Thursday, May 21, 2020

The Ascension of Jesus (forty days after the crucifixion and resurrection of the Messiah)




Over the next forty days after the resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples several times and spoke to them of the Kingdom of God. He told them to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to come to them, and that they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth. Jesus then led His disciples out as far as Bethany. He lifted up His hands and blessed them, and as He was doing so, the Lord was lifted up into heaven before their eyes. As they looked on in, two men in dazzling white clothing suddenly appeared and told them that Jesus would return in the same way as they just saw Him depart into Heaven. Jesus was then taken into heaven where he was seated at the right hand of the Father. The disciples returned to Jerusalem to wait for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was poured out on them ten days later during the Jewish Feast of Shavuot (Pentecost). The disciples were filled with the Spirit of the Lord and proclaimed the gospel message to every person gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast. Each person heard the disciples speaking in their own language, and 3000 souls were saved that day.

But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
 Mt. 28:16-20

Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen. And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed. And they promptly reported all these instructions to Peter and his companions. And after that, Jesus Himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.   Mk. 16:14-20

Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising God.   Luke 24:44-53

After these things Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias … This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead.
John 21:1, 14

The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in dazzling white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” Acts 1:1-11

Follow this link to discover just who these "two men in dazzling white clothing" actually may have been at Jesus' ascension:

http://diglogos.blogspot.com/2020/03/time-travelers-in-bible-two-witnesses.html