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Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
‘Good-byes’ are never easy, are they? Especially if you know the good-bye is for a very long time or maybe even permanently. Since Easter, we’ve been looking at the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus with His friends. Dr. Luke tells us this in the opening words of His book “The Acts”: “After His sufferings, Jesus presented Himself to His disciples and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God.” (Acts 1:3)
So now we know it was 40 days from His resurrection that Passover/Easter weekend, until Jesus left them for the last time, and we know what Jesus was doing during those 6 weeks.
One of those times resurrected Jesus was having a meal with His disciples when He told them: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My Father promised, which you have heard Me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:4,5) They remembered.
In the upper room, during their Passover meal, Jesus had spoken many things to them about this miracle of the Holy Spirit coming to live with and in them, after Jesus left them. (John 14:16,17,26; 16:7-13) During these weeks, since His resurrection, Jesus had appeared and disappeared several times, never telling them exactly when or where He would see them next. Now it appears Jesus was preparing them for a final good-bye, if they were to stay in Jerusalem until the coming of the Holy Spirit.
There was an underlying yearning His disciples had which sometimes surfaced into a question. The more they watched Jesus and listened to Him the more they were convinced He was the Messiah, and they hoped in addition to His spiritual leadership, He would rally the people into a political movement and challenge the power of Rome by establishing the Kingdom of God, which He spoke of so often. Luke tells us the disciples one day boldly asked Jesus: “Lord are You at this time going to restore the Kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6)
Oh my! This was a direct, overt question with very clear intentions for restoration of the Kingdom of Israel dominance in the region! It appears they were on the Mount of Olives together, probably looking across at the skyline of Jerusalem, with so much great history and the great Temple towering over the city, when they asked this question.
Jesus’ response was very significant: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:7,8) I probably wouldn’t call that a rebuke, but it sure was a re-calibration of what Jesus wanted their priorities to be.
These 11 men had been with Jesus for nearly 3 years. They’d heard His clear teaching and His proclamation that He only spoke what God the Father instructed Him to speak, through the Holy Spirit within Him! (John 7:14-18) Now, Jesus was informing His disciples that this same Holy Spirit would come upon them and they would be witnesses of Jesus, declaring to anyone who would hear them, what they had learned from Jesus!
Just as the Holy Spirit had helped and empowered Jesus, so that same Holy Spirit would help, guide and empower these simple men to carry Jesus’ message to the world. It was a daunting vision which I’m sure intimidated the disciples and left them feeling woefully inadequate and perhaps even fearful! They’d seen what Jerusalem had done to Jesus and so if they continued sharing Jesus’ message why should they expect to be treated any differently than Jesus was? Were they willing to pay that extreme, ultimate price to follow Jesus?
I wonder if they once again looked at Jesus’ nail scarred hands. To a man they felt the tremendous contrast of the privilege Jesus was inviting them TO: being eye-witness representatives of Jesus for the rest of their lives. But also a very heavy burden weighed down on them: the harsh reality that they should assume far more people would oppose them, refuse to believe them, maybe even persecute them, than those who would embrace their story of Jesus!
Jesus was inviting them to remember their Caesarea Philippi experience where Jesus had said: “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Me.” (Matt. 16:24) I wonder if each of the disciples struggled looking Jesus in the eye at this moment? This conversation was a fork in the road for each and all of them. Their decisions now would shape the remainder of their lives, their legacies and directly affect their families. This would be an all or nothing, 24x7x365 commitment. It would affect every choice they made, every word they said, for the remainder of their lives.
And then suddenly the most remarkable thing happened, something none of them had ever seen in their lives: “After Jesus said these things He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight!” (Acts 1:9) Slowly Jesus elevated, right in front of their eyes, right up into the clouds! Did He wave farewell? Did He say ‘good-bye’? Could their minds grasp and understand what their eyes were seeing?
Luke records this: “They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.” (Act 1:10,11) These ‘men’ were obviously angels sent by God, and their message was clear: Jesus had left them for a final time.
Jesus was returning to heaven from which He had come in His incarnation as a baby in Bethlehem more than 30 years ago. In the upper room at that Passover Meal Jesus had said “I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” (John 16:28) One day Jesus would return in the same way He was leaving, but for now these disciples had major decisions to make about the rest of their lives. Would they hide or keep silent about Jesus? Or have their experiences with Jesus, including this ascension to heaven, so powerfully impacted them that they must prioritize telling His story for the rest of their lives?
After a short while it was clear Jesus’ ‘good-bye’ was permanent, and those two messengers had disappeared with no more information to give. It was decision time. The disciples looked at each other, looked up into the sky, looked over at Jerusalem. There was only one thing they could do… accept Jesus’ invitation and obey. They headed into Jerusalem to wait, as He had told them, until the Holy Spirit would come upon them to empower them and guide them. For the remainder of their lives, they had one priority… tell His story, answer the questions, help people know Jesus as they had come to know Jesus.
Luke tells us they were not alone. When they arrived in Jerusalem they were joined by Jesus’ mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, Jesus’ brothers who had not believed Jesus until His resurrection, and many others who had been His followers. For 10 days they WAITED together, sharing stories of Jesus, praying, eating meals together and trying to discern how they would live their lives as His ambassadors! They waited for the Holy Spirit whom Jesus had promised. (Acts 1:12-14)
I’d like us to wait with them, put yourself in the group. Listen to the stories, listen to them praying as they seek God’s guidance for the rest of their lives. Consider what the priorities are for the rest of your life and how the life and story of Jesus affects your priorities, your life purpose? And here’s a song to help us reflect as we wait for God to speak…
Today’s Scripture: Acts 1:1-14.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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