NOTES for Act 1:1-11
1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, |
2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: |
3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: |
4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. |
5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. |
6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? |
7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. |
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. |
9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. |
10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; |
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. |
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How different the behavior of Christ's disciples is before His death and after it! When Jesus told them about His coming death and that He was going to the Father, they were grieved (see John 14:28). Now, witnessing His Ascension, they rejoice instead, even though the Teacher is visibly leaving them: "And while He blessed them, He began to depart from them and be carried up into heaven. They worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy." Even though Pentecost had not yet come, the apostles had already lived through an event that turned their whole life upside down. The death and Resurrection of their Teacher changed the heart of each one of them.
In addition, 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 Second Coming of the Lord. How amazing that, without waiting, as it were, for the descent of the Spirit who "will teach you all things and remind you of everything" (John 14:26), the Lord Himself after the Resurrection appeared to the disciples "for forty days" and spoke about the Kingdom of God, and now these two men remind them of Jesus' return. Maybe this is the most important thing in the feast of the Ascension: that we are witnesses to the promise of His Second Coming, rejoicing that He goes to the Father.
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