9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.
11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “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.”
Imagine this – you are one of the disciples…one of the few who have spent the last few years of your life devoted to following THE ONE, the Messiah. Your rabbi, who you have seen raise men from the dead, walk on water, heal the sick, drive out daemons, and feed thousands of people with just a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish has just ascended into the heavens (bear in mind that this is taking place about 40 days after he died & was resurrected).
So you and your fellow disciples are left standing there staring up at the heavens…perplexed about what should come next. Where do you go? What do you do? How do you begin to move on? Lucky for us, the two men dressed in white give us a promise of His return, and hope for the mean time.
The good news, the Gospel if you will, for each of us is that Christ is risen from the dead. The key for us, just as it was for the disciples is what we do in the mean time. We don’t need to be the ones left standing there, staring at the heavens. We do however, need to follow the examples of the apostles in the days following the ascension. They prayed for God’s guidance, received the Spirit at Pentecost, and began their work as the hands and feet of Jesus’ ministry.
Rather than being complacent, staring at the heavens, and waiting in fear of what could happen, we need to embrace the power He gives us through the spirit and be the ones who share the good news of the resurrection and all of the joy and peace that comes with it. We should be like the apostles and continue to share Jesus’ love and power with all those around us until the day of his return.
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Let us look for Jesus, through the power of the Spirt, by the grace of the Father, through service and fellowship with one another.
-Jed Hanes
For more information on Chris Cook, a premier southern artist, visit http://www.chriscookartist.com/bio.html.
