David Bahn – Reflections

Acts 1:6-11

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷ He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” ⁹ And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰ And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes,¹¹ and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

This passage is one of my favorites because of the question asked by the angels on the occasion of Jesus’ resurrection. The apostles stand gawking at the clouds into which Jesus has ascended. The angels ask, “Why do you stand looking into heaven?” Of course they don’t give these men of Galilee an opportunity to answer their question, but had they, and had I been there, I could have answered them easily. “Because we’ve never seen anything like this before in our lives; this is truly amazing, incredible, really something.”

Jesus had been with them for 3 years. He had performed miracles, taught them about the kingdom of God, given them authority over demons, and done life with them for some time. He had also been arrested, tried, sentenced to death and been crucified. Then three days later – true to his word – he had been raised from the dead. He had shown them many proofs of his resurrection, and given them the Great Commission. Those last events having taken place over a period of less than two months. Now he was rising into the sky, taken up into the clouds, removed from their sight. My head is spinning even writing about it today – and I wasn’t even there!

But what was unusual, odd, and remarkably difficult to understand for these men was a return to normalcy in the eyes of the angels. They had spent the past 33 years looking into the realm of space and time on earth with amazement and confusion. The King of the Universe had taken on human flesh, lived a humble life among sinful men and women. The One through whom the creation came into being hung on a cross and died. From their perspective the world was upside down. With Jesus’ ascension it was right side up again.

Because of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of the Father the world and all of creation – the whole universe is right side up again. From our perspective Jesus has won our salvation, shown what true faith is (none of us have faith so pure and true; that’s why we have a Savior by the way), and now reigns above all, even interceding for us before the throne of God’s grace.

It may not seem so today; so many things are running amuck in the world around us. But all’s right when Christ reigns in our hearts by faith (faltering as it may be). We have a Savior. He has done what we could not do. He will come again at the end of time and take those who are his own to be with him in eternal glory, bliss, beauty, and joy. The tomb is empty and Jesus reigns. Whatever we must face between now and the time of his return will certainly be put right – even as he was vindicated by his resurrection and exalted by his ascension. In the mean time our calling is to represent Christ to the world which desperately needs to see the reality and blessedness of his reign.