NOTES for Act 1:1-11

How different the behavior of Christ’s disciples is before and after His death. When Jesus told them about His coming death and that He was going to the Father, they were grieved (see Jn 14:28). Now, however, as they witness His Ascension, they rejoice, even though the Teacher is visibly leaving them: “And while He blessed them, He began to withdraw from them and was carried up into heaven. They worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.” Although Pentecost had not yet taken place, the apostles had already lived through an event that transformed their whole lives. Their Teacher’s death and Resurrection changed the heart of each of them. Moreover, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles, something else happened during the Ascension (see Acts 1:10–11). Two men in white garments appeared to the apostles and announced the Lord’s second coming. How remarkable that, without waiting, as it were, for the descent of the Spirit who “will teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance” (Jn 14:26), the Lord Himself appeared to the disciples after the Resurrection “over a period of forty days” and spoke about the Kingdom of God, and now two men remind them that Jesus will return. Perhaps this is the most important thing in the feast of the Ascension: that we witness the promise of His second coming while rejoicing that He is going to the Father.