Post-Resurrection Appearances of Jesus and Ascension of Jesus

Alright, we are nearing the end of our study. As I've mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I think we may finish tonight. It was three years ago that we began this study in the life of Christ. Don't remember exactly when we started. It was right at three years ago, sometimes this summer. It's been a fascinating journey, really, as we have followed step by step the life of our Lord through the gospels. We've sought to harmonize the different gospel accounts to get the full picture of what was happening at any juncture of our Lord's life and ministry. We come tonight to the very final two appearances of Christ following His resurrection and then Lord willing, we will also talk about the ascension of Christ back to heaven. We have been looking at the resurrection day appearances of Christ. We saw there were five of those and all five of those were basically geared toward helping the disciples to understand that He really was alive, proving to them who He was, confirming what had happened in the resurrection. So that basically is what happened on the day of resurrection. Then the further post-resurrection appearances we have seen. Already a couple of those, Jesus appeared a week after the resurrection to the disciples in the upper room. Then He appeared to the seven at the sea of Galilee as they were fishing. And in those appearances, especially in the one to see of Galilee, He is beginning to train and teach them as to what they will be responsible for when they begin planting church in the book of Acts. Then we began last week the appearance to the disciples on a mountain in Galilee. If you will look at Matthew, chapter 28, that's where we'll begin tonight. Jesus appears to the disciples that He has been instructing to meet Him there in Galilee and a mountain. Again, I would mention that there are some who believe this is the appearance referred to in 1 Corinthians 15 of Jesus appearing to above 500 of the disciples. It's a little difficult place. That one and this may have been the time, but we're not real sure. We looked last week at the setting for this meeting in verses 16 and 17. The 11 disciples went to Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw Him, they worshipped Him but some doubted. That is the setting. Mountain in Galilee, we know the 11 were there. Maybe a larger crowd unclear about that, but they saw Him, worshipped Him, and some of them are still questioning. Some of them are still doubting. What we want to start with tonight, really look at tonight is the instruction that takes place at that meeting because the instruction at that meeting really lays out the plan and purpose, God's goal for the disciples in the book of Acts. What they will be responsible for, what their ministry will be like. This is often called the Great Commission. The reason why it's called that is because Jesus, first of all, claims all authority in heaven and earth, and we'll look at that in just a moment. He is the king of heaven, if you will, who is commissioning us as his ambassadors to do his work for him on this earth after he leaves. He is in a sense commissioning, sending out his disciples and this great commission is really our marching orders. It is our job description for the church. It is what we are to be doing in broad terms. The Lord instructs them to do four things. Let's look at those four things. First of all, look at verse 18. We need to set the stage for these four commands. Then Jesus came to them and said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Jesus claims all authority in heaven and earth. It is a claim to deity. It reinforces his deity. If he has all authority in heaven, then he is God. It also gives him the right to instruct the disciples as to what they are to do. He talks about having this authority right before he gives them orders. He is reinforcing his right, his prerogative, to instruct them as to what they ought to do. The Lord is claiming all authority, which rightfully is his. He also may be with this statement looking forward to what will happen very shortly when he actually ascends into heaven, but he is seated at the right hand of the Father and is made the head of the church. Ephesians 1 talks about the ascension resulting in Jesus being made the head of the church, his body. That is what allows Pentecost to happen and the church to begin. He claims authority and then gives them these four instructions. He says, therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. Surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. There are basically four commands, different ways this can be seen, but we are going to look at it in terms of four different commands. The first one is to go. He says, therefore go. And so there is the command to go. This is God's plan for reaching the lost. It is to go. Notice Jesus does not say pray. Is it a good thing to pray for lost people? Of course it is. Is that enough? Of course not. There is much more to evangelism than prayer. Prayer must undergird evangelism. Prayer is in a sense the water that the Holy Spirit uses to nourish the soil of evangelism. But prayer is not enough. We have to go. Notice Jesus also did not say to the lost come. Now he did say some things like that in his ministry. Obviously come into me, the labor in heavy laden. I will give you rest. He said some things like that. He does give invitations to come to him. But when he is talking to the disciples, he is not telling them you invite people to come to your gatherings. Now see, evangelism has often been seen as let's have a special meeting and invite people to come. And that is fine. God has used that many ways. But that was not the marching orders to the church. The marching orders to the church were not sit and wait for people to come to you. It was go. You go. You go to where the lost people are. And he is going to talk about the fact we should go into all the world. So our command is very clear. It is not to wait for lost people to come to us. Now does that mean we should not invite people to church who are lost? Of course not. We should do that. If we have opportunity to do that. And we have kind of in our DNA as a church what we call target ministries, which are ministries targeted to the needs of people that get them here to minister to a particular need and then have the opportunity to share the gospel with them. Through the years we have seen God use those in tremendous ways. The first target ministry we have ever started was divorce care. And then we have started others through the years. A grief share and divorce care for kids and mobs. And then the 3D archery and of course celebrate recovery. All of those are target ministries that target people and get them to come to where they can have a need met but also hear the gospel. Certainly nothing wrong with that. Those are valid ministries. But that is also a part of going. You know you go to people to get them to come under the sound of the gospel. But never forget that what Jesus told us to do is to go to the lost. Not to wait for them to come to us. We are to go to them. And so that is a very important part of the great commission. The commission is not to the lost. It is to believers. And the believers are instructed. We as his followers and disciples are instructed to go to reach lost people. Comments, questions about that before we look at the second one. There is a sense in which Jesus expects us to go because the actual verb tense of the verb here is having gone. That would be the most literal way to translate it into English. Having gone therefore make disciples of all nations. The key verb in the sentence structure in the original language is the verb to make disciples. Having gone as a part of the sentence. Having gone therefore make disciples. But it is obviously a command to go as well. But he expects that we will do that. He starts it out by saying having gone make disciples. So he expects that we will have gone that we will go. That is a given and that is not up for debate. We are to go. Then the second one is to make disciples of all nations. Now what is a disciple? What is the meaning of that word? Okay, a disciple is a follower. That is one key concept in a disciple. Anything else? A learner? Okay. Anything else? Sent? Okay. A disciple is one who is sent. Exactly. That is part of what the Great Commission is all about. Anything else? Okay, you have hit on the key concepts really. You are such great students. You really have hit on the key concepts of what the word disciple means. Literally the word disciple means a learner and follower of Christ. So it is one who learns about Christ. It is a learner. So someone who knows Jesus, who comes to know Him and learns from Him. But it is also one who follows Him. So there is a cognitive aspect, a mental aspect of learning, understanding the teachings of Jesus, learning from Him. But then also there is a, you might call it not cognitive, but volitional or an act of the will or movement or service. So there is growing and serving involved in this word disciple. We are to grow, we are to learn, but we are also to move, we are to follow Him and where He goes, we go. What He does, we are to do. That is really the key concepts. And so that going, that following Him involves, like Jesus had told His disciples as the Father has sent me, so I have sent you. The following Him means that we are sent by Him into the world. So we are to make disciples. Now if we are going to make disciples, if a disciple is a learner and a grower or a learner and a follower, how do you make a disciple? Teach them. Okay. And what do you teach? The Bible, the gospel. Yes. Now for a person to become a follower of Christ, and when we speak of people becoming a follower of Christ, we are just talking, we are just using the word Jesus used. There is nothing wrong with that word at all. It is a good word. It means to be a disciple, a follower of Christ, you have to know Him first. To become a learner, to become a follower, you have to come into contact with Him. You have to come to know Him first. And so part of what it means to make disciples is evangelism. Right. We are to go and in going or having gone, we are to share Christ with people so that they can come to know Him in a personal way, learn, understand who He is and what He did for them, and then make a decision to follow Him to become His disciple. So if we are to make disciples, that is primarily evangelism, causing people to understand who Christ is, what He did for them, come a learner, and then a follower to receive Him as Savior and begin to follow Him in your lifestyle. Where does He say to do this? Make disciples where? All nations. Now think about being one of the early disciples, one of the apostles who is hearing this, and how that would probably stun them. Why would that be so amazing for them to hear out of their comfort zone, way out of their box? Many were not accepted, transportation is another huge issue. We are talking about people who basically were confined to walking or very limited ship travel, ships that basically hugged the coast, and then ventured out across stretches of the mountains. So we are talking about the Mediterranean, but not great stretches. Gentile nations, there is a huge issue, he is talking to Jews, and it is going to take them a while in the book of Acts, it is going to take 10 chapters of Acts for them to get it down that they need to move beyond other Jews to reach Gentiles. Pardon me? Get out of their comfort zone, they are going to really have to get out of their comfort zone in order to go to all nations. It is a very stretching thing. For us today, we take that for granted, because we talk a lot about world evangelism, and that really is what this is talking about. Our field is the world, it is not just local. Obviously it includes local. Jesus will tell them the last thing before he goes to heaven is here to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. So it starts at Jerusalem, starts at home, but our field expands to the whole world. We think of that because we have known that, we have heard so much about it, and we are comfortable with missions, that is just a given for us, but it would not have been for these men. It would have really blown their minds to think of going into all the world to make disciples, make followers of Christ, and it would take them a while even some persecution in Acts 8 to get them out of Jerusalem. So go, make disciples of all nations, and then the third thing he says is baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. It is an important part of the commission. It is not just a sideline, it is an important part of the great commission. Now the purpose of baptism is clear in the Scriptures, it is not to save or to wash away sins regardless of what some folks say or regardless of what two or three passages seem to teach. I am not going to get into all of those passages tonight, but baptism cannot save us or we would be saved by our own works. That is completely contrary to the doctrine of Scripture. There are good, reasonable explanations of Acts 2.38, 1st Peter 3.20, and Mark 16.15, and 16. The passages that appear to teach that you have to be baptized in order to be saved. There are good, reasonable interpretations and explanations of those passages. If you take the Hermanutex class that we are offering from Piedmont this fall, you would understand how to look at those kinds of difficult passages. But baptism doesn't save us, it does picture our identification with Christ. It does in a picture form give testimony to the fact that we have come to know Jesus as our Savior. That is what the purpose of baptism is all about. It is really identification. 1st Corinthians 10.2, the Bible says that the children of Israel were identified with Moses as they went through the Red Sea. That picture of walking through the Red Sea although they didn't get wet, it was on both sides of them, that identified them with Moses. They were baptized into Moses, he says, and that picture is being identified with Moses. That was what rallied the nation around Moses, was what happened at the Red Sea. They became identified with him as a people. Identification is the main concept in baptism. It identifies us with someone or something. It pictures in a very vivid object lesson our identification with Christ. Although it doesn't save us, it is extremely important. It is a command. It is a command that as believers, we don't have an option about. We are to be baptized. Jesus commands His disciples to go, make disciples, then baptize those who become followers of Christ. It is timing, it is clear that it is after salvation. Go, make disciples, that is the evangelism part. Then after they become a follower of Christ, you baptize them. It is clear that baptism comes after salvation. It does not contribute to it. It does not come before. If a person was baptized before they came to know Christ, they have really not been baptized. They have just gotten wet, haven't they? They really haven't been baptized scripturally. Then even the method of baptism is indicated in the word, the word baptism means to dip or plunge under. That is what the original word meant. It was actually a word that was used in the first century of drowning or of the sinking of a ship. Boptizo meant literally to go under the water. That is what the word literally meant. The only appropriate biblical means of baptism is immersion. That is why we require people to be immersed here at Johnston Chapel, if they are going to be a member of this church. We are to baptize people and then notice the last one. That is that we are to teach, verse 20, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. This is often the forgotten part of the Great Commission. People think of the Great Commission, they think of evangelism. It is to go preach the gospel to all nations. That is a part of it. It is the first step. It is very important. But we are also, as a part of the Great Commission, supposed to teach people, everything Jesus commanded us, which basically means the Bible, the Word of God, everything in the Bible. That is a part of the Great Commission. We are to teach the Word of God to people who come to know Christ. This is really in broad strokes what the church is to be about. We are to go to the lost, we are to give them the gospel so that they can become followers of Christ and learn of Him. We are to then baptize them, identifying them with the church, with the body of believers, and picturing their identification with Christ through faith in Him. And then we are to teach people, the Word of God. That is what the Great Commission is all about. And Jesus not only says you have the authority given by me to do this in verse 18, He also says you have my presence. He closes out by saying, surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. Key passage, because it really does lay out what the church is to be doing. Okay, comments, questions here? All right, one final appearance of Jesus, He appears one final time to the disciples. And we are going to look at Luke's account first, Luke 24. It is also referenced in the book of Acts chapter 1. We will get to that in just a few moments. Now I will say, as we get into this passage, we are going to look at verses 44 to 49 in Luke 24. If you read different commentaries or harmonies of the gospels, you will find this account placed in two different places. Some people place verses 44 to 49 in one of the very first appearances of Christ on the evening of the resurrection with the disciples in the upper room. Because it seems to flow right from verse 43 where He has appeared to them that first time and it seems to carry right on into that conversation. So it seems from the front end of it to go better with an appearance on the night of the resurrection. But by the time you get to the end of it in verse 49, He is saying the same words, He says in Acts 1, and then transitions right into the ascension. And that seems to go better with Acts 1. So you will find people put it at different places. I am not ready to start a new denomination on this. I can't be that dogmatic about it. I wouldn't start the six weeks after the resurrection denomination on this passage. But I believe it probably does occur later rather than earlier. And He begins this appearance in verse 44. He said to them, This is what I told you while I was still with you, everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets and the Psalms. Then He opened their mind so they could understand the scriptures. In this appearance, the first focus of Jesus is on the word. The focus is on the word of God in verses 44 and 45. He first of all unveils the word to them in verse 44. This is what I told you while I was still with you, everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets and the Psalms. At least three times when Jesus appears to people after the resurrection, he focuses upon this is what the word of God said would happen. There is a real emphasis on that because Jesus did not want their confidence and faith in the resurrection to be based on their experience. He did not want it to be based on what they saw, heard and felt. Even though he did give them those kind of proofs to confirm that he was alive, he wanted them to understand that their belief in the resurrection should be founded on the massive testimony of scripture, which is really the only solid foundation for anything we believe. He wanted to make sure that they did not just believe because they saw him, they touched him, they heard him, but because they understood this is what the Old Testament said would happen. He said this was all through the Old Testament and he gives basically the three categories of the Old Testament, the Jewish mind, the law, the prophets and the Psalms or the writings, those three categories, those were the three sections of the Old Testament. And so he says there was a lot of stuff written. Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Old Testament and think about it in the law of Moses, the tabernacle, the temple, the sacrificial system, everything that Moses set up or wrote about that God set up in the law of Moses points to him, serpent on the pole in numbers 21. All of that points toward Jesus, the prophets think of all the prophets and all that they said about Jesus, Micah 5, 2 would describe where he would be born in Bethlehem of Africa. Isaiah 9, 6 would say that as a child, he is born as a son, he's given and the government will be upon his shoulder and he'll be called, he gives those four names. So that talking about Jesus coming into the world, Isaiah 7 said it would be born of a virgin. So many passage, Joel 2, talk about his second coming, Zachariah 12 through 14 talks about his second coming, so lots of passages in the prophets about Jesus and put them all together and it requires birth, ministry, death, Isaiah 53 is death, and resurrection, if he's going to come back a second time. So all of that Jesus put together for them from the prophets and then also from the Psalms, Psalm 2 about God saying to his son, I'm going to anoint you to be the king and the nations will fear you. Psalm 110, sit here at my right hand till I make your enemies my footstool. So many Psalms, Psalm 16, you will not leave him in the grave, Psalm 22 specific references to crucifixion, even before that was known. Just amazing prophecies throughout the Bible, and I'm sure Jesus talked about all of those and many others as he focused their attention and their conviction on the Word of God. So again, what we believe is to be based on the Bible, not what we experience and certainly Peter would learn that well as we saw Sunday night. Peter learned well what Jesus was teaching here. When he himself said in his second epistle in chapter 1, once you know, we weren't following Connelly and Divised Fables when we talked about the Second Coming of Christ. We saw it, we heard the voice from heaven, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. We saw the glory on the mountain when he was transfigured and then he said, but we have a more sure word of prophecy, which you should take heed to. So Peter learned that lesson well that even what he believed about the Second Coming was not based on what he had experienced, what he had seen, heard, felt it was based on the testimony of the Word of God, the prophetic scripture. Peter learned this lesson well. Jesus is focusing upon the Word and then notice in verse 45 how he causes him to understand the Word, then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. Several times in the ministry of Jesus it is said that they did not understand, for instance in Luke chapter 9 and verse 45. But they did not understand what this meant. Jesus had just told them the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, but they did not understand what this was meant. It was hidden from them so that they did not grasp it and they were afraid to ask him about it. Several times statements like that are made, but now what Jesus does is he opens up their mind so that they can understand the Scriptures. And he is teaching them all this material from the Old Testament, not only is he teaching them he is opening their minds so they can understand it. Now, did anybody know the Word for that? What is the Word we use for that opening of the mind to understand the Scriptures? I think I heard it. Illumination. And it is a ministry of whom? Holy Spirit. Jesus did it in this case. He opened their minds so that they could understand the Scriptures. The Bible clearly says that is a ministry of the Holy Spirit. Now that Jesus has ascended and gone back to heaven, Jesus himself said in John 14 and John 16 that he would send the Holy Spirit and he would teach them all things, he would bring these things to the remembrance. And then 1 Corinthians 2 Paul described how the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit because they are spiritually discerned or spiritually appraised. Their foolishness to the unsaved man. But the Holy Spirit opens up the mind and heart of a believer to grasp the Scriptures, to understand the Scriptures. And we have been through this before here at Johnson Chapel when we talked the doctrine of the Bible and I am sure everybody remembers this as it was yesterday. That illumination is different from Revelation. God does not reveal new truth. We have all of the truth that God is going to reveal in this book. What God is doing now is he is illuminating us. He is opening our minds and hearts to understand his truth through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. That is a key distinction between what we believe and what Charismatics teach. Charismatics teach that God is still revealing new truth and that basically is the fatal flaw of Charismatics theology. Because if you believe that God is still revealing new truth, you can teach anything. It doesn't have to agree with Scripture. And you can say, well, God revealed this to me. It is a fatal flaw in Charismatics theology. So it is very important that we understand God is not revealing new things to us. The Holy Spirit is not revealing things. It is a wrong word to use. He is helping us to understand what God has already revealed. The revelation is complete. The Holy Spirit's job now is to open our minds to the Scriptures to what God has already revealed. That is very clear in those passages we talked about. The focus is on the Word, but the focus is also in this appearance of Christ on the witness. Notice he describes the witness of his followers. In verse 46, he told them, this is what is written. The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. Repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my father has promised, but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. A couple of things, three things. Let me just mention them quickly. First of all, when he is talking about their witness, he gives them the message that they are to give to others. Again, now he is still training them as to what they are to do. He gives them the message. The message is this. The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. Crucifixion, resurrection. Death, burial, resurrection of Christ. What is that? That is the gospel. So that is our message. The message is the gospel. As we go to all nations to make disciples of Christ, the message is the gospel. It doesn't mean that is all of it, but that is what wins people to Christ, makes them followers of Christ, and then later remember where to teach them all the other things that Jesus commanded. But the message that we are sent out with is the gospel. But it is also a message of repentance and forgiveness of sin. Did you see that in verse 47? repentance means to turn away from sin, turn toward Christ in faith. That is repentance. And when one repents, when one turns from his or her own way, own efforts to get to heaven from sin, and turns in faith toward Christ, then sin is forgiven. And that is the message where to preach. The message of the gospel, Jesus died, was buried, and was crucified, so that if you turn from your own sin and your own efforts to save yourself, and turn in faith toward Christ, you have the forgiveness of sins. That is the message that we are to preach. And then notice the method that we are to use. He uses two words here, and interestingly enough, they have different infacies. He has given us the message in 46 and 47. 47, he says this, repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations. The word preach is a special word. It was a word used in the first century of a herald proclaiming the message of a king. It is a formal proclamation of a message. It is not the same thing as teaching. It is certainly not the same thing as sharing. Those are, a teaching is more mental. It is more helping people to grasp information. It is geared toward the mind. Preaching is a formal proclamation of truth that is designed to convince people of its truthfulness. It is more of a formal proclamation of something. It is a totally different style than teaching. It has a different purpose. It is geared toward the will to change behavior, to bring people to Christ, rather than toward the mind, to help them understand better. The greatest and best ministry of the word is a combination of both. Obviously Jesus teaches us to do both. They have a different purpose. Preaching is different from teaching. Good preaching should include teaching and good teaching. Preaching is different in their motivation, goal, and dynamic. Preaching is not just a formal proclamation. It is not entertainment. It is not sharing. It is not intellectualism. It is a formal heralding fourth of the message of a king. That is what preaching is. That is exactly what the word means. Kyrusav is the word. It means a formal proclamation. It is not the same thing as teaching. Preaching is also to be done, but preaching is different. But then he also uses the word witness. He says you are witnesses of these things. Now, a witness is someone who tells what they have seen, heard, or experienced. And so witnessing is a more informal sharing of the personal implications of the gospel. Preaching is the more formal proclamation of the gospel. Witnessing your witnesses, you have seen something, you have heard something. Now go tell about it. Not everybody will preach, but everybody can witness. Not everybody will do the formal proclamation of the gospel, but everybody can witness. All of us can be involved in sharing the gospel. Jesus uses both of those terms. And then of course the motivation for this commission is in verse 49, I am going to send you what my father has promised. What is he referring to there? Holy Spirit. Exactly. I am going to send you what my father has promised, but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. And that leads us directly to Acts 1. Let's real quickly summarize Acts 1. Because if we stop now, we are going to have about five minutes left next time. So let's finish it up. Acts 1, verses 3 through 8, which I think is the same thing that is dealt with in Luke 24. Let's fill in some of the gaps here. Acts 1, verse 3, after he is suffering, he presented himself to them, gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God. This gives us the time frame from the resurrection to the ascension is 40 days. So approximately six weeks. Verse 4, on one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command. And this appears to be what's referred to in Luke 24, do not lead Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days, you will be baptized with Holy Spirit. Okay, so this gift that he's promised has to do with the baptism of the Spirit or baptism in the Spirit. It has to do with what will happen in a few days, he says. And sure enough, 10 days later, Pentecost happened. And the Holy Spirit came in great power, filling them with power. And since Jesus says that's going to also involve the baptism of the Spirit, which Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 12, 13, as being placed into the body of Christ, that's when the body of Christ starts. That's when the church starts is in Acts 2. But Jesus is telling them, you stay here in Jerusalem now. I know I met with you in Galilee and so forth, but you stay here in Jerusalem now until that happens. And they would wait 10 days for that to happen. Verse 7, run over 6. Then they gathered around him and asked him, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? And a lot of people criticize the disciples here for what they're asking and really shouldn't. These men knew their Old Testament, and they knew that Ezekiel 33 and Joel 2 promised a refreshing of the Holy Spirit before the kingdom would be coming in. And so Jesus has just told them, wait around, you're going to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, so they immediately thought, wow, these Old Testament passages, that must mean the kingdom is going to come when that happens. And so they're simply asking, is that the time when we receive the promise of the Holy Spirit, is that the time the kingdom is going to be instituted as well? And by the way, they are still thinking in terms of a literal kingdom. It's obvious they're talking about a literal earthly kingdom. And Jesus does not correct them on that. So there is still coming a literal earthly kingdom. But he does say this, verse 7, he said to them, it is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Ghost comes on you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the end of the earth. So basically what he's saying is, don't try to figure out the timing of the kingdom and when that's going to come. In a sense, he's saying, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the power that you need to be my witnesses. That's what's important here. That's what's important for you to get. Don't worry about the timing of the kingdom. God will take care of that. He has the date said. He knows when that's going to happen. He'll take care of that. You just be concerned about the power that is needed to witness. And so he tells them right before he leaves that they will be his witnesses. Now, if you still have your place in Luke 24, which I didn't remind you to do, but Luke 24, let's jump back to verse 50, where we find the ascension being mentioned. Keep your place in acts. It didn't take quick enough. Luke 24, when he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany. Where's Bethany? Do you remember? Close to Jerusalem on the back side of what mountain? That's right. In Jerusalem or next to Jerusalem. Mount of Alex. We're going to look at him just a moment. But when he led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, lift it up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Flip back to Acts 1. Hold your place in Luke 24. Acts 1, verse 9. After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes and a cloud hid him from their sight. Now, the word taken up here is a word which means to gradually be lifted up. He didn't disappear. He arose slowly. Now, why would that be important for the disciples? He's to come back in the same way he left and the angels are going to explain that. So it does give us key information about the second coming, which will be a slow gradual descent. But there's maybe another reason why this would be important for the disciples to see him leave in this way. Okay, I think I think that's it. Jean, I think remember at times he has appeared suddenly and then just disappeared. Like in the upper room, he appears and then he's gone on the road to Emmaus walks up beside these two disciples and then all of a sudden after the meal. He's gone. He disappears. Well, if that had happened here, they would have been looking for him again in another couple of days. Is he going to come back? You know, it was this it, but it's clear this is different and he's making clear to them what he's been telling them. I'm going back to the father. And so they can visibly see this is not just a sudden disappearance. This is it. He's he's slowly rising up into the clouds and he's going back to the father. And so it was important for Jesus to do it this way so that they would understand. They're not going to see him again. He's not going to come back in a week and meet them in the upper room. This is it. He's going back to heaven. And so that was that was very critical and. Verse 10, they were looking intently up into the skies. He was going. See that gradual. They're still looking watching him. He's going. When suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside the men of Galilee. They said, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven. And that would confirm what had happened. We'll come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven. Let's talk about the second coming when he comes back to set up his kingdom. It's not talking about the rapture that Paul develops later in the epistles. Let's talk about the second coming. Second coming he will come back gradually slowly. Everybody will see him coming back. Zachary 12 says the whole world will see him. And Zachary 13 says Israel will watch him come back and they'll realize he's the one they pierced. They'll turn to him a savior. So this is a gradual coming back just like he gradually went up. Verse 12 says, then the apostles return to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives. The Sabbath days walk. It's about two thousand cube. It's about a five eights of a mile. Little or half a mile. And then back to Luke 24 to finish it up. Verse 52, then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and they stayed continually at the temple praising God. So two things are going to happen in these ten days. They're going to stay in Jerusalem. They will be meeting in the temple but they will also be staying in the upper room praying. Those two things are indicated here. And that closes out the ministry in the life of Jesus and introduces us then to the book of Acts. And that's where the ministry of Jesus is. Now I told you I was going to show you a couple pictures. Look at him real quick and then we'll go. This is the Mount of Olives. This is standing in Jerusalem at the temple mount where the temple mount is looking across the Kidren Valley to the Mount of Olives. And this is it. This is the area right behind this the top of the hill. You go over the hill and just a little ways and there's Bethany. So it was probably somewhere in this area where Jesus ascended. Let's look at one other picture or actually standing on top of the Mount of Olives now looking back toward Jerusalem. And so this is kind of what the disciples would have seen. They wouldn't have seen the dome of the rock. That's a Muslim holy site. But they would have seen this this wall. The wall around the old city and they would have seen the temple right here. This is the Kidren Valley right here. This is the base of the Mount of Olives. And so it was very close to Jerusalem where all this happened just a little over half a mile out of the city. Okay. Any comments or questions before we close out? All right. Let's pray. Father, it has been a great joy to follow the steps of your son and our Savior through his journey on this earth. We pray that we will just as intently and just as eagerly follow him now and his direction from heaven for us in our daily lives. And we look forward to that day when we will be in his presence. We will follow his feet and worship him in person. And we will see the one that we've read so much about. Look forward to that time, Lord. Thank you that you call us your children and thus give us the assurance of seeing you someday. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.