Ascension and Representation

Scripture Reading:  Luke 24:50-53, Acts 1:7-27

  Luke 24: ⁵⁰ Jesus led his followers as far as Bethany, and he raised his hands and blessed them.⁵¹ While he was blessing them, he was separated from them and carried into heaven.⁵² They worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem very happy. ⁵³ They stayed in the Temple all the time, praising God.

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 ^{Acts 1:7} Jesus said to them, "The Father is the only One who has the authority to decide dates and times. These things are not for you to know. ⁸ But when the Holy Spirit comes to you, you will receive power. You will be my witnesses—in Jerusalem, in all of Judea, in Samaria, and in every part of the world."  ⁹ After he said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud hid him from their sight.¹⁰ As he was going, they were looking into the sky. Suddenly, two men wearing white clothes stood beside them.¹¹ They said, "Men of Galilee, why are you standing here looking into the sky? Jesus, whom you saw taken up from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you saw him go."
 ¹² Then they went back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. (This mountain is about half a mile from Jerusalem.)¹³ When they entered the city, they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon (known as the Zealot), and Judas son of James were there.¹⁴ They all continued praying together with some women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus' brothers. ¹⁵ During this time there was a meeting of the believers (about one hundred ^and twenty of them). Peter stood up and said, ^16-17 "Brothers and sisters, in the Scriptures the Holy Spirit said through David something that must happen involving Judas. He was one of our own group and served together with us. He led those who arrested Jesus." ¹⁸ (Judas bought a field with the money he got for his evil act. But he fell to his death, his body burst open, and all his intestines poured out.¹⁹ Everyone in Jerusalem learned about this so they named this place Akeldama. In their language Akeldama means "Field of Blood.") ²⁰ "In the Book of Psalms," Peter said, "this is written:
    'May his place be empty; leave no one to live in it.' — Psalm 69:25 And it is also written:    'Let another man replace him as leader.' — Psalm 109:8
 ^21-22 "So now a man must become a witness with us of Jesus' being raised from the dead. He must be one of the men who were part of our group during all the time the Lord Jesus was among us—from the time John was baptizing people until the day Jesus was taken up from us to heaven."
 ²³ They put the names of two men before the group. One was Joseph Barsabbas, who was also called Justus. The other was Matthias.^24-25 The apostles prayed, "Lord, you know the thoughts of everyone. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to do this work. Show us who should be an apostle in place of Judas, who turned away and went where he belongs."²⁶ Then they used lots to choose between them, and the lots showed that Matthias was the one. So he became an apostle with the other eleven. found in the New Century Version Translation.

Key Verse: I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God 
(Acts 7: 56)

Meditation: Christ had shown the disciples He could be with them anywhere, any place  in His post-resurrection state. The disciples understood that Jesus was now going away from their physical vision.  He would be all over the earth at the same time. He would not be confined to one place.

Christ showed us that the spiritual world is very close to us. The disciples understood and went back to the upper room to celebrate and praise God. *Stephen knew heaven was very close to earth. In his last minutes he looked  up to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus at the  **right hand of God (Acts 7:54-56). The spiritual world with Jesus at the right hand of God presents a completely different  existence from earth.

Christ at God's side shows us the ultimate victory of the cross followed by the resurrection: The universe already belongs to Jesus Christ. We have that confidence conveyed to us in Romans 8:37, “We are more  conquerors through him who loved us.”

Thought for the Day: For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels  nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any power, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38,39).


Both Luke and the Book of Acts was written by the same man, Dr. Luke, a medical doctor  and early Christian tradition says that Luke came from Antioch of Syria. He was a  Gentile Believer, perhaps a Greek or a Roman.   

* I am not sure why Stephen is included here as Stephen's contribution to the church is discussed more fully later. His involvement in the early church can be found in Acts 6. 

**  God has two hands... like us. On the right is Jesus and all things good .  One the left is judgement, as described in Matthew 25: 33, 41 There are other places in the Bible that describes his left hand- with judgement and darkness.