of the ascension. Whither, for instance, it may be asked, did our Lord depart when He left this earthly scene? The childish notion that He went up and up far above the most distant star will not of course stand a moments reflection. The Book of the Acts of the Apostles does not describe our Saviour as thus ascending through infinite space. It simply describes Him as removed from off this earthly ball, and then, a cloud shutting Him out from view, Christ passed into the inner and unseen universe wherein He now dwells. The existence of that inner and unseen universe, asserted clearly enough in Scripture, has of late years been curiously confirmed by scientific speculation. Scripture asserts the existence of such an unseen universe, and the ascension implies it. The second coming of our Saviour is never described as a descent from some far-off region. What a solemn light such a Scriptural view sheds upon life! The unseen world is not at some vast distance, but, as the ascension would seem to imply, close at hand, shut out from us by that thin veil of matter which angelic hands will one day rend for ever.
III. The ascension was a fitting and a natural termination of Christs earthly ministry, considering the Christian conception of His sacred personality. The departure of the Eternal King was, like His first approach, a part of a scheme which forms one united and harmonious whole. Tile Incarnation and the Ascension were necessarily related the one to the other.
IV. Again, we may advance a step further, and say that not only was the ascension a natural and fitting termination to the activities of the Eternal Son manifest in the flesh, it was a necessary completion and finish. It is expedient, said Christ Himself, that I go away; for if I go not away the Comforter will not conic to you. Let us take the matter very simply thus. Had our Lord not ascended into the unseen state whence He had emerged for the purpose of rescuing mankind, He must in that case (always proceeding on the supposition that He had risen from the dead, because we always suppose our readers to be believers) have remained permanently or temporarily resident in some one place. He might have chosen Jerusalem. There would have been nothing to tempt Him to Antioch, or Athens, or Alexandria, or Rome. Nay, rather the tone and temper of those cities must have rendered them abhorrent as dwelling-places to the great Teacher of holiness and purity. At any rate, the risen Saviour, if He remained upon earth, must have chosen some one place where His presence and His personal glory would have been manifested. All interest in local Churches or local work would have been destroyed, because every eye and every heart would be perpetually turning towards the one spot where the risen Lord was dwelling, and where personal adoration could be paid to Him. All honest, manly self-reliance would have been lost for individuals, for Churches, and for nations. Judaism would have triumphed and the dispensation of the Spirit would have ceased. The whole idea, too, of Christianity as a scheme of moral probation would have been overthrown. Christ as belonging to the supernatural sphere would of course have been raised above the laws of time and space. Sight would have taken the place of faith, and the terrified submission of slaves would have been substituted for the moral, loving obedience of the regenerate soul. The whole social order of life would also have been overthrown. The ascension of Jesus Christ was absolutely necessary to equip the Church for its universal mission, by withdrawing the bodily presence of Christ into that unseen region which bears no special relation to any terrestrial locality, but is the common destiny, the true fatherland, of all the sons of God.
V. We have now seen how the ascension was needful for the Church, by rendering Christ an ideal object of worship for the whole human race, thus saving it from that tendency to mere localisim which would have utterly changed its character. We can also trace another great blessing involved in it. The ascension glorified humanity as humanity, and ennobled man viewed simply as man. The ascension thus transformed life by adding a new dignity to life and to lifes duties. This was a very necessary lesson for the ancient world, especially the ancient Gentile world, which Christ came to enlighten and to save. Man, considered by himself as man, had no peculiar dignity in the popular religious estimate of Greece and Rome. A Greek or a Roman was a dignified person, not, however, in virtue of his humanity, but in virtue of his Greek or Roman citizenship. The gladiatorial shows were the most striking illustration of this contempt for human nature which paganism inculcated. We leave to science the investigation of the past and of the lowly sources whence mans body may have come; but the doctrine of the Ascension speaks of its present sanctity and of its future glory, telling of the human body as a body of humiliation and of lowliness indeed, but yet proclaiming it as even now, in the person of Christ, ascended into the heavens, and seated on the throne of the Most High. It may have been once humble in its origin; it is now glorious in its dignity and elevation; and that dignity and that elevation shed a halo upon human nature, no matter how degraded and wherever it may be found, because it is like unto that Body, the first-fruits of humanity, which stands at the right hand of God. (G. T. Stokes, D. D.)
Taken up
So many of the events of our Lords incarnate ire are connected with Olivet that it might almost be called the mountain of the Lord Jesus. It was His closet, His pulpit, the place of intercourse with His disciples. Bethany at its base was their home. Underneath it was Gethsemane, and there from its crest He rose. Consider--
I. Several attendant circumstances of the ascension.
1. As to the manner of it, it was visible. These things were not done in a corner. His crucifixion and burial were public. It was requisite that His resurrection should be so. Forty days did He accumulate proofs of it, and then in the broad open day He ascended up on high.
2. The place where it happened is worthy of notice. He led them out as far as Bethany. There was a peculiar fitness in this selection. Prophecies had fixed the place of His ascension as the Mount of Olives, and Bethany was at its base. We can imagine the feelings of the disciples as they trod the familiar road. It is fitting that the Conqueror should pass by Gethsemane, that He should pass the place where He wept over Jerusalem, and that His triumph should take place in view of the house of sorrow.
3. The act during the performance of which He was lifted up on high. Blessed them. This was His daily work, for which He became incarnate, and for which He returned to His glory. He blesses now, not from the mountain, but from the throne.
II. The purposes of the ascension.
1. The personal results were the publicity of the scene and the triumph of His entrance into His primal glory. It was a witness which all the world could understand that His work on earth was done. It was only the complement of Calvary, the ovation of the triumph actually won on the Cross. Moreover it was a part of the consequences of redemption that the Father should not only sustain the Son in His sufferings, but because of them He should exalt Him to pre-eminence of government and honour.
2. There were representative results. Christ is the federal Head. By His exaltation our own race derives surpassing honour. Humanity is throned in the highest.
3. There were mediatorial results. He received gifts for man. (W. M. Punshon, LL. D.)
The ascension
1. Was as indubitable as any act of His life--As they were looking, He was taken up.
2. Brought angels to the earth immediately with a message of comfort.
3. Is no excuse for standing idly gazing into heaven. There is work here to be done, the doing of which will quickest hasten His return.
4. Is only for a while. He will return again, and come in great power and great glory.
5. Has given to us an advocate on high--He ever liveth to make intercession for us. (S. S. Times.)
The ascension
We have three narratives of the ascension, each of which presents it in a somewhat different application.
1. In St. Mark the aspect of faith is predominant. It sets before Christian people, in their life of faithful labour, the form of Him who, though now out of sight, is still and evermore working with them, and confirming His words by signs following.
2. St. Luke presents it in its aspect of love; sets before Christians, in their hours of loneliness or of depression, the form of Him, who, when He left this world, left it with hands uplifted in blessing.
3. In the Acts we have the aspect of hope. As St. Lukes Gospel closed with the narrative of the Ascension, so the Acts opens with it. It was not more naturally the close of the gospel than it was the beginning of the history of the Church. It was the event which, while it withdrew from personal work below, introduced Him into that life above, and the power of which He works through others. And we are to regard it as a fact full of hope. The words of the two angels give it this aspect. Learn
I. That the posture of those who love Christ must henceforth be one not more of retrospect than of expectation. It is well indeed that you should treasure the thought of Him as He was on earth. His wonderful works, His perfect example, His Divine words. And to look up after Him into heaven, and see Him there the High Priest of man; the Resurrection and the Life, first of the soul, and hereafter: also of the body; to ascend thither, in heart, after Him. Thus it is that men are made strong for conflict, victorious over temptation, and at last fit for heaven. But all this is a different thing from vain regret and idle contemplation. To gaze up into heaven not after One who is gone, but for One who shall come is our work. And in those few words lies the whole of the vast difference between two states and lives; those of a true, and wise, and diligent, and those of a dreamy, and gloomy, and torpid Christian.
II. But how does the ascension foster this hope or suggest this duty? The words of the angels will answer that question. The ascension was intended to make real the thought of Christs return. He might have simply disappeared, and left them to form their own conjectures what had become of Him. Perhaps even then they might have formed the right conjecture from His own words. But it would have fallen far short of the conviction inspired by the actual sight. There would have been a mystery which might well have diminished the comfort and impaired the satisfaction of His disciples. But now they would feel that they could trace Him in His glory, and expect Him to come again. Nothing is more remarkable than the personal hope of the personal return of Christ, which cheered the first ages of the Church. It is no good sign when the language of Scripture is read as an allegory, but a sign of the decay of faith. It was in the dark and cold ages of the Church, when even the wise virgins too often slumbered and slept, that this definite hope of the Bridegrooms coming was lost sight of. And was it not by a just retribution that they who refused to infer the Advent from the Ascension, came at last from denying the Advent to deny the Ascension also? If ever the faith of the Church is brought back to its simplicity in matters of doctrine, it must be by its being brought back to its simplicity in matters of fact. Take one of the Gospel miracles by itself, and of course it is improbable. But take each one in connection with the proofs Christ gave of His holiness, truth, and goodness, and thus of His Divinity, and we shall find it not only credible, but natural also; consistent, harmonious, and to be expected. Even thus is it with the hope of which we are speaking. It might be in itself hard to be understood, that God should bring this dispensation to a close by the personal advent of the Mediator as Judge. But view that purpose in the light of the Incarnation, and the Advent in the light of the Ascension; and all shall become symmetrical. The disciples saw Him go: why should it be incredible that He should likewise come? A cloud received Him out of their sight: even so shall a cloud be the sign when they who look for Him watch His appearing. Conclusion: What to us is our Lords ascension?
1. Do we know anything of the assurance that we have in heaven, One who knows our frame and has felt our infirmities? One who ascended, that He might intercede for us, minister to us the Spirit, and prepare a place for us?
2. If there is One, up there, who sees and will judge; what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness! (Dean Vaughan.)
The ascension
I. The circumstances.
1. While blessing His disciples (Luk_24:50-51; cf. Lev_9:22). The first tidings of our Saviours birth were attended with blessings to men; and when He died, He breathed out His soul in blessings to His enemies. So now He is translated into heaven with a blessing in His mouth. And, indeed, His whole life was a blessing to mankind--a blessed pattern to us; in imitation whereof we should endeavour that our whole life may be h blessing too.
2. In the view of His disciples. After the apostles were fully convinced by several appearances that He was indeed risen; that they might be fully satisfied that He came from God and went to Him, He was in their sight taken up. And this is no small confirmation of the truth of our religion.
3. In a cloud fitly represents the law. Elias was carried up by a whirlwind in a fiery chariot, with horses of fire: but our Saviour in a cloud; to signify to us the coolness and calmness of the gospel dispensation, in comparison of that of the law; which difference our Saviour had before observed to His disciples upon a remarkable occasion (Luk_9:54-55). And there is likewise another difference. The blessing which Elijah left to Elisha is conceived in very doubtful words (2Ki_2:9). This was suitable to the obscurity of the law; but our Saviour makes a plain and absolute promise of the Holy Ghost, answerable to the clearness and grace of the gospel (verse 8).
4. Into heaven (verse 11). And this is elsewhere more particularly expressed, by declaring the dignity to which He was exalted (Mar_16:19). This exaltation of Christ was conferred upon Him as a reward of His great humiliation and sufferings (Heb_12:2; Php_2:9-10).
II. The consequent benefits.
1. The sending of the Holy Ghost in miraculous powers and gifts upon the apostles, to qualify them for the speedy and effectual propagation of the gospel, and to give credit to them in the preaching of it (Joh_16:7).
2. His powerful intercession for us at the right hand of God (Heb_9:24).
3. A mighty confirmation of our faith.
(1) As to the truth of His doctrine in general. If after all the miracles of His life, and His resurrection from the dead, any man can doubt whether He came from God; yet this is evidence beyond all exception that God took Him to Himself.
(2) As to His coming again to judge (Act_10:42).
Conclusion: The consideration of our Saviours ascension is very comfortable to all true Christians.
1. In respect of our condition in this world. The Church, and every particular member of it, is exposed to trouble and danger; but it is a great comfort that we are under His patronage and protection, who hath all power given Him in heaven and earth (Heb_4:14-15).
2. In respect of the happiness which we hope for in the next; world. No religion hath given men so sensible a demonstration of a blessed immortality as Christianity by the ascension. The reasonings of the philosophers concerning immortality besides their uncertainty are only calculated for the more refined and speculative part of mankind; but every man is capable of the force of this argument, that He who declared to the world another life after this, and the happy condition of good men in another world, was Himself visibly taken up into heaven. (Abp. Tillotson.)
The ascension
I. The ascension of our Lord is in perfect harmony with the other portions of His history. His birth, the voice from heaven at His baptism, His works, His words, were all supernatural. When He was crucified the earth trembled, on the third day He rose, and then, in opposition to the laws of gravity, He ascended up to His Father. All this is perfectly harmonious. Of old His name was called Wonderful; and if you reject what is wonderful in the history of Christ, then there is no Christ whatever. It is the light of the sun that makes that luminary what it is. Extinguish the light of the son, and it becomes a dark, invisible body, revolving uselessly in the depth of heaven. After the sun has set there is twilight. But it grows feebler and feebler every minute, and by and by all is enveloped in the darkness. Now you may eliminate from Christianity the supernatural facts of it, and after you have done that for centuries, very likely, the twilight of the setting sun--the after effects of what Christianity once had been--would remain here; but as for the Christian religion and Church, and the Christ of history, without the supernatural they cannot be.
II. The conduct of our Lord at the time of His ascension harmonises with all that is written of Him before that time. While He blessed them. That was His work. He was like Himself to the end. His heart was not embittered by the Cross. His last look was one of sympathy and love. It was the same at the end as at the beginning.
III. The ascension is connected with the carrying on of His own work.
1. He ascended that He might fill all things--that is, the hearts of men, the governments of the world, all literature, art, science, philosophy, commerce, courts of law, pulpits, with His influence, The facts of the history of the Redeemer, the truths embodied in these facts--have saved Europe from animalism, or materialism, or downright atheism. Thess facts, like leaven, are put into the hearts of men everywhere.
2. Christ has left the spirit of His life here. Fragrance is on the rose, but distinct from the rose. The rose is the fact, the fragrance is something over and above the rose. The landscape is one thing, its beauty of another. There are truths in the Book, but the genius with which those truths are treated is another thing. There are the facts of the Redeemers life, but there also is the spirit of His life upon those facts--a fragrance, a beauty, a genius, a tenderness, an atmosphere, a divineness which belong to no other facts in the world. It is not the salvation of your souls only that you owe to Him--He has humanised humanity, and He is rectifying and consecrating Europe by the influence of the spirit of His life. Let any artist here say if I am wrong. He has beautified art, and pagan art can never exist again.
3. He ascended that He might send the Holy Ghost down among men. By Holy Ghost I do not mean a mere influence, or power, or energy going forth, but a personality, come down to regenerate the heart and create in it a noble ambition, strengthen it for brave purpose, and consecrate it.
IV. The ascension inspired the noblest feelings in the hearts of His apostles (Luk_24:52). While they looked at the glorious vision they instinctively felt a reverence and admiration that could not be expressed. These feelings are not to become extinguished in Christian hearts. The lowest state of mind, in regard to the Redeemer, is stolid indifference. The highest state to which many people attain, is inquiry concerning Christ. Inquire by all means, but there is a higher state than that. A great number seem never to attain to anything higher than simply believing on Jesus. But our religion means more than knowledge, faith, awe, hope. It means reverence, admiration, transcendent wonder. How many of us are content to live without elevated moments when the soul is lost in wonder, love, and praise?
V. The ascension teaches that virtuous sufferings lead to and end in glory. It was becoming that Jesus Christ should have ascended from the Mount of Olives. At the foot of that mountain was the place of His sorrow and agony. The death of a good man is, by far, more an ascension to heaven than a descent into the grave. It is very little after all that the grave shall possess of us. Take a tree, consume it, and then look at the small quantity of ash left. That is the only thing that tree derived from the earth. Where are the other elements? They belonged to the skies and have returned to the skies to mingle with their brother elements. Death is the consuming, and the little heap of ashes, when the burning is over, is all that the grave shall have of us; but the intellect, the will, the conscience, the affections, the imagination, the spirit, the man returns to God who gave it. (Thomas Jones.)
The ascension
I. Its historical circumstances and character.
1. As to the historical fact. If, like Matthew and John, the other evangelists had omitted to tell us of the ascension, yet we could not have conceived of any other sequence of the resurrection; we could not have imagined the life of Christ to have wasted away in old age or sickness, much less to have died a second time. It was needful--
(1) To His redeeming triumph, that His conquest over death should be final.
(2) To His redeeming reward, that glory should follow His humiliation.
(3) As a soothing to our Christian feeling, that His body, broken and bleeding on the Cross, should be uplifted and glorified.
(4) As an historical basis for apostolic preaching, and as a doctrinal element of most important practical influences. And that which our reason must have concluded, Scriptural testimony confirms, not to mention the allusions of the Prophecies, the Psalms, and the Epistles, and our Lords own predictions in John, which can only be understood of a bodily enthronement; we:have here the explicit declaration of two inspired writers, and all the disciples were witnesses of this departure; while three only beheld His transfiguration, and none His resurrection.
2. As to its circumstances--
(1) The time selected was the fortieth day after His passion, the mystic period of Moses abode on the Mount, of Elijahs sojourn in the wilderness, and of the Redeemers own temptation--an interval after His resurrection long enough to furnish indubitable proof of it, to restore the agitated disciples to calmness, and to instruct them in the truths associated with His death and resurrection.
(2) The place. Once more our Lord accompanied the eleven across the brook Kedron, and along the path which He traversed to His passion. Once more, as He ascended the well-known track to Bethany, the guilty city would rise to His view, until perhaps they reached the spot where He had sat down and wept over it; there the temple reared its head; there was the scene of His trial, and the place that is called Calvary, where they crucified Him; immediately at His feet was the garden of Gethsemane; while not far distant was the scene of His tenderest human friendships.
(3) There was doubtless a studied adaptation to the thoughts and feelings of the disciples in the mode of this leave-taking. There is always a gloom about final separation from those we love; but its circumstances greatly determine the character of our recollections. We see through the wasting and parting tabernacle, the beamings and breakings through of celestial glory, the moral glory of faith, and hope, and triumph overpowering, the pain and dissolution; then the recollection is not so much of earthly life departing as of heavenly life commencing. And thus we may imagine the Redeemer selected the circumstances of His final departure, and we do not wonder that they returned to Jerusalem with great joy. We might easily have imagined grander circumstances. There was not, as at His birth, a multitude of the heavenly host; no chariots of fire, nothing that could divert attention from His own identity and glory. The disciples would probably have been dazzled and confounded had it been otherwise. And there is delicacy and encouragement in His parting attitude; He, their Saviour and friend, without any array of terrible magnificence, leaves them, and enters heaven in the act of blessing. And thus the most timid is taught to have confidence in our great High Priest. Let us not, then, think, when conscious of His departure, that it is necessarily in anger. The cloud that receives Him may but be the vail that hides the richer blessings still which He is preparing to pour out upon us.
II. Its mediatorial and doctrinal importance.
1. The Ascension is the final historic attestation of the validity and acceptance of the Atonement. A moral attestation is continually going on in the effects which the preaching of the Atonement produces. But the Ascension is a direct personal attestation to the sufficiency of Christs expiatory death.
2. The Ascension was the necessary introduction of the Mediator to the scene and reception of His mediatorial reward. Mark tells us that He was received up into heaven, and sat at the right hand of God. God hath highly exalted Him.
3. Christ ascended that He might bestow the promise of the Father, the gift of the Holy Spirit.
4. He ascended that He might, as our High Priest and Intercessor, appear in the presence of God for us.
5. He ascended to reign as Mediatorial King, to superintend the providence of the world, to be head over all things to His Church, and to expect until His enemies shall be made His footstool.
6. He ascended according to His promise, to prepare a place for His disciples in His Fathers house.
Conclusion: learn--
1. How to conceive of the spiritual world, a world in which human nature shall be glorified as it has been glorified in Christ.
2. How precious the encouragements of our Christian life. We have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. We have not a High Priest who cannot be touched, etc.
3. The attitude and temper of our Christian life. The effect on the disciples was an effect not of sorrow but of joy. (H. Allon, D. D.)
The ascension
I. The circumstances.
I. The place. It is only natural that a sacred interest should attach to the spot which received the last print of the Redeemers footsteps. No doubt the honour accorded to particular places may open the door to much of fraud, and folly, and superstition. But the Mount of Olives was a fit scene for the ascension. Around no other spot does there gather such a cluster of hallowed associations.
2. The witnesses. Romulus is said to have gone up into the clouds in a thunderstorm, and of Mahomet it is pretended that he was miraculously taken up into heaven; but no witnesses were ever produced who saw these events. Our Lord was careful to have chosen and competent witnesses. He did not challenge all Jerusalem to see what was going to take place; nor invite the five hundred assembled at Galilee. The miracle is not harder to believe than that eleven holy and loving men should be mistaken in the identity of one, with whom they had eaten and discoursed after He rose from the dead.
3. The form of transport. A cloud: that emblem of mingled obscurity and light which Deity often employs as a medium through which to converse with man. Thus Jehovah maketh the clouds His chariot. Of the glory which settled on the Mount of Transfiguration, the characteristic feature is that it was a bright cloud. It was a pillar of cloud which went before Israel in the wilderness, and it was the descending cloud at the dedication of the Temple which told of an accepted sacrifice, and an approving and present God. Most fitting was it, therefore, that such a substance should enshrine the glorified humanity of Jesus. It spoke of His Deity. It connected Him more directly with the symbolisms and revelations of the heavenly world. It preserved the weak vision of the disciples from being confounded and dazzled. It prefigured the method of their Lords return.
4. The manner. It was mild, merciful, and majestic. Like a conqueror, wreathing his brow with trophies--like a priest, lifting up his hands to bless--like a parent, gathering his loved ones round to give them a parting charge. He gave them--
(1) a charge: Go ye therefore and teach all nations, etc.
(2) A parting promise: Lo, I am with you alway.
(3) A benediction: And He lifted up His hands and blessed them.
And thus, in the mode of the Saviours parting, we cannot fail to see a blending of His three offices. As Prophet, He provides for the future evangelisation of the world. As a King, He engages for the perpetual preservation of His Church. As a Priest, He scatters from the throne of His ascension all the treasures of heavenly benediction.
II. The lessons.
1. The grandeur of the scheme of redemption, as seen in the joy of the heavenly host in this its earthly consummation. When God brought His only begotten Son into the world, it was said, Let all the angels of God worship Him. How gladly would they welcome Him back to their own pure courts when His work was done. God is gone up with a merry noise, and the Lord with a sound of a trumpet. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, etc.
2. The special honour put upon our nature--upon His humanity, and upon ours.
3. The cementing and hallowing of those ties which subsist betwixt Himself and His Church--in their several relations of King and subject, Advocate and client, Head and members, Bridegroom and bride.
4. A recognition of Christs title to universal empire. It is the solemn investiture of the Saviour with authority over all worlds, times, economies, intelligences. He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet. (D. Moore, M. A.)
The ascension
1. Jesus retired from Jerusalem for this final act of His earthly life. Great deeds are better done in solitude, when one is shut up to the Father alone. A mans piety cannot be very deep, if it does not sometimes have a few personal and unutterable reserves in it.
2. Christ chose a spot hitherto full of only debased memories; Bethany, house of the poor. This ascension made it historic, more even than the august march of the Shekinah over the same plot of ground (Eze_11:23). Very much of our earthly geography will be famous in heaven to those who love Jesus.
3. Our Lord took with Him only His humble circle of disciples as witnesses. Those simple fishermen had seen His humiliation; now they saw its offset. Not many mighty, not many noble are called. Lady Huntington once wrote that she was accustomed, every time she met this verse, to thank God for the letter M. What she meant was that, she (being a woman of rank) was not necessarily excluded from Divine grace, as she would have been, had the word been any, not many.
4. Christ paused at the final moment for a priestly act. He extended His hands; but there is no hint of His imposing them. He was blessing His disciples; He was in no sense mysteriously ordaining them. If any one asks what He said there is room for conjecture (Num_6:23).
5. There was great grace of suggestion in the gesture. When His hands were extended, all would see plainly the prints of the nails in His resurrection body. It was a most instructive lesson to learn; the Son of God showed the marks--stigmas--of the Lord Jesus at the moment of His coronation and advance to His throne.
6. Jesus left the field of His vast triumph without any display or fuss. All the pageants, all the hallelujahs, were reserved for the celestial city when the lawful Prince of glory came in. It is not everybody who is great enough to disappear when in the moment of success.
7. When our Lord returns, it will be with the same form of greeting (verse 11). Then let all believers learn that the crown of a religious and Christ-like life is blessing; the symbol of Jesus gospel is blessing; the very prediction of His coming again is blessing; the attitude He chooses is the silent grace of benediction. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
The ascension: its purposes
Christ ascended--
I. That men might believe in Him. For three years He had taught, and with what result? Most of those who believed trusted in Him not so much for spiritual blessings as for the conquest of the heathen invader or for the loaves and fishes. Now contrast this failure to awaken the faith of men, while He lived on earth, with the success of His apostles after the ascension. The first sermon was followed by the conversion of three thousand souls. The reason of this contrast is not hard to find. While Jesus lived a human life, and performed miracles, He called forth admiration and wonder, but this only prevented a deep spiritual movement in mens hearts. In the Gospels we seldom come across narratives of men convicted of sin and crying for redemption, but after the ascension Christ began to move upon the conscience of the world as The Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world.
II. That men might know Him and commune with Him. Men were won, indeed, by the beauty of His character. But who knew Him? Whose heart throbbed in sympathy with His? Where will you find the record of any real communion on the great themes that were nearest His heart? When He addressed them they but half understood Him. But contrast these disciples after the ascension. Then they began to know Him. They grasped the significance of His coming, His labour and His death. Knowing Him now in the spirit and aim of His great mediatorial life, they communed with Him, and illumined with this new knowledge and inspired by this communion, they went forth to preach the gospel, and it proved itself the power of God and the wisdom of God. We easily understand this. The daily life of men serves as often to conceal as to reveal them. How often a great statesman is not seen in his true proportions until he has been received out of sight! How often the child knows not the meaning of a fathers or a mothers life until death has separated the parent from them! So it was with the disciples.
III. In order that His people might truly follow Him. While He was with them on the earth the disciples sought to imitate His outward life, to repeat His miracles, and His judgments. I cannot detect a single sign that the mind which was in Christ Jesus was in one of them. The result was that they never became independent of His physical presence. But how different when He had ascended! The impetuous and ambitious Peter lays down his life, like his Master, for the redemption of men. The son of thunder breathes forth the spirit of Christ in the words, Little children, let us love one another. Instead of attempting to imitate Christs outward life, they sought to drink into His spirit. And so it is with us.
IV. That He might be the spiritual redeemer of the whole world. The Church and the world are to become one; the spirit of Christ is to become the dominant spirit of the worlds life. In order to achieve this Jesus removed Himself from the limitations of place and time and nationality; and, ascending on high, seated Himself on the throne of universal dominion. And thus it was that when Christ had gone the Church moved forward on the path of universal conquest. (J. De Witt, D. D.)
Christs way to heaven unclosed
It has been said that in the early ages an attempt was once made to build a chapel on the top of the hill from which Christ ascended into heaven; but that it was found impossible either to pave over the place where He last stood, or to erect a roof through the path through which He ascended--a legendary tale, no doubt, though perhaps intended to teach the important truth that the moral marks and impressions which Christ has left behind Him can never be obliterated; that the way to heaven through which He passed can never be closed by human skill or power; and that He has before us an open door which no man shall be able to shut. (J. Alexander, D. D.)
The trail of the ascending Saviour
Sometimes, when the sky is beclouded, we do not see that across the garden path there sways a ladder of gossamer, linking tree with tree; but when the sun shines it is revealed by its silver sheen. So, as the infidel looks upwards, he can see no bond of union between this atom of star-dust and the metropolis of the universe, until his eyes are opened, and he sees the ladder left by the trail of the departing Saviour. Thank God, we are not cut adrift to the mercy of every current; this dark coal-ship is moored alongside the bright ship of heavenly grace; yes, and there is a plank between them. (F. B. Meyer.)
Christ in heaven
Christs ascension lights up our thought of heaven. Says one: The presence of the glorified humanity of Christ seems a necessary preliminary and condition of our presence in heaven. We could not be at home among those august and terrible splendours unless we saw I-lira, our Brother, in the heart of all. As Josephs brethren, who had been all their lives wild Arab shepherds, would have felt ill at ease indeed in the proudest court in the world had it not been that their brother was there upon the throne, so we would not have found heaven to be our home unless we found it to be the place of the presence of Jesus Christ. Heaven is no place for us unless Christ Jesus be there:
My knowledge of that life is small,
The eye of faith is dim;
But tis enough that Christ knows all,
And I shall be with Him.
(G. H. James.)
The angels watching Jesus
It takes a spiritual nature to see the spiritual facts of this world. Doubtless there were thousands in Galilee and Judaea who passed the Messiah without a glance. Let us have a walk of two miles through the heart of any metropolis with any man, and we would not care for any further exposition of his character. He is to be judged by what He himself sees. Around the display in the window of the diamond-broker there gathers a certain number by the silent process of natural selection. At the toy store a different crowd augments itself. Before the bulletin board of the stock exchange a third company collects; and at a booksellers shop a fourth. While men were watching the movements of Herod or the campaigns of Caesar the angels were watching Jesus. They hovered over the manger at Bethlehem; minstered to His fainting frame in the wilderness; guarded the tomb in the garden, and followed with glad eyes His form as it disappeared in the clouds above Olivet. It is a crucial test of character whether we see or slight the living Christ in the men and women of our own day. (Christian Age.)
The ascension: its moral uses
I. Our faith in Christs divinity is made sure. He who said, I came down from heaven, spoke also of the Ascension as the means whereby the doubts of His disciples should be removed (Joh_6:38; Joh_6:51; Joh_6:61-69.).
II. Our hope in His promises is strengthened. Where He is gone we shall also go, since He is gone as our first-fruits, and to prepare a place for us.
III. Our love is inflamed. By His going up into heaven our hearts are raised in expectation to the same place, and our love is kindled by the fire of the Holy Spirit He sends down from thence. (W. Denton, M. A.)
The Ascension: its diffusive benefits
So long as a lamp in a room is placed on a low level its light may be intercepted by the bodies of persons around it, and so prevented from reaching others who are in the remoter corners. But let it be lifted up to the ceiling, and it sheds its beams down on all who are below. Our Lord, while on earth, was circumscribed by place and earthly relationships; but since His ascension, His presence and influence are diffused everywhere through the spiritual world, as the rays of the sun are through the natural. (Dean Goulburn.)
The Ascension: its lessons
I. Heavenly-mindedness. He went as the great Forerunner of His people, and we must follow in His course. Where the Head is there should the members be; and our treasure, life, affection are meant to be with Him at the right hand of God.
II. Simple duty. In the Epistle to the Ephesians, which is emphatically the Epistle of the Ascension, this is the aspect of the doctrine which is always urged. Because Christ is highly exalted and we are raised up together with Him, therefore we are to be lowly and meek, and to forbear one another in love; to put off the old man, etc. It is the same lesson which is taught in two of the Psalms appointed for the service of Ascension Day, Lord, who shall dwell in Thy tabernacle, or who shall rest upon Thy holy hill? Is it only the lofty, the devoted? No, but common men who, by Gods grace, have lived their common lives in the paths of purity and duty, the lowly, the undeceitful, the unmalicious, the uncorrupt.
III. Holy fear How are you living? As Christ ascended, so shall He one day descend to awful judgment. If you be a hardened sinner, and will continue so, then fear; for then to you the lesson of Christs ascension is a lesson of wrath and doom.
IV. But if you be living in justice and mercy, and walking humbly with your God, then the lesson is one of hope. It is a pledge to us of that forgiveness which Christ died to win. For Christ is our Intercessor. (Archdeacon Farrar.)
The Ascension: the Saviours gifts
It was the custom of the Roman emperors, at their triumphal entrance, to cast new coins among the multitudes: so doth Christ, in His triumphal entrance into heaven, throw the greatest gifts for the good of man that were ever given. (T. Goodwin, D. D.)
The ascension of Christ and of Elijah
While the going up of Elias may be compared to the flight of a bird which none can follow, the ascension of Christ is, as it were, a bridge between heaven and earth, laid down for all who are drawn to Him. (J. Baumgarten.)
The Ascension and the Second Advent practically considered
1. Four great events shine out in our Saviours story--His birth, death, resurrection, and ascension. These make four rounds in that ladder of light, the top whereof reacheth to heaven. We could not afford to dispense with any one of them. That the Son of God was born creates a brotherhood; that He died is the rest and life of our spirits; that He rose is the warrant of our justification and an assurance of the resurrection of all His people. Equally delightful is the remembrance of His ascension. No song is sweeter than this--Thou hast ascended on high; Thou hast led captivity captive, etc.
2. Each one of those four events points to another, and lead up to it: the Second Advent. Had He not come a first time in humiliation He could not have come a second time in glory without a sin-offering unto salvation. Because He died we rejoice that He cometh to destroy the last enemy. It is our joy that in consequence of His rising the trump of the archangel shall sound for the awaking of all His slumbering people. As for His ascension, He could not a second time descend if He had not first ascended.
3. We will start from the ascension. Picture our Lord and the eleven walking up the side of Olivet. They come to a standstill, having reached the brow of the hill. While the disciples are looking, the Lord has ascended to the clouds. They stand spellbound, and suddenly a bright cloud, like a chariot of God, bears Him away. They are riveted to the spot, very naturally so; but it is not the Lords will that they should long remain inactive; their reverie is interrupted. Two messengers of God appear in human form that they may not alarm them, and in white raiment as if to remind them that all was bright and joyous. As they had once said to the women, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen; so did they now say, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, etc. Their reverie over, the apostles at once gird up their loins for active service; they hasten to obey the command, Tarry ye at Jerusalem. Here is--
I. A gentle chiding.
1. What these men were doing seems at first sight to be--
(1) Very right. If Jesus were among us now we would fix our eyes upon Him, and never withdraw them. When He ascended up into heaven it was the duty of His friends to look upon Him. If it be right to look up into heaven, it must be still more right to look up while Jesus rises to the place of His glory; but they went further--they stood gazing. Look is ever the right word. Look unto Me, and be saved. Be your posture that of one looking unto Jesus, always throughout life. But it is not commendable, when the look is not that of worship, but of curiosity. If infinite wisdom had withdrawn the object, what was their gazing but a sort of reflection upon the wisdom which had removed their Lord? Yet it did seem very right. Thus certain things that you and I may do may appear right, and yet we may need to be chidden out of them into something better. A steadfast gaze into heaven may be to a devout soul a high order of worship, but if this filled up much of our working time it might become the idlest form of folly.
(2) Very natural. I should have done the same. Hearts are not to be argued with. You stand by a grave. You cannot help it, the place is precious to you; yet you could not prove that you do any good, and deserve to be gently chidden with the question, Why? It may be the most natural thing in the world, and yet it may not be a wise thing. The Lord allows us to do that which is innocently natural, but He will not have us carry it too far. We must not stand gazing here for ever, and therefore we are aroused to get back to the Jerusalem of practical life, where we may do service for our Master.
(3) But was not after all justifiable upon strict reason. While Christ was going up it was proper that they should adoringly look at Him. But when He was gone, still to remain gazing was an act which they could not explain to themselves nor justify to others. I remember a woman whose only son was emigrating. The train came up and he entered the carriage. After the train had passed, she ran along the platform and pursued the flying train. It was natural, but what was the use of it? We had better abstain from acts which serve no practical purpose.
2. What they did we are very apt to imitate. Oh, say you, I shall never stand gazing up into heaven. I am not sure of that.
(1) Some Christians are very curious, but not obedient. I remember one who was great at apocalyptic symbols, but he had no family prayer. By all means search till you know all that the Lord has revealed concerning things to come; but first see that your children are brought to the Saviour, and that you are workers in His Church.
(2) Others are contemplative but not active--much given to the study of Scripture, but not zealous for good works. When a mans religion all lies in enjoying holy things for his own self, there is a disease upon him. When his judgment of a sermon is based upon the one question, Did it feed me? it is a swinish judgment.
(3) Some are impatient for some marvellous interposition. We get at times into a sad state of mind, because we do not see the kingdom of Christ advancing as we desire. The Master is away, and we cry, When will He be back again? Why tarries He through the ages? In certain cases this uneasiness has drawn to itself an intense desire for sign-seeing. What fanaticisms come of this! If I were introduced into a room where a large number of parcels were stored up, and I was told that there was something good for me, I should begin to look for that which had my name upon it, and when I came upon a parcel and I saw in pretty big letters, It is not for you, I should leave it alone. Here, then, is a casket of knowledge marked, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, etc. Cease to meddle with matters which are concealed, and be satisfied to know the things which are clearly revealed.
II. A cheering description--This same Jesus. I appreciate this the more because it came from those who knew Him. He was seen of angels.
1. Jesus is gone, but He still exists. As surely as He did hang upon the Cross, so surely does He, the self-same Man, sit upon the throne of God. Jesus lives; mind that you live also. Jesus means a Saviour. Oh, ye anxious sinners, the name of Him who has gone up into His glory is full of invitation to you! Will you not come to this same Jesus?
2. He who is to come will be the same Jesus that went up into heaven. He will be the same Jesus in nature though not in condition: He will possess the same tenderness when He comes to judge. Go to Him with your troubles, as you would have done when He was here. Look forward to His second coming without dread. On the back of that sweet title came this question, Why stand ye here gazing into heaven? They might have said, We stay here because we do not know where to go. Our Master is gone. But oh, it is the same Jesus, and He is coming again, so go down to Jerusalem and get to work directly. Do not worry yourselves; it is not a disaster that Christ has gone, but an advance in His work. Despisers tell us nowadays, Your Divine Christ is gone; we have not seen a trace of His miracle-working hand, nor of that voice which no man could rival. Here is our answer: He lives; and it is our delight to turn our heavenly gazing into an earthward watching, and to go down into the city, and there to tell that Jesus is risen, that whosoever believeth in Him shall have everlasting life. His ascension is not a retreat, but an advance. His tarrying is not for want of power, but because of the abundance of His long-suffering.
III. A great practical truth, which will not keep us gazing into heaven, but will make us render earnest service.
1. Jesus is gone into heaven; up to the throne, from which He can send us succour. Is not that a good argument--Go ye therefore and teach all nations, etc.?
2. Jesus will come again. A commander has not given up the campaign because it is expedient that he should withdraw from your part of the field. Our Lord is doing the best thing for His kingdom in going away.
3. He is coming in like manner as He departed. He will descend in clouds even as He went up in clouds; and He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth even as He stood aforetime. Do not let anybody spiritualise this away. Jesus is coming as a matter of fact, therefore go down to your sphere of service as a matter of fact. Jesus is literally and actually coming, and He will literally and actually call upon you to give an account of your stewardship.
4. Be ready to meet your coming Lord. I called one day on one of our members, and she was whitening the front steps. She got up all in confusion, and said, Oh dear, sir, I did not know you were coming to-day, or I would have been ready. I replied, Dear friend, you could not be in better trim than you are: you are doing your duty like a good housewife, and may God bless you. When Jesus comes, I hope He will find me doing as you are doing, namely, fulfilling the duty of the hour. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The apostles last sight of Jesus
Note here--
I. The Master of all resources making use of natural means in connection with a stupendous miracle. Jesus showed Himself superior to natural laws, yet up to the highest point possible He made use of natural means on the way to His glorious end. He might have ascended from the valley, but since He made hills so much nearer heaven, He would not neglect the benefit of His own creation. He who could always have walked on the sea did so but once, and He to whom the highest mountains are but valleys would walk up a hill to ascend into heaven. This should teach us to bless God for means when we have them, and to trust Him for means when we have them not.
II. The Great Master going to His rest when His work was done. He had overcome, and must therefore now go to His throne. He had shown His sovereign power over the sea by walking on it and making it pay His tribute; over the earth by raising the dead and forsaking His own tomb; over hell by conquering Satan; and He must now show His power over the air by a local ascending into heaven.
III. Christ served by other beings than men. The cloud might be a multitude of heavenly attendants. Certainly celestial messengers instructed the apostles about this same Jesus. How great is His dignity who has such servants, and what an honour to serve Him.
IV. That even Christian contemplation must be regulated with reference to other duties. It was but natural that the disciples should gaze after Jesus; but the angels word called them off from an object engrossing and delightful to their work. To neglect the shop for the prayer-meeting, to allow your cattle to hunger that you may hear a sermon, to make private devotion an excuse for refusing to visit the sick and needy, is what God cannot bless; and when a Christian is called from such dangerous ways he ought to feel deeply grateful.
V. That the ascension is a pattern of the Second Advent. It will be--
1. Personal.
2. With clouds.
3. With angelic attendants. (W. Hudson.)
A cloud received Him.--
The Ascension cloud
Lovers of nature find almost as much pleasure in watching the clouds as in gazing upon a landscape; in some respects even more, for the colouring is far more splendid, and the whole scene is one of perpetual change and variety. We read very much of clouds in Holy Scripture. The one before us is the Ascension cloud. A last thought is the extent and amount of the change involved in the Ascension. A cloud received Him. That is all. This and no more is the change made by the Ascension. Behind, above the cloud, is the Person who a moment ago was visible, was audible, was conversing and communing with us, was here, and answering our questions; was speaking of things pertaining to His kingdom. There is now just a cloud between us--between us and Him. That is all. No other change has had place or room. We are still gazing into heaven, only a cloud has intercepted the view. His last act was benediction: while He blessed He was taken from us. The hand is stretched out still. It is to leave His peace with us which passeth understanding. The Ascension cloud has nothing but benediction in it. It was that He might fill earth and heaven, St. Paul tells us, that He went away. In other words, it was that, being out of sight, and because He was out of sight, He might be to us that spiritual presence which alone profits, satisfies, comforts, or saves. The Ascension cloud is all blessing. The mystery which it involves is no illusion. It is true and wholesome doctrine. It is the doctrine of the reality, and the activity, and the nearness to us of that spiritual presence which is our life. Alas I it is quite ether-wise with other clouds which intercept the view of the Ascended. Earth-born clouds our evening hymn speaks off They are of all kinds. There is the cloud of simple indifference. The heart feels no want which earth cannot supply. The heart sees no beauty in spiritual satisfaction. Christ is out of sight; the cloud is between, and we care not to pierce it. Let it hide the Invisible; we do not want Him. And then there is the cloud of unbelief. We have heard of the sneer of the infidel; alas! we have listened to it. All things are dared in these days, even if it be to the parodying and caricature of the Bible. Wheresoever the soul has no God in it, there clouds are, and their name is legion. There is the earth-born cloud of sinning. Yes, for one cloud of worldliness, or levity, or conscious unbelief, there are in the individual skies thousands and tens of thousands of damp, dark, heavy clouds of sin; and each one of these hides Jesus Christ from view. If it be no bigger than a mans hand it is enough. Each one of these little clouds places Him at a measureless distance, Him the holy, the undefiled, the separate from sinners. He cannot dwell where sin is, either as guest or host. A cloud receiveth Him out of their sight. It was one of the earth-born clouds. It was not the sweet Ascension cloud, for that while it intercepts the view of sense only quickens the view of faith, which is the eye of the soul. (Dean Vaughan.)
Comfort in a cloud
A friend of mine told me of a visit he had paid to a poor woman overwhelmed with trouble. Mary, said he, you must have very dark days; the clouds must overcome you sometimes. Yes, she replied, when I am very dark and low I go to the window, and if I see a heavy cloud I think of those precious words, A cloud received Him out of their sight, and I look up and see the cloud sure enough, and then I think, Well, that may be the cloud that hides Him; and so you see there is comfort in a cloud.
The intervening cloud
A minister says: I once visited an invalid lady who for a long time had been confined to her bed, and she said to me, The Lord has forgotten me altogether. I replied, Supposing a heavy mist should fall so that you could not see that lighthouse on the other side of the river, would you believe it was there? Oh, yes, she said, because I had seen it before, and I should all the time hear the whistle which warns mariners of danger. Yes, and in the same way you may know that the Lord is near. Your bodily weakness is the cloud between you and your God. His Word still speaks to you, and the eye of faith can surely see through this cloud as clearly as through an earthly mist. This led her to a life of faith and comfort.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain Chapter 3
Chapter 3
THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST AND ITS LESSONS.
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{Act_1:9}
IN this passage we have the bare literal statement of the fact of Christs ascension. Let us now consider this supernatural fact, the Ascension, and meditate upon its necessity, and even naturalness, when taken in connection with the whole earthly existence of Incarnate God, and then strive to trace the results and blessings to mankind which followed from it in the gift of the new power, the covenanted gift of the Spirit, and in the spread of the universal religion.
I. The ascension of our Lord is a topic whereon familiarity has worked its usual results; it has lost for most minds the sharpness of its outline and the profundity of its teaching because universally accepted by Christians; and yet no doctrine raises deeper questions, or will yield more profitable and far-reaching lessons. First, then, we may note the place this doctrine holds in apostolic teaching. Taking the records of that teaching contained in the Acts and the Epistles, we find that it occupies a real substantial position. The ascension is there referred to, hinted at, taken as granted, presupposed, but it is not obtruded nor dwelt upon overmuch. The resurrection of Christ was the great central point of apostolic testimony; the ascension of Christ was simply a portion of that fundamental doctrine, and a natural deduction from it. If Christ had been raised from the dead and had thus become the firstfruits of the grave, it required but little additional exercise of faith to believe that He had passed into that unseen and immediate presence of Deity where the perfected soul finds its complete satisfaction. In fact, the doctrine of the resurrection apart from the doctrine of the ascension would have been a mutilated fragment, for the natural question would arise, not for one age but for every age. If Jesus of Nazareth has risen from the dead, where is He? Produce your risen Master, and we will believe in Him, would be the triumphant taunt to which Christians would be ever exposed. But then, when we closely examine the teaching of the Apostles, we shall find that the doctrine of the ascension was just as really bound up with all their preaching and exhortations as the doctrine of the resurrection; the whole Christian idea as conceived by them just as necessarily involved the doctrine of the ascension as it did that of the resurrection. St. Peters conception of Christianity, for instance, involved the ascension. Whether in his speech at the election of Matthias, or in his sermon on the day of Pentecost, or in his address in Solomons Porch after the healing of the crippled beggar, his teaching ever presupposes and involves the ascension. He takes the doctrine and the fact for granted. Jesus is with him the Being "whom the heavens must receive until the times of restoration of all things." So is it too with St. John in his Gospel. He never directly mentions the fact of Christs ascension, but he always implies it. So too with St. Paul and the other apostolic writers of the New Testament. It would be simply impossible to exhibit in detail the manner in which this doctrine pervades and underlies all St. Pauls teaching. The ascended Saviour occupies the same position in St. Pauls earliest as in his latest writings. Is he speaking of the lives of the Thessalonians in his First Epistle to that Church: "they are waiting for Gods Son from heaven." Is he pointing them forward to the second advent of Christ: it is of that day he speaks when "the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven." Is he in Ro 8. dwelling upon the abiding security of Gods elect: he enlarges upon their privileges in "Christ Jesus, who is at the right hand of God, making intercession for us." Is he exhorting the Colossians to a supernatural life: it is because they have supernatural privileges in their ascended Lord. "If ye then were raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is seated on the right hand of God." The more closely the teaching of the Apostles is examined, the more clearly we shall perceive that the ascension was for them no ideal act, no imaginary or fantastic elevation, but a real actual passing of the risen Saviour out of the region and order of the seen and the natural into the region and order of the unseen and supernatural. Just as really as they believed Christ to have risen from the dead, just as really did they in turn believe Him to have ascended into the heavens.
II. But some one may raise curious questions as to the facts of the ascension. Whither, for instance, it may be asked, did our Lord depart when He left this earthly scene? The childish notion that He went up and up far above the most distant star will not of course stand a moments reflection. It suits the apprehension of childhood, and the innocent illusion should not be too rudely broken; but still, as the advance of years and of wisdom dispels other illusions, so too will this one depart, when the child learns that there is neither up nor down in this visible universe of ours, and that if we were ourselves transported to the moon, which seems shining over our heads, we should see the earth suspended in the blue azure which would overhang the moon and its newly-arrived inhabitants. The Book of the Acts of the Apostles does not describe our Saviour as thus ascending through infinite space. It simply describes Him as removed from off this earthly ball, and then, a cloud shutting Him out from view, Christ passed into the inner and unseen universe wherein He now dwells. The existence of that inner and unseen universe, asserted clearly enough in Scripture, has of late years been curiously confirmed by scientific speculation. Scripture asserts the existence of such an unseen universe, and the ascension implies it. The second coming of our Saviour is never described as a descent from some far-off region. No, it is always spoken of as an Apocalypse, - a drawing back, that is, of a veil which hides an unseen chamber. The angels, as the messengers of their Divine Master, are described by Christ in Matt. 13. as "coming forth" from the secret place of the Most High to execute His behests. What a solemn light such a scriptural view sheds upon life! The unseen world is not at some vast distance, but, as the ascension would seem to imply, close at hand, shut out from us by that thin veil of matter which angelic hands will one day rend for ever. And then how wondrously the speculations of that remarkable book to which I have referred, "The Unseen Universe," lend themselves to this scriptural idea, pointing out the necessity imposed by modern scientific thought for postulating some such interior spiritual sphere, of which the external and material universe may be regarded as a temporary manifestation and development. The doctrine of the ascension, when rightly understood, presents then no difficulties from a scientific point of view, but is rather in strictest accordance with the highest and subtlest forms of modern thought. But when we advance still closer to the heart of this doctrine, and endeavour, quite apart from all mere carping criticism, to realise its meaning and its power, we shall perceive a profound fitness, beauty, and harmony in this mysterious fact. Laying apart all carping criticism, I say, because the critical spirit is not appreciative, it is on the look-out for faults, it necessarily involves a certain assumption of superiority in the critic to the thing or doctrine criticised; and most certainly it is not to the proud critic, but to the humble soul alone, that the doctrines of the Cross yield of their sweetness, and make revelation of their profound depths. We can perceive a fitness and a naturalness in the ascension; we can advance even farther still, and behold an absolute necessity for it, if Christs work was to be perfected in all its details, and Christianity to become, not a narrow local religion, but a universal and catholic Church.
III. The ascension was a fitting and a natural termination of Christs earthly ministry, considering the Christian conception of His sacred Personality. When the Second Person of the Eternal Trinity wished to reveal the life of God among men, and to elevate humanity by associating it for ever with the person of Him who was the eternal God, He left the glory which He had with the Father before the world was, and entered upon the world of humanity through a miraculous door. "The Son, which is the Word of the Father, begotten from everlasting of the Father, the very and eternal God, and of one substance with the Father, took Mans nature in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, of her substance." These are the careful, accurate, well-balanced words of the second Article of the Church of England, in which all English-speaking Christians substantially agree. They are accurate, I say, and well-balanced, avoiding the Scylla of Nestorianism, which divides Christs person, on the one side, and the Charybdis of Eutychianism, which denies His humanity, on the other. The Person of God, the Eternal Word, assumed human nature, not a human person, but human nature, so that God might be able, acting in and through this human nature as His instrument, to teach mankind and to die for mankind. God entered upon the sphere of the seen and the temporal by a miraculous door. His life and work were marked all through by miracle, His death and resurrection were encompassed with miracle; and it was fitting, considering the whole course of His earthly career, that His departure from this world should be through another miraculous door. The departure of the Eternal King was, like His first approach, a part of a scheme which forms one united and harmonious whole. The Incarnation and the Ascension were necessarily related the one to the other.
IV. Again, we may advance a step further, and say that not only was the ascension a natural and fitting termination to the activities of the Eternal Son manifest in the flesh, it was a necessary completion and finish. "It is expedient," said Christ Himself, "that I go away; for if I go not away the Comforter will not come to you." For some reason secret from us but hidden in the awful depths of that Being who is the beginning and the end, the source and the condition of all created existence, the return of Christ to the bosom of the Father was absolutely necessary before the outpouring of the Divine Spirit of Life and Love could take place. How this can have been we know not. We only know the fact as revealed to us by Jesus Christ and affirmed by His Apostles. "Being therefore by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath poured forth this which ye see and hear," is the testimony of the illuminated Apostle St. Peter on the day of Pentecost, speaking in strict unison with the teaching of Jesus Christ Himself as reported in St. Johns Gospel. But without endeavouring to intrude into these mysteries of the Divine nature, into which even the angels themselves pry not, we behold in the character and constitution of Christs Church and Christs religion sufficient reasons to show us the Divine expediency of our Lords ascension. Let us take the matter very plainly and simply thus. Had our Lord not ascended into the unseen state whence He had emerged for the purpose of rescuing mankind from that horrible pit, that mire and clay of pollution, immorality, and selfishness in which it lay at the epoch of the Christian Era, He must in that case (always proceeding on the supposition that He had risen from the dead, because we always suppose our readers to be believers) have remained permanently or temporarily resident in some one place. He might have chosen Jerusalem, the city of the great King, as His abode, and this would have seemed to the religious men of His time quite natural. The same instinct of religious conservatism which made the Twelve to tarry at Jerusalem even when persecution seemed to threaten the infant Church with destruction, would have led the risen Christ to fix His abode at the city which every pious Jew regarded as the special seat of Jehovah. There would have been nothing to tempt Him to Antioch, or Athens, or Alexandria, or Rome. None of these cities could have held out any inducement or put forward any claim comparable for one moment with that which the name, the traditions, and the circumstances of Jerusalem triumphantly maintained. Nay, rather the tone and temper of those cities must have rendered them abhorrent as dwelling-places to the great Teacher of holiness and purity.
At any rate, the risen Saviour, if He remained upon earth, must have chosen some one place where His presence and His personal glory would have been manifested. Now let us contemplate, and work out in some detail, the results which would have inevitably followed. The place chosen by our Lord as His visible dwelling-place must then have become the centre of the whole Church. At that spot pilgrims from every land must necessarily have assembled. To it would have resorted the doubter to have his difficulties resolved, the sick and weak to have their ailments cured, the men of profound devotion to bathe themselves and lose themselves in the immediate presence of the Incarnate Deity. All interest in local Churches or local work would have been destroyed, because every eye and every heart would be perpetually turning towards the one spot where the risen Lord was dwelling, and where personal adoration could be paid to Him. All honest, manly self-reliance would have been lost for individuals, for Churches, and for nations. Whenever a difficulty or controversy arose, either in the personal or ecclesiastical, the social or political sphere, men, instead of trying to solve it for themselves under the guidance of the Divine Spirit, would have hurried off with it to the Fount of supernatural wisdom, as an oracle, like the fabled pagan ones of old, whence direction would infallibly be gained. Judaism would have triumphed, and the dispensation of the Spirit would have ceased.
The whole idea, too, of Christianity as a scheme of moral probation would have been overthrown. Christ as belonging to the supernatural sphere would of course have been raised above the laws of time and space. For Him the powers of earth and the terrors of earth would have had no meaning, and heavenly glory, shooting forth from His sacred Person, would have compelled obedience and acceptance of His laws at the hands of His most deadly and obstinate foes. Sight would have taken the place of faith, and the terrified submission of slaves would have been substituted for the moral, loving obedience of the regenerate soul. The whole social order of life would also have been overthrown. God has now placed men in families, societies, and nations, that they might be proved by the very difficulties of their positions. The probation which God thereby exercises over men extends not to those alone who are subject to government, but to those as well who are entrusted with government. God by His present system tries governors and governed, kings and subjects, magistrates and people, parents and children, teachers and pupils, all alike. Any one who has ever made the experiment knows, however, how impossible it is to give full play to ones power and faculties, whether of government or of teaching, when overlooked by the conscious presence of one who can supersede and control all arrangements made or all the instructions offered. Nervousness comes in, and paralyses the best efforts a man might otherwise make. So would it have been had Christ remained upon earth. Neither those placed in authority nor those set under authority would have done their best or played their part effectually, feeling there was One standing by whose all-piercing gaze could see the imperfection of their noblest actions. A modern illustration or two will perhaps exhibit more plainly what we mean. London, with its enormous and ever-growing population, constitutes in many respects a portentous danger to our national life. But thoughtful colonists often see in it a danger which does not strike us here at home. London has a tendency to sap the springs of local interest and local self-reliance. Every colonist who attains to wealth and position feels himself an exile till he Can get back to London, which he regards as the one centre of the empire worth living at; while the colonies, viewing London as the centre of Englands wealth, power, and resources, feel naturally inclined to fling upon London the care and responsibility of the empires protection, in which all its separate parts should take their proportionate share.
Or again, let us take an illustration from the ecclesiastical sphere. M. Renan is a writer who has depicted the early history of the Church from a sceptical point of view. He has done so with all the skill of a novelist, aided by the resources of immense erudition. Before Renan became a sceptic he was a Roman Catholic, and a student for the priesthood in one of those narrow seminaries wherein exclusively the Roman Church now trains her clergy. Renan can never, therefore, view Christianity save through a Roman medium, and from a Roman Catholic standpoint. Descended himself from a Jewish stock, and trained up in Roman Catholic ideas, Renan, sceptic though he be, is lost in admiration of the Papacy, because it has combined the Jewish and the ancient imperial ideas, so that Rome having taken the place which Jerusalem once occupied in the spiritual organisation, has now become the local centre of unity for the Latin Church, where Christs vicar visibly bears sway, to whom resort can be had from every land as an authoritative guide, and whence he and he alone dispenses with more than imperial sway the gifts and graces of Divine love. Rome is for the Latin Church the centre of the earth, and upon Rome and its spiritual ruler all interest as concentrated as Christs earthly representative and deputy. Now what London is to our colonists, what Rome is for its adherents, such, and infinitely more, would the localised presence of Jesus Christ have been for the Christian world had not the ascension taken place. The Papacy, instead of securing the universality of the Church, strikes a deadly blow at it. The Papacy, with its centralised ecclesiastical despotism, is not the Catholic Church, it is simply the local Church of Rome spread out into all the world; just as Judaism never was and never could have been catholic in its ideal, no matter how widely spread it was, from the shores of the British Islands in the West to the far-distant regions of China in the East. Its adherents, like the eunuch of Ethiopia, never felt a local interest in their religion, -their eyes ever turned towards Zion, the city of the great King. And so would it have been with the bodily presence of Christ manifested in one spot; the Christian Church would still have remained a purely local institution, and the place where the risen Saviour was manifested would have been for Christian people the one centre towards which all their thoughts would gravitate, to the complete neglect of those home interests and labours in which each individual Church ought to find the special work appointed for it by the Master. It was expedient for the Church that Christ should go away, to deepen faith, to strengthen Christian self-reliance, to offer play and scope for the power and work of the Holy Ghost, to render life a testing-ground, and a place of probation for the higher life to come. But above all, it was expedient that Christ should go away in order that the Church might rise out of and above that narrow provincialism in which the Jewish spirit would fain bind it, might attain to a truly universal and catholic position, and thus fulfil the Masters magnificent prophecy to the woman of Samaria, when, viewing in spirit the Churchs onward march, beholding it bursting all local and national bonds, recognising it as the religion of universal humanity, He proclaimed its destiny in words which shall never die-"Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem shall ye worship the Father. God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." The ascension of Jesus Christ was absolutely necessary to equip the Church for its universal mission, by withdrawing the bodily presence of Christ into that unseen region which bears no special relation to any terrestrial locality, but is the common destiny, the true fatherland, of all the sons of God.
V. We have now seen how the ascension was needful for the Church, by rendering Christ an ideal object of worship for the whole human race, thus saving it from that tendency to mere localism which would have utterly changed its character. We can also trace another great blessing involved in it. The ascension glorified humanity as humanity, and ennobled man viewed simply as man. The ascension thus transformed life by adding a new dignity to life and to lifes duties.
This was a very necessary lesson for the ancient world, especially the ancient Gentile world, which Christ came to enlighten and to save. Man, considered by himself as man, had no peculiar dignity in the popular religious estimate of Greece and Rome .A Greek or a Roman was a dignified person, not, however, in virtue of his humanity, but in virtue of his Greek or Roman citizenship. The most pious Greeks or Romans simply despised mankind as such, regarding all other nations as barbarians, and treating them accordingly. Roman law exempted Roman citizens from degrading and cruel punishments, which they reserved for men outside the limits of Roman citizenship, because that humanity as humanity had no dignity attached to it in their estimation. The gladiatorial shows were the most striking illustration of this contempt for human nature which paganism inculcated.
It is a notable evidence, too, of the firm grasp upon the popular mind this contempt had taken, of the awful depths to which the fatal infection had permeated the public conscience, that it was not till four hundred years after the Incarnation, and not till one hundred years after the triumph of Christianity, that these frightful carnivals of human blood and slaughter yielded to the gentler and nobler principles of the religion of the Cross. No name indeed in the long roll of Christian martyrs, who for truth and righteousness have laid down their lives, deserves higher mention than that of Telemachus, the Asiatic monk, who, in the year 404, hearing that the city where the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul had suffered was still disgraced by the gladiatorial shows, made his way to Rome, and by the sacrifice of his own life terminated them forever within the bounds of Christendom. Telemachus rushed between the combatants in the arena, flung them asunder, and then was stoned to death by the mob, infuriated at the interruption of their favourite amusement. A tragic but glorious ending indeed, showing clearly how little the Roman mob realised as yet the doctrine of the sanctity of human nature; how powerful was the sway which paganism and pagan modes of thought held as yet over the populace of nominally Christian Rome; the tradition of which even still perpetuates itself in the cruel bull-fights of Spain. From the beginning, however, Christianity took exactly the opposite course, declaring to all the dignity and glory of human nature itself. The Incarnation was in itself a magnificent proclamation of this great elevating and civilising truth. The title Son of Man, which Christ, rising above all narrow Jewish nationalism, assumed to Himself, was a republication of the same dogma; and then, to crown the whole fabric, comes the doctrine of the ascension, wherein mankind was taught that human nature as joined to the person of God has ascended into the holiest place of the universe, so that henceforth the humblest and lowliest can view his humanity as allied with that elder Brother who in the reality of human flesh-glorified, indeed, spiritualised and refined by the secret, searching processes of death-has passed within the veil, now to appear in the presence of God for us. What new light must have been shed upon life-the life of the barbarian and of the slave-crushed beneath the popular theory of St. Pauls day! What new dignity this doctrine imparted to the bodies of the outcast and despised, counted fit food only for the cross, the stake, or the arena! Man might despise them and ill-treat them, yet their bodies were made like unto the one glorious Body for ever united to God, and therefore they were comforted, elevated, enabled to endure as seeing Him who is invisible. Cannot we see many examples of the consoling, elevating power of the ascension in the New Testament? Take St. Pauls writings, and there we trace the influence of the ascension in every page. Take the very lowest case. Slaves under the conditions of ancient society occupied the most degraded position. Their duties were of the humblest type, their treatment of the worst description, their punishments of the most terrible character. Yet for even these oppressed and degraded beings the doctrine of the ascension transformed life, because it endowed that menial service which they rendered with a new dignity. "Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eye service, as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God." And why? Because life has been enriched with a new motive: "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ." Ye serve the Lord Christ. That was the supreme point. The cooking of a dinner, the dressing of an imperious ladys hair, the teaching of a careless or refractory pupil-all these things were transfigured into the service of the ascended Lord. And as with the servants, so was it with their masters. The ascension furnished them with a new and practical motive, which, at first leading to kindly treatment and generous actions, would one day, by the force of logical deduction as well as of Christian principle, lead to the utter extinction of slavery. "Masters, render unto your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven." The doctrine of the ascension diffused sweetness and light throughout the whole Christian system, furnishing a practical motive, offering an ever-present and eternal sanction, urging men upwards and onwards; without which neither the Church nor the world would ever have reached that high level of mercy, charity, and purity which men now enjoy. Perhaps here again the present age may see the doctrine of the ascension asserting its glory and its power in the same direction. Much of modern speculation tends to debase and belittle the human body, teaching theories respecting its origin which have a natural tendency to degrade the popular standard. If people come to think of their bodies as derived from a low source, they will be apt to think a low standard of morals as befitting bodies so descended. The doctrine of evolution has not, to say the least, an elevating influence upon the masses. I say nothing against it. One or two passages in the Bible, as Gen_2:7, seem to support it, appearing, as that verse does, to make a division between the creation of the body of man and the creation of his spirit. But the broad tendency of such speculation lies in a downward moral direction. Here the doctrine of the ascension steps in to raise for us, as it raised for the materialists of St. Pauls day, the standard of current conceptions, and to teach men a higher and a nobler view. we leave to science the investigation of the past and of the lowly sources whence mans body may have come; but the doctrine of the ascension speaks of its present sanctity and of its future glory, telling of the human body as a body of humiliation and of lowliness indeed, but yet proclaiming it as even now, in the person of Christ, ascended into the heavens, and seated on the throne of the Most High. It may have been once humble in its origin; it is now glorious in its dignity and elevation; and that dignity and that elevation shed a halo upon human nature, no matter how degraded and wherever it may be found, because it is like unto that Body, the firstfruits of humanity, which stands at the right hand of God. Thus the doctrine of the ascension becomes for the Christian the ever-flowing fountain of dignity, of purity, and of mercy, teaching us to call no man common or unclean, because all have been made like unto the image of the Son of God.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 9. He was taken up. See Luke 24:51, and…
9. He was taken up. See Luke 24:51, and the notes there.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain 9-11. This is the grand climacteric fact of this…
THE ASCENSION
9-11. This is the grand climacteric fact of this chapter, suitable to impress it on the memory as the Ascension chapter. When I was at Jerusalem I was never satisfied walking over Mount Olivet where Jesus walked so much. Whenever I had a leisure hour I would run away to Calvary or to Olivet, or to both. The memorable spot where the feet of my Lord did last tread the earth, how unutterably hallowed! That sacred Spot is left unencumbered with any superstructure to this day. It is free for the weary feet of loving pilgrims from all lands to tread. About ten paces from it a beautiful stone tower two hundred feet high has been erected for the accommodation of the Lord’s pilgrims who are anxious to follow Him just as far as possible in His upward flight. How I was delighted to climb that tower to its summit!
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There I stood gazing up into the blue ethereal firmament of a Palestinian sky through which my Lord did fly away, and leave the world in darkness to mourn His absence and sigh for His return. As I gazed skywardly I imagined that I saw the opening heavens and the glory radiating from the shining presence of my descending King. The trumpet reverberated in my ears, and I saw old Mount Olivet bestudded all over with the tombs of patriarchs, prophets, saints and martyrs, breaking into fragments, thus liberating the long-imprisoned saints, leaping into the air and ascending with tremendous shouts to meet their glorious Lord. I enjoyed climbing that tower; but I did not like to come down. I longed for my wings, to fly away along the shining ethereal track whither my Lord had ascended up to Heaven.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain 9. Having completed his brief notice of the last…
9. Having completed his brief notice of the last interview between Jesus and the disciples, Luke says, (9) " And when he had spoken these things, while they were beholding, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. " We learn from Luke's former narrative, that it was while Jesus was in the act of blessing them, with uplifted hands, that he was parted from them and borne aloft into heaven. The cloud which floated above formed a background, to render the outline of the person more distinct while in view, and to suddenly shut him off from view as he entered its bosom. Thus all the circumstances of this most fitting departure were calculated to preclude the suspicion of deception or of optical illusion.
It has been urged by some skeptical writers, that the silence of Matthew and John, in reference to the ascension, who were eye-witnesses of the scene, if it really occurred, while is mentioned only by Luke and Mark, who were not present, is ground of suspicion that the latter derived their information from impure sources. Even Olshausen acknowledges that, at one time, he was disquieted on this point, because he could not account for this peculiar difference in the course of the four historians. That the testimony of Mark and Luke, however, is credible, is made apparent to all who believe in the resurrection of Jesus, by simply inquiring, what became of his body after it was raised? It was certainly raised immortal and incorruptible. There is nothing in his resurrection to distinguish it from that of Lazarus, or the widow's son of Nain, so that he should be called "the first fruits of them who slept," but the fact that he rose to die no more. But when he was about to leave the earth, there was only this alternative, that his body should return again to the grave, or ascend up into heaven. So far, therefore, is the account of the ascension from being incredible, that even if none of the historians had mentioned it, we would still be constrained to conclude that, at some time, and in some manner, it did take place.
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We may further observe, that though Matthew and John do not mention the ascension, the latter reports a conversation with Mary the Magdalene at the sepulcher, in which Jesus clearly intimated that it would take place. He said to her, " Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father." And that his ascension would be visible, he had intimated to the disciples, when he said, "Doth this offend you? What if you shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before?"
But still the question recurs, why should Matthew and John omit an account of this remarkable event, and why should Like and Mark, who were not eye-witnesses, make mention of it? It would be sufficient to answer, For a similar reason, no doubt, to that which led each of these writers to omit some interesting facts which are mentioned by others.
But we may find a still more definite answer by examining the last chapter of each of the four gospels. It will be observed, that John saw fit to close his narrative with the fishing scene which occurred on the shore of Galilee, making no mention at all of the last day's interview. Of course, it would have required a departure from, this plan to have mentioned the ascension. Matthew brings his narrative to a close with a scene on a mountain in Galilee, whereas the ascension took place from Mount Olivet, near Jerusalem. There was nothing in his closing remarks to suggest mention of the ascension, unless it be his account of the commission; but the commission was really first given to them at that time, though finally repeated on the day of the ascension. On the other hand, Mark and Luke both chose, for their concluding paragraphs, such a series of events as leads them to speak of the last day's interview; and as the ascension was the closing event of the day, it would have been most unnatural for them not to mention it. Still further, in the introduction to the book of Acts, the leading events of which are to have constant reference to an ascended and glorified Redeemer, Luke felt still greater necessity for giving a formal account of the ascension.
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The ascension of Christ:
The ascension of Christ:
v. 9. And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
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v. 10. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
v. 11. which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.
Jesus had finished the words of His last commission to His disciples; He had entrusted to them the preaching of the Gospel to all nations, Mat 28:19. But while they were still looking at Him in anxious expectation, desiring to hear more of the words of comfort and strength out of His mouth, He was lifted up before them. He was in the act of blessing them with uplifted hands when He was taken from them. That is the picture of Christ which should be most dear to the memory of a Christian, with His hands stretched out in blessing over them. And a cloud, the symbol of divine glory, a truly regal chariot, shut the Master from the view of the disciples as He entered its bosom. There was no deception, no optical illusion; the ascension of Jesus is a historical fact which cannot be doubted. The Lord went up with a shout, with the sound of a trumpet, Psa 47:5. He has ascended up on high and led captivity captive, Psa 68:18. He has spoiled principalities and powers, He has made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it, Col 2:15. He has ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things, Eph 4:10 By His exaltation and ascension the Son of Man, also according to His human body, has entered into the full and unlimited use of His divine omnipresence. His gracious presence is therefore assured to His congregation on earth. He is now nearer to His believers than He was to His disciples in the days of His flesh. He is now sitting at the right hand of His heavenly Father. As our Brother He has assumed the full use of the divine power and majesty. He reigns with omnipotence over all things, but especially also over His Church. God has put all things under His feet, and has given Him to be the Head over all things to the Church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all, Eph 1:22-23. By His Word and Sacrament He gathers unto Himself a congregation and Church upon earth. He works in and with His servants; He governs in the midst of His enemies. He preserves and protects His Church against all the enmity of the hostile world and against the very portals of hell. And His intercession before His heavenly Father makes our salvation a certainty, Rom 8:34. While the disciples were still looking after their Lord with longing gaze, there suddenly appeared two men in white garments, in shining vestments, two angels that had just acted as escorts to the victorious Lord. These angels aroused the disciples from the revelry into which they had sunk when gazing after their Lord. Addressing the apostles as men of Galilee, the heavenly messengers told them that the time spent in longingly wishing for the visible presence or return of Christ was wasted. And they gave them and all the believers a joyful assurance. This same Jesus, who was here taken up into heaven, apparently taken away from them, will come back again in the very same way in which they watched Him disappear from sight. Jesus will return visibly and bodily. With the same body, clothed in the same human nature, He will descend from heaven to judge the quick and the dead. That is the hope of all believers, that they will see Jesus with their own eyes. And in the mean time they live under His merciful reign and government, safe and secure, knowing that He is with them to the end of the world. This hope and certainty makes the believers willing to work for the Lord and to do the works of their calling on earth in His name and to His glory. The time is short, and His return is both sure and imminent, Joh 9:4.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 as they were looking up
as they were looking up
"as they watched." The apostles "were looking up" at Jesus because Jesus rose into the sky. AT: "as they were looking up at the sky" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
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he was raised up
This can be stated in active form. AT: "he rose up into the sky" or "God took him up into the sky" (See: Active or Passive)
a cloud hid him from their eyes
"a cloud blocked their view so that they could no longer see him"
looking intensely to heaven
"staring at the sky" or "gazing at the sky"
You men of Galilee
The angels address the apostles as men who are from Galilee.
will return in the same manner
Jesus will return in the sky, just as clouds covered him when he arose into heaven.
translationWords
Jesus
Galilee
heaven
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.