Jesus was carried up into heaven

JESUS WAS CARRIED UP INTO HEAVEN
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Luke 24:50-53 50Whenhe had led them out to the
vicinityof Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed
them. 51Whilehe was blessingthem, he left them and
was taken up into heaven. 52Then they worshipedhim
and returned to Jerusalemwith great joy. 53And they
stayed continuallyat the temple, praisingGod.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
e Saviour's Hand
F. B. Pullan.
Luke 24:50-53
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The Ascension
Luke 24:50
Various Authors
Many thoughts offer themselves to us as we think upon this lastscene.

I. THE FITNESS OF THE PLACE WHENCE JESUS ASCENDED. Not,
indeed, that Jerusalemcould claim to be worthy of such an honour -
Jerusalemthat had but lately dyed its hands in the blood of its Messiah. But
as the ancient dwelling-place of God, as the seatand source ofheavenly truth,
as the metropolis of religion upon the earth, as the place that furnishes the
name and type of the city of our hope, as the joyous gathering-place of the
good, - it was wellthat, from without its walls, he whose presence makes the
home and the joy and the glory of his people should pass to his throne. For
from that moment "Jerusalem" meantanother thing to mankind, Christ took
up its meaning as he rose. All the associations oflove and hope, of grandeur
and gladness, whichhad belongedto the earthly are transferred to the
heavenly city, where he dwells in glory, where he reigns in power. There is a
transference, not formal but actual, of the centre and metropolis of religious
thought from the Jerusalembelow to the Jerusalemabove.
II. THE NATURE OF THE LAST SCENE. "Theyclimb the hillside; they
cross its summit; they are approaching Bethany. He stops;they gatherround.
He looks upon them; he lifts his hands; he begins to bless them. What love
unutterable in that parting look!What untold riches in that blessing! His
hands are uplifted, his lips engagedin blessing, when slowlyhe begins to rise.
Earth has lost her power to keephim; the waiting up-drawing heavens claim
him as their own. He rises, but still, as he floats upward through the yielding
air, his eyes are bent on those uplooking men; his arms are stretchedover
them in the attitude of benediction, his voice is heard dying awayin blessings
as he ascends. Awe-struck,in silence they follow him with straining eyes as his
body lessens to sight, till the commissionedcloud enfolds, cuts off all further
vision, and closesthe earthly and sensible communion betweenJesus and his
disciples" (Dr. Hanna).
III. THE RECEPTIONTHE SAVIOUR HAD IN HEAVEN. There have been
"triumphant entries" in this little world of ours, and in the history of our
human race, the pouring forth in loud acclaimof the pride and joy of many
thousands of hearts. But to what a vanishing point do they sink when placed
by the side of this entry of the conquering Saviour into heaven! Though
unable to form any conceptionthat can approachthe glorious reality, yet we
may well love to linger in imagination overthat blessedscene. His struggle

over, his sorrows borne, his temptations met and mastered, his work finished,
his greatbattle fought and his victory won, - the victorious Lord passes
through all the ranks of the angelic host, amid their reverent worship and
adoring acclamations,to his throne of powerand glory.
"Look, ye saints I the sight is glorious:
See the Man of sorrows now
From the fight returned victorious;
Every knee to him shall bow."
IV. THE EFFECT IMMEDIATELYPRODUCEDON THE MINDS OF THE
DISCIPLES. Blank dismay, inconsolable sorrow, shouldwe think? So
thinking, we should be wrong. They "returned to Jerusalemwith greatjoy."
Yet their Masterwas gone from them to return no more till that uncertain
and distant day of which the angels spoke (Acts 1:11). How do we account for
this? The explanation is found here - they were now perfectly assuredof the
Divine missionof Jesus Christ. His death had casta dark shadow of doubt and
dread over their hearts. His resurrectionhad revived their confidence and
their hope. But this final manifestation, this "signin the heavens," this act of
being taken up, like Elijah, into heaven, sweptawaythe lastfragment of
doubt that may have been left behind; they were now absolutely sure, without
any reserve or qualification whatever, that the Masterthey had loved and
served was indeed their true Messiah, the Sent of God, worthy of their deepest
veneration and their strongestattachment;so they "worshipped him"
reverently, and went back to Jerusalemwith the joy of faith and love filling
their souls. There is no misery so unendurable as doubt, and there is no
blessednessso sweetas restof heart after spiritual disquietude.
V. ITS PERMANENTEFFECTON THE APOSTLES'MINDS. This was
unreservedly good. It was "expedient for them that he should go away." His
bodily absence changedthe complexion of their dependence upon him. It had
been that of childhood; it was now to be that of manhood. With him by their
side, as he had been, they would not have become the "men in him" they did
become after he left them. The deeper and fuller knowledge ofhim they

gained by his departure led to an enlargementof faith and to a deepening of
love, and also to that fulness of attachment and consecrationwe recognize and
rejoice in during their laterlife. They came to know him and love him and
serve him as the Divine Saviour of mankind, and this made them worthier
men and truer servants of their Lord. All earthly ambitions respecting the
right and left hand of the throne were transformed into a noble consecration
to the invisible Lord.
VI. ITS PRICELESS VALUE TO OURSELVES.
1. Christ is accessible to us all. Had he lived and reigned at Jerusalem, or
some other sacredmetropolis, he would only have been accessible to those
who dwelt or journeyed there. But now he is "with us all." For heavenis
everywhere;the throne of grace is within the reachof the faintest whisper that
comes from every burdened heart, from every seeking soul, wheresoeverit
may be breathed. A living faith cannow realize the constantnearness of its
living Lord; it has not to take even a sabbath day's journey to find itself in his
presence and to make known its request.
2. He is seatedon the throne of power. To him who has passedinto the
heavens we can realize that "all power is given" (Matthew 28:18). We canwell
believe that our Masterin heaven cando for us what we ask of him; that his
arm is one of glorious might; that his hand has plenteousness ofbounty and of
blessing. And in all our time of need we cango to him, with holy confidence, to
ask of him the help, the guidance, the blessing, we require.
3. He has all rightful authority. If he still dwelt on earth, we might be dubious
of this; but to the heavenly Saviour we unanimously and cordially ascribe all
headship; to him we yield our willing and unquestioning obedience;and we
rejoice to believe that he is ruling and governing the affairs of his Church, and
reigning in the interests of the whole human race;that it is his hand that is at
the helm, and that will safelyguide the tempest-ridden vesselto the harbour.
4. He is our constantand ever-living Lord. With all that is earthly we
associate changeand death; with the heavenly we connectthe thought of
continuance and life. Of our heavenly Lord we can think, and we delight to
think, that whoeverchanges he is evermore the same, "yesterday, and to-day,

and for ever;" that while human ministers "are not suffered to continue by
reasonof death," he hath "an unchangeable priesthood," and is able to save
evermore ("to the uttermost") all those "that come unto God by him." And as
we look forward to the future, and realize our own mortality, we cherishthe
joyous thought that, if we do but "abide in him" until the evening shadows
gather and "life's long day" passes into the darkness ofdeath, we shall, in
heaven's eternal morning, open our eyes to see the "King in his beauty," to
"behold his glory," and shall "sitdown with him on his throne," sharing for
ever his own and his saints'everlasting rest. - C.
Biblical Illustrator
While He blessedthem He was parted from them.
Luke 24:50-53
The ascension
R. Davey.

I. CONSIDERTHE ASCENSION AS THE CROWNING FACT OF
CHRIST'S LIFE. It was the consummation of all His glorious work for man,
and henceforth man through Him becomes a conquerortoo. "He led captivity
captive, He receivedgifts for men." And with the baptism of these we are
conquerors, in our temptations over the devil, in our gardens of agonyover
sorrow, and in the end over death and the grave, when we shall ascendto be
with Him in glory.
II. CONSIDERHIS ASCENSION AS HIS ENTHRONEMENT AS KING
OVER ALL. Unseen but ever present. Ruling from His throne in heaven over
all the affairs of the world till His enemies become His footstool.
III. CONSIDER HIS ASCENSION IN RELATION TO HIS COMING
AGAIN (Acts 1:11).
(R. Davey.)
Our Lord's ascension
W. Bull, B. A.
I. NOTICE THE PLACE FROM WHICH OUR LORD ASCENDED. Near
Gethsemane. NearBethany. A familiar haunt.
II. NOTICE THE WITNESSESOF OUR LORD'S ASCENSION. His faithful
apostles.
III. NOTICE THE LAST ACT OF OUR LORD BEFOREHIS ASCENSION.
Blessing.
IV. THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST HELPS OUR THOUGHTS, AND
GIVES DEFINITENESS TO OUR CONCEPTIONSOF THE FUTURE LIFE
OF THE REDEEMED.
V. CHRIST'S ASCENSION IS THE PLEDGE OF THE HEAVENLY LIFE
OF THE REDEEMED.

VI. WHEN OUR LORD ASCENDEDINTO HEAVEN HE GAINED FOR US
A GREAT AND UNSPEAKABLE BLESSING, THE GIFT OF THE HOLY
SPIRIT.
(W. Bull, B. A.)
The ascension
W. Landels.
In this quiet and unostentatious manner did our Saviour take His departure
from this world. His exit was as noiseless — as little attended with pomp — as
His entrance. He has finished the redemption of a world — He has vanquished
the powers of hell — He has triumphed over death and the grave.
1. From His ascension, therefore, we may learn that heaven has been opened
for us. He became our brother. He stoodas our representative. There is not
only comfort for us in the assurance ofadmission, but in the thought, that
when admitted we shall find One so closelyrelatedto us occupying such an
exalted place.
2. Our Saviour's ascensionin the nature He wore while on earth may teachus
that, though He be so highly exalted, He has sympathy with us still; though far
removed from us as regards His bodily presence, the brotherly tie which
united us has not been severed.
3. The presence in heaven — the exaltation to the throne of universal
dominion of One so closelyrelatedto us, and having such sympathy with us,
should give confidence to our prayers, leading us to desire and expect great
blessings atHis hands.
4. Finally. Let us be thankful for the privilege we enjoy in the exaltation of
One who bears our nature.
(W. Landels.)

On the ascensionofChrist
G. Clayton, M. A.
First, let us consider the TIME of the occurrence-ofthis event. This interval,
also, was sufficient in order to afford Him an opportunity of detailing much
that to them would be highly interesting, in relation to His kingdom, to the
preaching of His gospel, and to the establishment of His empire through the
world. Once more, He continued a sufficient period of time on earth in order
to afford the strongestevidence of the love He bore to His Church and people;
that He would not even take possessionofthe promised crown, nor enter upon
"the joy set before Him," till He had ordered all things relating to His
kingdom. We notice, in the secondplace, the SITE OR SPOT at which this
occurrence took place. "He led them out as far as to Bethany." I pass on, in
the third place, to considerthe MANNER in which the ascentof our Lord
Jesus Christ took place. You will observe, first, that it was while He prayed —
"as He blessedthem." Observe, again, that it was while they were listening to
the interesting communications which our Lord had to impart. It belongs to
this part of the subject to observe their solemn adorationof Him after that
they saw Him no more. "He was parted from them, and carriedup into
heaven: and they worshipped Him." I hastento the last point of our discourse
— to considerTHE GREAT ENDS AND OBJECTS OF THIS MOST
IMPORTANT TRANSACTION. Christhas left our world — He is gone —
He has gone to the mansions of heavenly glory; and for what purposes has He
takenHis departure. First, in order that He might celebrate a signal triumph
over all His enemies. He has gone, secondly, to take possessionofthe well-
earned reward, the stipulated recompense, to which His obedience and His
suffering have so wellentitled Him. Thirdly, He has gone to receive and to
communicate that fulness which the Father had entrusted into His hands; and
especiallythe gift of the Holy Ghost, which he bestows upon "the rebellious
also, that the Lord God might dwell among them." Fourthly, He has gone to
ensure and prepare a place for all His believing followers. I only add that He
has gone thus to heaven in order to give an example and specimen of the
manner in which He will come againin the clouds of Heaven. And is He gone?
and have the heavens receivedHim? Then, first, let us send our hearts after
Him. Secondly, in the absence of our Lord, let us abide closelyin the

fellowship of His Church. Like the disciples, let us resortto the temple; like
the disciples, let us keeptogether. Let us not be scatteredand disunited.
Thirdly, this subject should lead us to cherish a cheerful confidence with
respectto our entrance into eternity. And let this soothe our spirits when we
are mourning over our dead.
(G. Clayton, M. A.)
The Lord's farewell
J. Jowett, M. A.
I. THE LAST ACTS OF THE REDEEMERON EARTH.
1. He selects a suitable place from which to take His departure.
2. He solemnly blesses His disciples.
3. He ascends up to heaven.
4. "It came to pass, while He blessedthem, He was takenup." Did His
ascension, then, interrupt and cut short the blessing? No;He still continued to
bless as He went up. No — nor is the blessing yet at an end: for this is that
Christ who, as St. Paul says, "is even at the right hand of God, who also
maketh intercessionforus."
II. THE FIRST ACTS OF THE REDEEMED AFTER HIS DEPARTURE.
1. They worshipped Him. Rememberthat! The appointed teachers ofthe
Christian religion "worshipped" Christ; it was their very first act after they
had ceasedto behold Him.
2. They were filled with joy — greatjoy.Now therefore they rejoiced —
1. On their Lord's account. "If ye love Me," He had said, "ye would rejoice,
because I said, I go to the Father." And this their joy is now fulfilled.
2. On their own account. All was now plain in the system of that redemption,
concerning which they had long formed such erroneous expectations.

3. In the use of appointed means they sought and expectedHis gifts of grace.
In Jerusalemwere they to receive the "promise of the Father"; therefore they
at once returned thither. On their arrival, behold them "continually in the
temple, praising and blessing God!" continually — that is, at every appointed
service.
(J. Jowett, M. A.)
Our Lord's attitude in ascending
C. H. Spurgeon.
I. HIS HANDS WERE UPLIFTED TO BLESS.
1. This blessing was no unusual thing. To stretch out His hands in benediction
was His customary attitude. In that attitude He departed, with a benediction
still proceeding from His lips.
2. This blessing was with authority. He blessedthem while His Father
acknowledgedHim by receiving Him to heaven.
3. This blessing was so full that, as it were, He emptied His hands. They saw
those dear hands thus unladen of their benedictions.
4. The blessing was for those beneath Him, and beyond the sound of His voice;
He scatteredbenedictions upon them all.
5. The blessing was the fit finis of His sojourn here; nothing fitter, nothing
better, could have been thought of.
II. THOSE HANDS WERE PIERCED.This could be seenby them all as they
gazedupward.
1. Thus they knew that they were Christ's hands.
2. Thus they saw the price of the blessing. His crucifixion has purchased
continual blessing for all His redeemed.

3. Thus they saw the way of the blessing;it comes from those human hands,
through those sacrificialwounds.
4. A sight of those hands is in itself a blessing. By that sight we see pardon and
eternal life.
5. The entire actionis an epitome of the gospel. This is the substance of the
matter — "hands pierced distribute benedictions." Jesus, throughsuffering
and death, has power to bless us out of the highest heaven. This is the lastthat
was seenof our Lord. He has not changedHis attitude of benediction, He will
not change it till He shall descendin His glory.
III. THOSE HANDS SWAY THE SCEPTRE. His hands are omnipotent.
Those very hands, which blessedHis disciples, now hold, on their behalf, the
sceptre —
1. Of providence: both in small affairs and greatermatters.
2. Of the spiritual kingdom: the Church and all its work.
3. Of the future judgment and the eternal reign.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Saviour's hand
F. B. Pullan.
That wonderful hand of Christ! It was the same hand which had been so
quickly stretchedout to rescue Peterwhen sinking in Galilee's waves.It was
that same hand which had been held in the sight of the questioning disciples
on the third evening after they had seenit laid lifeless in the tomb. It was that
same hand which incredulous Thomas must see before he would believe its
risen power; it was that same hand which was extended to him not only to see,
but to touch the nail-prints in its palm. It was that same hand which the
disciples last saw uplifted in a parting blessing when the cloud parted Him
from them. It was only after ten days that they realized the fulness of blessing
which came from that extended, pierced hand of Christ. Peterat Pentecost

must have preachedwith that last sight of it fresh in his memory, when he
said, "Godhath made that same Jesus, whomye have crucified, both Lord
and Christ." That hand, with its nail-prints, knocks atthe heart's door for
entrance. That hand, with its deep marks of love, beckons on the weary
runner in the heavenly way.
(F. B. Pullan.)
Lessons from the ascension
W. Hoyt, D. D.
The ascensionwas the appropriate bloom and culmination of the resurrection.
I. SINCE OUR LORD HAS ASCENDED, WE ARE NEVER TO THINK OF
HIM AS DEAD, He has rounded the black and inscrutable Cape of Storms,
and changedit for us henceforth into the Cape of Good Hope. It follows that
all the greatoffices pertaining to His exaltation are in active exercise.
1. He stands in heaven to-day the Living Head of His redeemed Church.
2. He stands in heaven to-day our Priestly Advocate.
3. He stands in heaven to-day as the Controller of all things in God's
providential government.
II. SINCE OUR LORD HAS ASCENDED, WE ARE NEVER TO THINK OF
HIM AS DISTANT. Contactofspirit with spirit — nothing canbe nearer,
more intimate. Christ's inner presence by the Holy Ghost is the specialboon
and issue of His ascension.
III. SINCE OUR LORD HAS ASCENDED, WE ARE NEVER TO THINK
OF HIM AS DIFFERENT. He has not laid aside His brotherhood with us. To
our Brother's heart prayer must find its way; from Him to us a perfect
sympathy must everflow.
(W. Hoyt, D. D.)

On the ascensionofChrist
H. Blair, D. D.
I. In the first place, BY OUR SAVIOUR'S ASCENSION INTO HEAVEN IT
WAS MADE TO APPEAR THAT THE GREAT DESIGN FOR WHICH HE
DESCENDEDTO THE EARTH WAS COMPLETELYFULFILLED. A
solemn attestationwas thus given by God to the virtue and efficacyof that
greatsacrifice which He offered by His death for the sins of the world. The
ascensionof Christ was the signal of His triumph over all the powers of
darkness.
II. It is, in the next place, to be viewed by us WITH RESPECTTO CHRIST
HIMSELF, AS A MERITED RESTORATIONTO HIS ORIGINAL
FELICITY. As the Sonof God, all glory belongedto Him for ever.
III. In the third place, Christ ascendedinto heavenTHAT HE MIGHT ACT
THERE, IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD, AS OUR HIGH PRIEST AND
INTERCESSOR.
(H. Blair, D. D.)
The ascensionofChrist
W. H. Lewis, D. D.
1. This event had been foretold and typified in the Old Testament. See
especiallyPsalm68, and 110. Moses,ascending the mount to receive the law,
may be a type of Christ ascending to receive spiritual blessings for men.
Elijah, takenup into heaven, and imparting a double portion of his spirit to
his successor, was probably typical of Christ ascending and imparting the
Pentecostalgift of the Holy Ghost. And the Jewishhigh priest, in passing from
the holy place, which representedearth, to the most holy, which figured
heaven, also foreshadowedthe ascensionofour Lord.
2. These predictions and types were now to be fulfilled.

3. To the top of this mountain our Saviour led His disciples, purposing to
ascendvisibly from thence. He might have taken His departure unseenby
them, but He ascendedopenly, to confirm their faith in Him as the promised
Messiah, to assure them of the certainty of the life in the world to come, and of
their own exaltationto the place whither He had gone before.
4. The manner in which Christ was takenup from the midst of His disciples,
as described in our text, was most interesting, and is worthy of our attention.
In the very actof blessing them He was takenaway. Oh, what a delightful
consistencyand loveliness ofcharacterwe have in Jesus from the beginning of
His mission to its close i The first assuranceofHis birth was accompaniedby
the cry of peace on earth and good-willto men; and here, He goes from the
world with hands outstretchedin benedictions upon those He left below.
Surely if any man love not such a Saviour he deserves to be "Anathema,
Maranatha."
5. But what feelings must have possessedthe hearts of the disciples when they
witnessedthese things.
6. And where was He from whom they had been separated? His place on the
eternal throne of glory had been resumed, and He satthere now not as God
merely, but God-man, the greatmediatorial king.
7. Such ware the leading circumstances attending the ascension of our Lord.
(W. H. Lewis, D. D.)
The ascensionofJesus
J. Thomson, D. D.
I. THE WITNESSES OF THE ASCENSION. Onlyfriends. Only the small
band of the elevenapostles.
II. THE PLACE. In the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, which had been the
scene ofmany of our Lord's greatmiracles, where His most violent enemies
resided, and where He had suffered death in the most public manner. Also

near Bethany, a spot sufficiently retired to permit the assemblage ofthe eleven
without exciting the vigilance of enemies.
III. THE MANNER of Christ's ascension. The ascensionseems to have been
slow and gentle. The apostles couldtherefore view it distinctly and
deliberately, so that they might be assuredof its reality, and be able to
describe it to others. No chariot nor horses of fire were seenlike those which
wafted the prophet Elijah to heaven; no violent whirlwind agitatedthe air, no
blaze of glory dazzled the eyes, or overpoweredthe feelings of the anxious
spectators. Everypart of the scene accordedwith the characterof the mild
and benevolent Jesus. Thougha parting scene, there was nothing in it to
terrify or depress the minds of the apostles. Theywere indeed surprised and
filled with astonishment, but it was an astonishment which expanded,
elevated, and delighted them; for we are told they returned to Jerusalemwith
greatjoy.
IV. Let us next inquire WHAT REASONS CAN BE ASSIGNED FOR THE
ASCENSION OF JESUS,
1. First, then, it was necessaryto complete the proof of His exalted rank and
Divine mission.
2. The ascensionwas necessaryin order that the Lord Jesus should complete
His mediatorial functions.
3. It was necessarythat Jesus should ascendto heaven, to receive the
approbation and honour from His heavenly Father, which were to be given to
Him as the Mediatorand Redeemerof man.
V. THE BENEFITSWHICH WE MAY DERIVE FROM THE ASCENSION
OF JESUS.
1. It tends to complete our faith in Him. His miracles proved His Divine
power; and His prophecies, His Divine knowledge. His death proved His own
declaration, "that He had power to lay down His life"; His resurrection, "that
He had power to take it again." In addition, His ascensionshowedthat all the
purposes of His coming to this world were finished, that He was going to
return to the glory which He had with the Father before the world was;nay,

that the glory of His human nature was to be increasedin a high degree.
Hereby, then, is our faith in Him enlarged, strengthened, and completed, for
we have full assurance ofthe dignity and perfectionof Jesus, andthat the grit
and benevolent purposes for which He visited this world were fully
accomplished.
2. We are assured, also, as connectedwith the ascensionofJesus, ofanother
event resembling it in manner, namely, the secondcoming of the Lord Jesus.
3. By the ascensionofJesus His promises to the righteous are fully ratified.
(J. Thomson, D. D.)
The Lord's ascension
James Foote, M. A.
I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF OUR LORD'S ASCENSION.
1. The time. Not until after He had appearedto His disciples frequently, and
conversedwith them freely. He tarried with them forty days, to convince them
of His resurrection, to instruct them in the knowledge ofthe truth, and to
encourage them to stedfastnessin the cause ofthe gospel.
2. The place of His ascension. MountOlivet. This was a place to which He
frequently resortedfor secretprayer. So, also, the bed of sickness, thoughthe
believer may endure much agonythere, is generallythe spot whence his soul,
releasedfrom trouble, ascends to the joys of heaven.
3. The ascensionofChrist took place in the presence ofnumerous witnesses.
There was no necessityfor any persons being present when our Lord rose
from the dead, because His appearing after His resurrectionto those who
knew Him before His crucifixion was a sufficient proof of His resurrection.
4. Another circumstance ofwhich we are informed is, that this event took
place while our Lord was employed in blessing the disciples. By this action He
showedthe strength and the duration of His affectionfor His disciples.

5. We are told, in Acts 1:9, that "a cloud receivedHim out of their sight."
Clouds are frequently mentioned in Scripture as a medium through which the
Lord in some degree manifestedHimself to men.
6. The last circumstance we have to notice is, that our Lord's ascensionwas
attended by angels.
II. ITS ENDS, orthe chief purposes for which He ascended.
1. Christ ascendedin order to send down the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
2. Jesus Christascendedinto heavenin order to make intercessionfor His
people.
3. Jesus Christascendedin order that He might receive infinite power,
happiness, and glory, as the rewardof His humiliation. He is setdown on His
throne of glory to exercise dominion overthe universe, but especiallyover His
Church.
4. Our Lord ascendedinto heaventhat He might prepare a place for His
followers, and bring them home to Himself.
III. Having consideredthe chief circumstances and ends of our Lord's
ascension, we now come to consider, in the last place, THE PRACTICAL
EFFECTSWHICH THE CONSIDERATION OF THE EVENT SHOULD
PRODUCE ON US.
1. It should lead us to pay the Redeemerthat Divine homage which is so justly
due to His name.
2. It becomes us to rejoice on accountof our Lord's ascension.
3. Our Lord's ascensionshouldlead us unhesitatingly to trust in Him for
salvation.
4. Christ's ascensionshould encourage us to engage withliveliness in religious
exercises.
5. The considerationof our Lord's ascensionshould raise our thoughts and
affections to heaven.

6. Our Lord's ascensionshouldcarry forward our thoughts to His second
coming.
(James Foote, M. A.)
From home to heaven
W. Bull, B. A.
It seems natural to wish to pass awayfrom this world from the place which we
call our home. How many persons — when they are in searchof health in the
mountains of Switzerland or by the lake side, in the watering places, orbright
sunny spots, where they seek to fan the dying embers of life — when they find
that their end is approaching, desire to go home to die. Those who go out to
India in the Civil Service have this hope before them, that they shall spend
their last days in England and die at home. So it was natural that our Saviour
should choose to pass awayfrom the familiar slope of Olivet, within sight of
Bethany, the nearestplace to a home that the Son of Man knew during His
public ministry, that from this oft-frequented haunt He should ascendto His
Father and our Father, to His God and our God.
(W. Bull, B. A.)
The parting blessing
P. B. Power, M. A.
He departed from them in the actof blessing; He was still blessing when the
cloud receivedHim out of their sight. And what was this but the natural
climax of all our Lord's precedent life? That life had been one of continual
blessing. And before we turn from this subject of "connection," does it not see
m as though heaven and earth are here representedas connectedwith
blessing? The lark, soaring up on high, seems nevertheless to connectthe skies
and earth by her train of song; thus binds Christ the heaven and the earth
now. There is no sight; but from the height above drops blessing — blessing

for all who will take it; no less blessing on His part because it may be refused
by us; blessing which shall fall upon all believers now; and which shall soak
into the thirsty bosomof the millenial earth when He is owned as King of all
its kings and Lord of all its lords. And with this thought of connectioncomes
that of activity also. We have not presentedbefore us any carefulthoughts of
Christ about His own glory; the activity of His mind — yea, even of His body
— was all being put forth on behalf of others. We can easilyimagine how
comforting thoughts flowed in upon the disciples when they remembered this.
He ascendedinto the heavens while blessing them; and, if so, what but
blessing could they look for from that other world? Those who knew Him not
might look up with fearand trembling, and see the Judge upon His throne.
The heavens containednothing but woe for them; but Jesus, by entering
heaven in the very act of blessing, taught His people how to look up, what
there to see, and what thence to expect. There is yet one more thought which
presses upon our minds in connectionwith this parting aspectofChrist. What
He dropped on them they in turn were to drop upon the world. The last
impression of their Lord was to exercise its peculiar powerupon their after
lives; and we may be wellassuredthat so it did. Activity in blessing marked
Jesus'careerto the very last;He was unweariedin well-doing. He has carried
His energywith Him into heaven. Remembering, then, that all goodthings are
given to us for others as well as for ourselves, letus use for others this word
"while," in whateverteaching it conveys to our souls. Goodthings most truly
perform their mission to us when they pass on through us to perform a
ministry to others also. We never know the powerof a goodthing — how
really goodit is — until we begin to use it, to put it in the way of evolving its
fragrance.
(P. B. Power, M. A.)
Christ departs while blessing
H. Melvill, B. D.
Oh, what a fitting close to such a life as that of the Redeemer!He had come to
bless the world, and He spent His every moment on earth in communicating

blessings;and now, as though He were going within the veil to carry on the
same gracious purpose, He quits the earth with extended hands, and the last
words that He utters in mortal hearing are words of Divine benediction. What
could be more worthy of His character? whatmore likely to assure and
comfort His followers? Itwas not, you observe, when He had finished His
benediction, but while He was pronouncing it, that Christ commencedHis
ascent;so that His departure may be said to have interrupted the blessing.
And we are disposedto think that there was something in this which was
designedto be pre-eminently significant. At all events, we are certainthat the
fact may be interpreted into lessons ofgeneralapplicationand of no common
merit. It was no proof, you see, that Christ did not love His disciples, and that
He was not consulting their good, that He withdrew Himself from them. On
the contrary, He was blessing them in leaving them. If there had been nothing
in the departure itself from which to argue a blessing, there might have been
place for suspicion;but the mode of departure irresistibly proves that Christ
went awaynot in anger, but in tenderness. And though when anything
analogous to His departure occurs it may not be possible to assure ourselves
that the departing One has left us in the act of blessing us, it cannot be
unreasonable to regardthe history before us as in some measure a parable,
and argue from it something general. When, for example, the spiritually-
minded have enjoyed seasons ofcommunion with the Saviour — seasons most
blessed, which assuredlythere are, though the cold and the worldly may think
it merely enthusiasm to speak ofthe manifestations to the soul of the invisible
Mediator— and when these seasons have been followedby others of less
intimate fellowship, how apt are Christians to be troubled and castdown, as
though it must have been in wrath that the Redeemerwithdrew the tokens of
His presence!But they should rather go in thought to the Mount of Olives,
and behold how Christ parts from His disciples. Oh, it is not necessarilyin
displeasure that the Saviour withdraws Himself. If you could see Him depart,
it may be that you would behold those extended arms, and hear the lingering
benediction, and thus learn that He went awayonly because it was expedient
for you — because He could bless you better and more effectually by temporal
removal than through unbroken continuance amongstyou.
(H. Melvill, B. D.)

The ascensionand exaltation of Christ
G. Gilfillan.
I. THE PREPARATION FOR THE ASCENSION.The small processionof
Christ and the elevenapostles gradually increasestill it consists offive
hundred persons. They reachand climb the Mount of Olives. Then the arms
which not long before had been stretched out upon the accursedtree are
uplifted in prayer. A lastsmile He leaves for a legacybehind Him ere He quits
the world — a smile involving whole oceans ofmeaning; and who can venture
to fill up the outline, or clothe in words that blessing which He gives to His
little flock whom He is leaving alone in the world? All He has to leave them is
a blessing, and yet a blessing which is felt to be a shield of defence and a
security in trial to them all. And, lo! while He is thus employed in blessing, the
cloud that has been approaching on the breath of the gentle breeze rests on
Christ's head and concealsHis face, and obliterates His smile, and gathers
around His uplifted arms, and surrounds His whole form and hides it from
view.
II. LET US FOLLOW CHRIST UPWARDS WITH THE WING OF FAITH.
AS through a veil, though the disciples may not see Him, He sees them, and
counts their tears. He sees, too, Jerusalemitself, and perhaps weeps overit
again. But night has come over the landscape. The land below fades away
from His view. Olivet, the Moabite mountains, the loftiest peak of all the
Sinaitic range, have disappeared, and the cloud chariot plunges amidst the
stars. Orion on the south, and the Great Bearon the norris, are left behind.
The moon becomes Christ's footstool, and is then spurned awayas He mounts
higher still. Through the milky way, as through the multitudinous laughter of
an ocean's billows, He pursues His course. The laststar which, like a giant
sentinel, keeps its solitary watch, and treads its enormous round on the verge
of the universe, ceasesto be seen, and the hollow and blank space which lies
beyond is found to be peopled with an innumerable company of angels, who
have come out to meet and to welcome their King and their Lord. And then
the gates ofthe heavenly city appear, flaming with diamond and gold as with

the lustre of ten thousand suns. From the angelic cavalcade the cry arises,
"Open, ye everlasting gates, thatthe King of glory may enter in"; and it is met
by the challenge from the walls, "Who is this King of glory?" and the reply
comes, "The Lord of hosts, that is also the Man of Nazareth, the mighty in
battle, He is the King of glory." And, lo! the gates fly open, and the everlasting
doors are unbarred, and thus the King of glory enters in, and the Man of
Nazareth, amidst the acclamationof ten thousand times ten thousand and
thousands of thousands, takes His seatupon the right hand of the Majestyon
high.
III. CONSIDER THE SPIRITUAL SENSE IN WHICH CHRIST MAY BE
SAID TO HAVE ASCENDEDTO BE EXALTED.
1. Christ is in the ascendantas the highestexample of moral excellence.(1)No
character, confessedly, canbe named beside His in richness and depth, in
pureness and simplicity, in dignity and truthfulness and affection.(2)No
death, in grand unconsciousness, in profound submission, in absolute
renunciation of self, in the spirit of forgiveness whichpervades it, in its
meekness,gentleness, andpatience, can be named with that of Calvary. Truly
said Rousseau, "Ifthe life and death of Socrateswere those ofa sage, the life
and death of Jesus were those of a God."
2. Jesus is the bestspecimen of the risen man. No other risen man has got
beyond the loweststep in the stage leading up to the footstoolofthe throne on
which the Man of Galilee is thus exalted.
3. Christ is one the history of whose faith is the most wonderful of all histories.
4. The moral and spiritual principles which were the teaching and the glory of
Christ are those on which the happiness of the world present and the
prospects of the world future are felt to be dependent.In conclusion:
1. What a cheering doctrine is that of Christ's exaltation. God has recognized
His principles as the laws of universal government.
2. Let us seek to ascend. "Excelsior."
(G. Gilfillan.)

Greatjoy
A strange joy, yet explicable
A. K. H. Boyd, D. D.
They had parted from their belovedMaster;they had to face a trying life now,
without having Him near to counselor to help; they would never see Him
again, till they died. And yet they were glad. From the place of that last
earthly parting they went away, not strickento the earth, not stunned and
stupefied, as we are after the like heart-breaking wrench, but in high spirits,
cheerful and elate. "Theyreturned to Jerusalemwith greatjoy!" Well, it is
very strange. Perhaps the disciples, coming back to Jerusalem, couldnot
easilyhave sorted out and explained to other people the reasons oftheir great
joy. First, there was something very cheering about all the surroundings of
Christ's departure. It was to be, the disciples knew;and the whole event was
so different from what such a parting might have been. For one thing, it was
so triumphant, so glorious, so miraculous, that it was proof irresistible that
the work which brought the Redeemerto this world was finished successfully.
And it was blessing His servants that the Redeemerleft them. Sometimes,
while here, He had spokenseverely, and that not to His enemies only, but to
His friends — to the great apostle Peter, "Getthee behind Me, Satan";but all
that was gone, and there was only kindness in the departing heart and voice.
Now, as a secondreasonfor this strange joy, let us remember that there was
one greatdefinite gain which was to come of Christ's going; and upon the
enjoyment of that gain His Church was soonto enter now. The blessedSpirit,
the Holy Ghost, could not come till the Saviour went; and He Himself had
declaredstrongly that it would be gain for His disciples to lose Him if thus
they receivedthe blessedSpirit in His stead. They hardly understood,
perhaps, the disciples, on the day Christ went — they did not understand, as
we do now, all that the Holy Ghost would be, of light, strength, wisdom, joy,
peace, strong consolation. It needed experience of His sympathy, His
faithfulness, His patience, His almighty power, to make Christian people know
what He is. But the disciples knew enough to make them anticipate His

coming with joyful expectation;and for this reason, doubtless, among others,
even from the spotwhere they had seentheir Saviourfor the lasttime in this
life, they "returned to Jerusalemwith great joy." We can think of a third
reasonfor this joy on that parting day. It was a parting quite by itself. He
went away, in visible form. It was better for His Church that He should; but,
after all, He never left it. He went away, as concerns the material presence,
which must be here or there. He abode yet in that Divine, realthough unseen
presence, whichcan be everywhere. Even as He departed from sight and
sense, He uttered the sure and hopeful promise, "Lo, I am with you alway,
even to the end of the world." He could be with the disciples He left, He canbe
with us day by day, as God is with us; presentthat is, to faith, not to sense, but
as really, substantially, influentially present, as any thing or person we can
touch or see. Beyondthese spiritual consolationswhichmight cheerunder the
departure of their Saviour, the disciples had yet another hope, which some
might esteemas having something more substantialin it. Masterand servants
were to meet again. This same Jesus, now gone, is to come againin glory; and
since that day, the Church is "waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ." That will be the consummation of all things. Then, all will be well at
last.
(A. K. H. Boyd, D. D.)
Joy in working for Christ
In a recent greatEuropeanwar, the soldiers of both countries, when they
were ordered to the seatof war, receivedthe order enthusiastically, and
marched to the front with waving of banners and singing. The joy of the
disciples when called to win the world for Christ, seemto have been similar
(vers. 52, 53). If a father entrusts his son with a difficult piece of work, the boy
does it joyfully and proudly. Should we have less joy in performing a great
work entrusted to us by Christ?
The counterbalance

P. B. Power, M. A.
This statementis of more interest and importance to us than appears at first
sight. It embodies a greatprinciple; and that, one which enters continually
into the Christian's life. The inward counterbalancing the outward — this is
the greatidea brought before us; and it will unfold itself, as we proceedto
examine the circumstances under which the apostles were placed, whenthey
thus "returned to Jerusalemwith greatjoy." At the first glance, we should
have supposed"joy" to have been the very last emotion, which, at this
particular time, would have swayedthe .apostles'minds. We shall find no
cause for it in anything outward. Nature seemedto indicate everything but
joy. We should not have been surprised, had we been reading merely an
ordinary narrative, to have heard that terror instead of joy was the leading
feeling in the apostles'minds. Another class offeelings, also, was calculatedto
arise within their breasts;and whatever emotions these were likely to be
productive of, they were certainly not those of joy. The feelings which nature
would have engenderedunder these circumstances were those ofindignation
and revenge. Then, there was the natural shrinking from sad associations.
Were they to be affectedby the outward only, almost every stone in Jerusalem
would have a mournful voice for them, saying, "Here He once was, but He is
gone;and His place knowethHim now no more." But there were other and
higher influences at work; there must have been, for we read, not of
resignation, but of joy; and not only of joy, but of "greatjoy"; and to produce
this, there must have been a greatcounterbalancing principle within the
heart. The actualfeeling of the apostles was that of "greatjoy"; and whence
this greatjoy came we can easilysee. All doubts were now removed. Coldly
and damply, unbelief, from time to time, had struck in upon them; but it was
now dispelled for ever. The veil's last fold was removed from their eyes;and
they now stoodforth upon firm ground, prepared to meet the world in the
powerof clear, inward light. Whereverthere is full, clear, unclouded faith,
and that in unhindered exercise — there, there is joy, and all the power that
flows forth from a light and joyous heart. The disciples had seenalso the
exaltation of the One they loved. Moreover, they had now a union with the
unseen. We can understand how a new light was now thrown on all old scenes;
how a new destiny lay outstretchedbefore the disciples' eyes;how they felt

that they had that which the world had not given, and which the world,
therefore, could not take away;and, rich in all this, they turned from the
place whence their Lord had ascendedup on high, "leading captivity captive,"
and re-soughtthe place where He had been bound, and led as a lamb to the
slaughter; all tears now wiped from their eyes, and their hearts filled with
"greatjoy." Here, then, was the powerof the inward to counterbalance the
outward; and what says it to us as regards our ownexperiences? Firstof all it
says:As with the disciples, so also with you; look not always for a change in
the outward aspectofthings, but look for the introduction of a new element
therein, modifying, compensating, supporting, as the case may be. The
outward remains unmoved; but it is met by the inward which pervades it, and
puts forth its more than compensating power;there is, as the apostle says in 1
Thessalonians 1., "much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost." And now,
with regard to ourselves. Whatis the powerof the inward with us? In the first
place, have we an inward living powerwithin us which exercises an
unmistakeable influence; and can compensate, energize, orsupport, as
circumstances may require? It is surely impossible to have this without
knowing it, there are so many circumstances whichare calculatedto callit
into exercise, andin which, if it existed, it must have acted. Have we a felt and
realized union with God, which influences us, so that we feel we have
something which the would cannot see;and which, indeed, is not of the world
at all? Our perceptions may be more or less vivid on these points, but have we
a perception, so that there is as distinct an inward life as there is an outward?
Moreover, are we conscious ofhow this "inward" has acted? Have we felt
when disappointed of earthly things, or in them, that, after all, there was
nothing unduly to depress us: for that we had something else of infinitely
more importance, in which we could not be disappointed? When darkness
closedin upon us in the outward world, have we had distinct inward light, in
which we could move, and see, and rejoice? Whencalledupon to sacrifice any
of the "outward," have we been enabled to do so because it was as nothing
compared with the "inward" — the possessionofwhich soothedand
comforted us, and kept us from being down-trodden by poverty, and being
made to feel ourselves miserably poor? Let the believeralso never be a gloomy
man. If ever any men on earth had cause forgloom the apostles had, when
they returned to Jerusalem;but they returned with "greatjoy." Let us not be

gloomy in the world or to the world; let us show it that we have something
more than it has. Perhaps men will believe that faith is a real powerwhen they
see if able to do something; when, acting from within, it canmake us cheerful
in times of sadness, andcontentedin times of reverse and poverty, and patient
in times of wearinessand pain, and ever hopeful for the future — our horizon
being, not the valley .of the shadow of death, but the glorious land which lies
beyond. And who knows whether, thus looking beyond this earth, we may not
lead others to ask whereonour eyes are fixed, and, it may be, that they also
will look onward and upward and join us on our way. One Adrianus, in
ancient times, seeing the martyrs suffer such grievous things in the cause of
Christ, asked, "Whatis that which enables them to bear such sufferings?"
Then he was told of the "inward" counterbalancing the "outward";for one of
them replied, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him."
And thus was Adrianus won not only to conversion, but to martyrdom also,
for he laid down his life manfully for Christ.
(P. B. Power, M. A.)
Continually in the temple, praising and blessing God
Christian worship
T. Whitelaw, M. A.
I. THE OBJECTOF CHRISTIAN WORSHIP.
1. A human Christ.
2. A living Christ.
3. A glorified Christ.
4. A crucified Christ.
II. THE PLACE OF CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. "The temple." Where two or
three are met togetherin Christ's name.

III. THE TIME OF CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. "Continually." Every day. No
opportunity of doing homage to the Saviour should be missed.
IV. THE FORM OF CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. "Praising and blessing God."
Magnifying His mercy, and speaking goodofHis name.
V. THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. "With greatjoy." The
Christian rejoices in the Saviour's exaltation —
1. ForChrist's sake. Rewardofredeeming work.
2. Forhis own sake. A pledge and guarantee of his acceptanceand salvation.
3. Forthe world's sake.
(T. Whitelaw, M. A.)
Earnestnessin using means of grace
H. Melvill, B. D.
"Continually in the temple!" Observe that! The disciples were now
thoroughly assuredthat they had an Advocate in the heavenly temple, but this
did not withdraw them from the earthly. On the contrary, they seemto have
resortedwith greaterfrequency to the courts of the Lord's house, well
convinced, by the circumstance of their Master's departure, that they had an
Advocate with God, and we may be sure that there is something radically
wrong when a sense ofthe privileges of Christianity produces listlessness, and
does not produce earnestnessin the use of Christian ordinances. He is not a
strong Christian who feels that he can do without sermons and sacraments,
any more than it is the appetite of an energetic man, when there is no relish
for food. It is no sign of goodfaith or well-grounded hope that the Christian
seems beyond needing the means of grace;as well might you think it a sign of
knowledge and securityagainstshipwreck that the mariner was above
consulting his chart or making observations. "Those thatbe planted in the
house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God."
(H. Melvill, B. D.)

COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(51) The words “and was carried up into heaven” are wanting in some of the
best MSS., and are omitted accordingly by some recenteditors.
MacLaren's Expositions
2 Kings - Luke
WAS, IS, IS TO COME
THE ASCENSION
THE TRIUMPHANT END
THE TRANSLATION OF ELIJAH AND THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST
2 Kings 2:11. - Luke 24:51.
These two events, the translation of Elijah and the Ascensionofour Lord,
have sometimes been put side by side in order to show that the latter narrative
is nothing but a ‘variant’ of the former. See, it is said, the source ofyour New

Testamentstory is only the old legend shapedanew by the wistful regrets of
the early disciples. But to me it seems that the simple comparisonof the two
narratives is sufficient to bring out such fundamental difference in the ideas
which they respectivelyembody as amount to opposition, and make any such
theory of the origin of the latter absurdly improbable, I could wish no better
foil for the history of the Ascensionthan the history of Elijah’s rapture. The
comparisonbrings out contrasts at every step, and there is no readier wayof
throwing into strong relief the meaning and purpose of the former, than
holding up beside it the story of the latter. The real parallel makes the
divergences the more remarkable, for likeness sharpens our perception of
unlikeness, and no contrastis so forcible as the contrastof things that
correspond. I am much mistaken if we shall not find almostevery truth of
importance connectedwith our Lord’s Ascensionemphasisedfor us by the
comparisonto which we now proceed.
I. The first point which may be mentioned is the contrastbetweenthe manner
of Elijah’s translation, and that of our Lord’s Ascension.
It is perhaps not without significance that the place of the one event was on
the uplands or in some of the rockygorges beyond Jordan, and that of the
other, the slopes of Olivet above Bethany. The lonely prophet, who had burst
like a meteoron Israelfrom the solitudes of Gilead, whose fervour had ever
and againbeen rekindled by return to the wilderness, whose whole careerhad
isolatedhim from men, found the fitting place for that last wonder amidst the
stern silence where he had so often soughtasylum and inspiration. He was
close to the scenes ofmighty events in the past. There, on that overhanging
peak, the lawgiverwhose work he was continuing, and with whom he was to
be so strangelyassociatedon the Mount of Transfiguration, had made himself
ready for his lonely grave. Here at his feet, the river had parted for the
victorious march of Israel. Away down on his horizon the sunshine gleamed
on the waters of the DeadSea;and thus, on his native soil, surrounded by
memorials of the Law which he laboured to restore, and of the victories which

he would fain have brought back, and of the judgments which he saw again
impending over Israel, the stern, solitary ascetic,the prophet of righteousness,
whose single arm stayedthe downwardcourse of a nation, passedfrom his toil
and his warfare.
What a different set of associations clusterround the place of Christ’s
Ascension-’Bethany,’or, as it is more particularly specifiedin the Acts,
‘Olivet’! In the very heart of the land, close by and yet out of sight of the great
city, in no wild solitude, but perhaps in some dimple of the hill, neither
shunning nor courting spectators, withthe quiet home where He had restedso
often in the little village at their feetthere, and Gethsemane a few furlongs off,
in such scenes did the Christ ‘whose delights were with the sons of men,’ and
His life lived in closestcompanionshipwith His brethren, choose the place
whence He should ‘ascendto their Father and His Father.’ Norperhaps was it
without a meaning that the Mount which received the last print of His
ascending footstepwas that which a mysterious prophecy designatedas
destined to receive the first print of the footstepof the Lord coming at a future
day to end the long warfare with evil.
But more important than the localities is the contrastedmanner of the two
ascents. The prophet’s end was like the man. It was fitting that he should be
sweptup the skies in tempest and fire. The impetuosity of his nature, and the
stormy energyof his career, had already been symbolised in the mighty and
strong wind which rent the rocks, and in the fire that followed the
earthquake;and similarly nothing could be more appropriate than that
sudden rapture in storm and whirlwind, escortedby the flaming chivalry of
heaven.
Nor is it only as appropriate to the characterof the prophet and his work that
this tempestuous translation is noteworthy. It also suggests very plainly that
Elijah was lifted to the skies by poweracting on him from without. He did not

ascend;he was carried up; the earthly frame and the human nature had no
powerto rise. ‘No man hath ascendedinto heaven.’The two men of whom the
Old Testamentspeakswere alike in this, that ‘God took them.’ The tempest
and the fiery chariot tell us how greatwas the exercise ofdivine powerwhich
bore the gross mortality thither, and how unfamiliar was the sphere into
which it passed.
How full of the very spirit of Christ’s whole life is the contrastedmanner of
His Ascension!The silent gentleness, whichdid not strive nor cry nor cause
His voice to be heard in the streets, marks Him even in that hour of lofty and
transcendenttriumph. There is no outward sign to accompanyHis slow
upward movement through the quiet air. No blaze of fiery chariots, nor
agitationof tempest is needed to bear Him heavenwards. The outstretched
hands drop the dew of His benediction on the little company, and so He floats
upward, His own will and indwelling power the royal chariotwhich bears
Him, and calmly ‘leaves the world and goes unto the Father.’The slow,
continuous movement of ascentis emphatically made prominent in the brief
narratives, both by the phrase in Luke, ‘He was carriedup,’ which expresses
continuous leisurely motion, and by the picture in the Acts, of the disciples
gazing into heaven ‘as He went up,’ in which latter word is brought out, not
only the slowness ofthe movement, but its origin in His own will and its
executionby His own power.
Nor is this absence ofany vehicle or external agencydestroyed by the factthat
‘a cloud’ receivedHim out of their sight, for its purpose was not to raise Him
heavenward, but to hide Him from the gazers’eyes, that He might not seemto
them to dwindle into distance, but that their last look and memory might be of
His clearlydiscerned and loving face. Possibly, too, it may be intended to
remind us of the cloud which guided Israel, the glory which dwelt betweenthe
cherubim, the cloud which overshadowedthe Mount of Transfiguration, and
to set forth a symbol of the Divine Presencewelcoming to itself, His battle
fought, the Son of His love.

Be that as it may, the manner of our Lord’s Ascensionby His own inherent
poweris brought into boldest relief when contrastedwith Elijah’s rapture,
and is evidently the fitting expression, as it is the consequence, ofHis sole and
singular divine nature. It accords with His own mode of reference to the
Ascension, while He was on earth, which ever represents Him not as being
taken, but as going:‘I leave the world and go to the Father.’ ‘I ascendto My
Father and your Father.’ The highesthope of the devoutest souls before Him
had been, ‘Thou wilt afterwards take me to glory.’ The highest hope of devout
souls since Him has been, ‘We shall be caughtup to meet the Lord.’ But this
Man ever speaks ofHimself as able when He will, by His own power, to rise
where no man hath ascended. His divine nature and pre-existence shine
clearly forth, and as we stand gazing at Him blessing the world as He rises
into the heavens, we know that we are looking on no mere mysterious
elevationof a mortal to the skies, but are beholding the return of the
Incarnate Lord, who willed to tarry among our earthly tabernacles fora time,
to the glory where He was before, ‘His own calm home, His habitation from
eternity.’
II. Another striking point of contrastembraces the relation which these two
events respectively bearto the life’s work which had precededthem.
The falling mantle of Elijah has become a symbol known to all the world, for
the transference ofunfinished tasks and the appointment of successors to
departed greatness. Elisha askedthat he might have a double portion of his
master’s spirit, not meaning twice as much as his master had had, but the
eldestson’s share of the father’s possessions,the double of the other children’s
portion. And, though his master had no power to bestow the gift, and had to
reply as one who has nothing that he has not received, and cannot dispose of
the grace that dwells in him, the prayer was answered, and the feebler nature
of Elisha was fitted for the continuance of the work which Elijah left undone.

The mantle that passedfrom one to the other was the symbol of office and
authority transferred; the functions were the same, whilst the holders had
changed. The sons of the prophets bow before the new master; ‘the spirit of
Elijah doth rest on Elisha.’
So the world goes on. Man after man serves his generationby the will of God,
and is gatheredto his fathers; and a new arm grasps the mantle to smite
Jordan, and a new voice speaks from his empty place, and men recognise the
successor, and forgetthe predecessor.
We turn to Christ’s Ascension, and there we meet with nothing analogous to
this transference ofoffice. No mantle falling from His shoulders lights on any
of that group, none are hailed as His successors. WhatHe has done bears and
needs no repetition whilst time shall roll, whilst eternity shall last. His work is
unique: ‘the help that is done on earth, He doeth it all Himself.’ His Ascension
completed the witness of heaven, begun at His resurrection, that ‘He has
offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever.’ He has left no unfinished work which
another may perfect. He has done no work which another may do againfor
new generations. He has spokenall truth, and none may add to His words. He
has fulfilled all righteousness, andnone may better His pattern. He has borne
all the world’s sin, and no time can waste the powerof that sacrifice, norany
man add to its absolute sufficiency. This King of men wears a crown to which
there is no heir. This Priesthas a priesthood which passes to no other. This
‘Prophet’ does ‘live for ever,’ The world sees allother guides and helpers pass
away, and every man’s work is caughtup by other hands and carried on after
he drops it, and the short memories and shorter gratitudes of men turn to the
rising sun; but one Name remains undimmed by distance, and one work
remains unapproached and unapproachable, and one Man remains whose
office none other can hold, whose bow none but He can bend, whose mantle
none can wear. Christ has ascendedup on high and left a finished work for all
men to trust, for no man to continue.

III. Whilst our Lord’s Ascensionis thus marked as the sealof a work in which
He has no successor, it is also emphatically setforth, by contrastwith Elijah’s
translation, as the transition to a continuous energy for and in the world.
Clearly the other narrative derives all its pathos from the thought that
Elijah’s work is done. His task is over, and nothing more is to be hoped for
from him. But that same absence from the history of Christ’s Ascension, of
any hint of a successor, to which we have referred in the previous remarks,
has an obvious bearing on His present relation to the world as well as on the
completeness ofHis unique past work.
When Christ ascendedup on high, He relinquished nothing of His activity for
us, but only castit into a new form, which in some sense is yet higher than that
which it took on earth. His work for the world is in one aspectcompletedon
the Cross, but in another it will never be completeduntil all the blessings
which that Cross has lodged in the midst of humanity, have reachedtheir
widest possible diffusion and their highestpossible development. Long ages
ago He cried, ‘It is finished,’ but we may be far yet from the time when He
shall say, ‘It is done’; and for all the slow years betweenHis own word gives
us the law of His activity, ‘My Fatherworkethhitherto, and I work.’
Christ’s Ascensionis no withdrawal of the Captain of our salvationfrom the
field where we are left to fight, nor has He gone up to the mountain, leaving us
alone to tug at the oar, and shiver in the cold night air. True, there may seem
a strange contrastbetweenthe present condition of the Lord who ‘was
receivedup into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God,’ and that of the
servants wandering through the world on His business;but the contrastis
harmonised by the next words, ‘the Lord also working with them.’ Yes, He
has gone up to sit at the right hand of God. That sessionat God’s right hand
to which the Ascensionis chiefly of importance as the transition, means the

repose of a perfectedredemption, the communion of the Son with the Father,
the exercise ofall the omnipotence of God, the administration of the world’s
history. He has ascendedthat He might fill all things, that He might pour out
His Spirit upon us, that the path to God may be trodden by our lame feet, that
the whole resources ofthe divine nature may be wielded by the hands that
were nailed to the Cross, that the mighty purpose of salvationmay be fulfilled.
Elijah knew not whether his spirit could descendupon his follower. But
Christ, though, as we have said, He left no legacyof falling mantle to any, left
His Spirit to His people. What Elisha gained, Elijah lost. What Elisha desired,
Elijah could not give nor guarantee. How firm and assuredbeside Elijah’s
dubious ‘Thou hast askeda hard thing,’ and his ‘If thou see me, it shall be so,’
is Christ’s ‘It is expedient for you that I go away. For if I go not awaythe
Comforter will not come, but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.’
Manifold are the forms of that new and continuous activity of Christ into
which He passedwhen He left the earth: and as we contrastthese with the
utter helplessness anylongerto counsel, rebuke or save, to which death
reduces those who love us best, and to which even his glorious rapture into the
heavens brought the strong prophet of fire, we can take up, with a new depth
of meaning, the ancientwords that tell of Christ’s exclusive prerogative of
succouring and inspiring from within the veil: ‘Thou hast ascendedon high;
Thou hast led captivity captive; Thou hast receivedgifts for men.’
IV. The Ascensionof Christ is still further setforth, in its very circumstances,
by contrastwith Elijah’s translation, as bearing on the hopes of humanity for
the future.
The prophet is caught up to the glory and repose for himself alone, and the
sole share which the gazing followeror the sons of the prophets straining their

eyes there at Jericho, had in his triumph, was a deepenedconviction of his
prophetic mission, and perhaps some clearerfaith in a future life. Their
wonder and sorrow, Elisha’s immediate exercise ofhis new power, the
prophets’ immediate transference of their allegianceto their new head, show
that on both sides it was felt that they had no part in the event beyond that of
awe-struck beholders. No light streamed from it on their own future. The path
they had to tread was still the common road into the greatdarkness, as
solitary and unknown as before. The chariot of fire parted their master from
the common experience of humanity as from their fellowship, making him an
exceptionto the sad rule of death, which frowned the grimmer and more
inexorable by contrastwith his radiant translation.
The very reverse is true of Christ’s Ascension. In Him our nature is takenup
to the throne of God. His Resurrectionassuresus that ‘them which sleepin
Jesus will God bring with Him,’ His passage to the heavens assures us that
‘they who are alive and remain shall be caught up togetherwith them,’ and
that all of both companies shall with Him live and reign, sharing His
dominion, and moulded to His image.
If we would know of what our manhood is capable, if we would rise to the
height of the hopes which God means that we should cherish, if we would gain
a living grasp of the power that fulfils them, we have to stand there, gazing on
the piled cloud that sails slowlyupwards, the pure floor for our Brother’s feet.
As we watchit rising with a motion which is rest, we have the right to think,
‘Thither the Forerunner is for us entered.’We see there what man is meant
for, what men who love Him attain. True, the world is still full of death and
sorrow, man’s dominion seems a futile dream and a hope that mocks, but ‘we
see Jesus,’ascendedup on high, and in Him we too are ‘made to sit together
in heavenly places.’The Breakeris gone up before them. Their King shall
pass before them, and the Lord at the head of them.’

There is yet another aspectin which our Lord’s Ascensionbears on our hopes
for the future, namely, as connectedwith His coming again. In that respect,
too, the contrastof Elijah’s translation may serve to emphasise the truth.
Prophecy, indeed, in its latestvoice, spoke ofsending Elijah the prophet
before the coming of the day of the Lord, and Rabbinical legends delighted to
tell how he had been carriedto the Garden of Eden, whence he would come
again, in Israel’s sorestneed. But the prophecy had no thought of a personal
reappearance, andthe dreams are only dreams such as we find in the
legendary history of many nations. As Elisha recrossedthe Jordan, he bore
with him only a mantle and a memory, not a hope.
‘Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus,
which is takenup from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye
have seenHim go into heaven.’ How grand is the use in these mighty words of
the name Jesus, the name that speaks ofHis true humanity, with all its
weakness,limitations, and sorrow, with all its tenderness and brotherhood!
The man who died and rose again, has gone up on high. He will so come as He
has gone. ‘So’-that is to say, personally, corporeally, visibly, on clouds,
perhaps to that very spot, ‘and His feet shall stand in that day upon the
Mount of Olives.’Thus Scripture teaches us ever to associatetogetherthe
departure and the coming of the Lord, and always when we meditate on His
Ascensionto prepare a place for us, to think of His real presence with us
through the ages,and of His coming againto receive us to Himself.
That parting on Olivet cannotbe the end. Such a leave-taking is the prophecy
of happy greetings and an inseparable reunion. The King has gone to receive a
kingdom, and to return. Memory and hope coalesce, as we think of Him who
is passedinto the heavens, and the heart of the Church has to cherish at once
the gladthought that its Head and helper has entered within the veil, and the
still more joyous one, which lightens the days of separationand widowhood,
that the Lord will come again.

So let us take our share in the ‘greatjoy’ with which the disciples returned to
Jerusalem, left like sheepin the midst of wolves as they were, and ‘let us set
our affectionon things above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of
God.’
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
24:50-53 Christ ascendedfrom Bethany, near the Mount of Olives. There was
the gardenin which his sufferings began; there he was in his agony. Those
that would go to heaven, must ascendthither from the house of sufferings and
sorrows. The disciples did not see him rise out of the grave; his resurrection
could be proved by their seeing him alive afterwards:but they saw him ascend
into heaven; they could not otherwise have a proof of his ascension. He lifted
up his hands, and blessedthem. He did not go away in displeasure, but in love,
he left a blessing behind him. As he arose, so he ascended, by his own power.
They worshipped him. This fresh display of Christ's glory drew from them
fresh acknowledgments. Theyreturned to Jerusalemwith greatjoy. The glory
of Christ is the joy of all true believers, even while they are here in this world.
While waiting for God's promises, we must go forth to meet them with our
praises. And nothing better prepares the mind for receiving the Holy Ghost.
Fears are silenced, sorrows sweetenedand allayed, and hopes kept up. And
this is the ground of a Christian's boldness at the throne of grace;yea, the
Father's throne is the throne of grace to us, because it is also the throne of our
Mediator, Jesus Christ. Let us rely on his promises, and plead them. Let us
attend his ordinances, praise and bless God for his mercies, setour affections
on things above, and expectthe Redeemer's return to complete our happiness.
Amen. Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
To Bethany - See the notes at Mark 16:19. Bethany was on the eastern
declivity of the Mount of Olives, from which our Lord was takenup to
heaven, Acts 1:12. Bethany was a favored place. It was the abode of Martha,
and Mary, and Lazarus, and our Saviour delighted to be there. From this
place, also, he ascendedto his Fatherand our Father, and to his Godand our
God.

While he blessedthem - While he commanded his benediction to rest upon
them; while he assuredthem of his favor, and commended them to the
protection and guidance of God, in the dangers, trials, and conflicts which
they were to meet in a sinful and miserable world.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
51. while he blessed… parted, &c.—Sweetintimation! Incarnate Love,
Crucified Love, RisenLove, now on the wing for heaven, waiting only those
odorous gales which were to waft Him to the skies, goesawayin benedictions,
that in the characterofGlorified, Enthroned Love, He might continue His
benedictions, but in yet higher form, until He come again! And oh, if angels
were so transported at His birth into this scene oftears and death, what must
have been their ecstasyas they welcomedand attended Him "far above all
heavens" into the presence-chamber, and conducted Him to the right hand of
the Majestyon High! Thou hast an everlasting right, O my Saviour, to that
august place. The brightness of the Father's glory, enshrined in our nature,
hath won it well; for He poured out His soul unto death, and led captivity
captive, receiving gifts for men, yea for the rebellious, that the Lord God
might dwell among them. Thou art the King of glory, O Christ. Lift up your
heads, O ye gates, be lifted up, ye everlasting doors, that the King of glory
may come in! Even so wilt Thou change these vile bodies of ours, that they
may be like unto Thine own glorious body; and then with gladness and
rejoicing shall they be brought, they shall enter into the King's palace!
Matthew Poole's Commentary
See Poole on"Luke 24:50"
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
And it came to pass, while he blessedthem,.... Just as he was finishing the
words, by which he expressedthe blessings he bestowedon them:
he was parted from them; as Elijah was from Elisha:their spiritual and
mystical union by him remained, which is indissoluble; nor was his gracious
presence from them withdrawn; nor was this parting in angerand
resentment, as he sometimes does withdraw from his people, on accountof

their sinful conduct, in a little wrath, for a moment, resenting their
unbecoming carriage;but this parting was while he was blessing them, and
was only in body; his heart was still with them; it was a withdrawing of his
corporealpresence from them, and that but for a while; he will come againa
secondtime from heaven, from whence the saints expecthim, and then they
will meet, and never part more: and carried up into heaven; by his divine
power, as God, by virtue of which he ascendedhimself, he went up gradually,
till he became invisible to his disciples; or through the agility of his human
body; for the bodies of the saints, when raised, will be like the angels, swift
and nimble, and capable of moving from place to place, and of ascending and
descending;and much more the glorious body of Christ, according to which,
theirs will be conformed; though neither of these deny the use of means, that
might be made, as of a cloud, and of angels;for a cloud receivedhim out of
the sight of the apostles;and there were the twenty thousand chariots of God,
even thousands of angels, whichattended him, when he ascendedonhigh, and
in which he may be properly said to be carried up into heaven, Acts 1:9 where
he was receivedwith a welcome, by his Father, by all the glorified saints, and
holy angels, and where he is placedin human nature, at the right hand of
God; is crownedwith glory, and honour, and exalted above all creatures,
human or angelic;and where he will remain until the time of the restitution of
all things, and then he will descendto judge the quick and dead. The Arabic
and Ethiopic Versions read both these clauses actively, "he parted himself",
or "he departed from them, and went up into heaven";and so reads the
Syriac version the last clause.
Geneva Study Bible
And it came to pass, while he blessedthem, he was parted from them, and
carried up into heaven.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
Luke 24:51. Ἐν τῷ εὐλογ.]therefore still during the blessing,—not
immediately after, but actually engagedin the discourse and attitude of
blessing on parting from them. According to the usual reading: διέστη ἀπʼ

αὐτῶνκ. ἀνεφέρ. εἰς τ. οὐραν., He separatedHimself from them, and (more
specific statementof this separation)was takenup into heaven. The passive
voice does not require us to assume that there were any agents to carry Him
up (according to de Wette, probably angels or a cloud). The imperfect is
pictorial. Luke thinks of the ascensionas a visible incident, which he has more
fully representedat Acts 1. According to Paulus, indeed, κ. ἀνεφέρ. εἰς τ. οὐρ.
is held to be only an inference!Moreover, if the words κ. ἀνεφέρ. εἰς τ. οὐρ.
are not genuine (see the critical remarks), then the ascensionis certainly
meant even by the mere διέστη ἀπʼ αὐτῶν;but here it is not yet definitely
indicated, which indication, togetherwith the detailed description, Luke
reserves for the beginning of his secondbook,—tillthen, that διέστη ἀπʼ
αὐτῶνwas sufficient,—the matter of factof which was alreadyincidentally
mentioned at Luke 9:51, and was elsewhere familiar. On διέστη, secessit,
comp. Hom. Il. xii. 86, xvi. 470;Valckenaer, Schol. inloc.
REMARK.
On the subject of the ascension[281]the following considerations are to be
noted:—(1) Consideredin general, it is incontestablyestablishedas an actual
fact by means of the testimony of the New Testament.[282]For, besides thatin
the passage before us it is historically narrated (comp. with Acts 1 and Mark
16.), it is also expresslypredicted by Jesus Himself, John 20:17 (comp. as early
as the suggestionin John 6:62); it is expressly mentioned by the apostles as
having happened (Acts 2:32-33;Acts 3:21; 1 Peter 3:22; Colossians 3:1 ff.;
Ephesians 2:6; Ephesians 4:10. Comp. Acts 7:56; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews
9:24); and it forms—and that, too, as a bodily exaltationinto heaven to the
throne of the glory of God—the necessaryhistoricalpresupposition of the
whole preaching of the Parousia (which is a realand bodily return) as of the
resuscitationof the dead and transformation of the living (which changes have
their necessarycondition in the glorified body of Him who is to accomplish
them, viz. Christ, 1 Corinthians 15:5 ff., 1 Corinthians 15:8; 1 Corinthians
15:16;1 Corinthians 15:22-23;Php 3:20-21, and elsewhere). (2)But the idea

of a visibly, yea, sensibly glorious event must the rather be consideredas an
addition of subsequent tradition which grew up as a reflectionof the idea of
the Parousia, Acts 1:11, since only Luke, and that certainly merely in the Acts
(Mark not at all, Luke 16:18), expresslyrelates an event of that kind; but the
first and fourth evangelists, althoughJohn had been an eye-witness, are
wholly silent on the subject(including John 6:62), which they hardly either
morally could have been or historicallywould have ventured to be, since such
a highest and final external glorificationwould have incontrovertibly made
good, even from a literary point of view, the forcible impression which that
event would have necessarilyproduced upon the faithful, and would have just
as naturally and incontrovertibly put forward this most splendid Messianic
σημεῖονas the worthiest and most glorious copestone—the return to heaven
corresponding to the heavenly origin. The reasons by which it has been sought
to explain and justify their silence (see e.g. in Flatt’s Magaz. VIII. p. 67;
Olshausen;Krabbe, p. 532 f.; Hug, Gutacht. II. p. 254 ff.; Ebrard, p. 602;
Lange, II. p. 1762 ff.) are nothing more than forced, feeble, and even
psychologicallyuntenable evasions. Comp. Strauss, II. p. 657 f. (3) The body
of the risen Lord was not yet in the state of glorification(it has flesh and
bones, still bears the scars ofthe wounds, is touched, breathes, eats, speaks,
walks, etc., in opposition to Theophylact, Augustine,[283]Krabbe, Ewald,
Thomasius, Keim, and the old dogmatic writers); but, moreover, no longerof
the same constitution as before the resurrection(Schleiermacher), but, as
Origen already perceived, in a condition standing midway between[284]
mundane corporeality and supra-mundane glorification—andimmortal
(Romans 6:9-10). Although, on accountof the want of any analogywithin our
experience, sucha condition of necessitydoes not admit of a more exact
representation, yet still it explains in generalthe sort of estrangementbetween
the risen Lord and His disciples,—the partial doubt of the latter as to His
identity, His not being hindered by the crucifixion wounds, His marvellous
appearance and disappearance, andthe like; moreover, by the consideration
that Jesus rose againin a changedbodily constitution, the physiological
scruples which have been raised againstHis rising from not merely apparent
death are removed. The actual glorificationwhereby His body became the
σῶμα πνευματικόν(1 Corinthians 15:45-47), the σῶμα τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ (Php
3:21), first beganin the moment of the ascension, whenHis body was

transformed into the spiritual body, as they who are still living at the time of
the Parousia shallbe transformed (1 Corinthians 15:51-52), still with this
difference, that the body of the latter up to that moment is still mortal (1
Corinthians 15:53), whereas the body of Christ, even from the time of the
resurrection, was immortal; hence also an appealto the marvellous healing
powerof Jesus, whichwas powerfully exercisedonHimself (Hase, L. J. § 118),
is here insufficient and inapplicable. The perfecting of this glorificationof the
body of Christ is not to be regardedas a matter to be perceivedby the senses,
since in generala glorified bodily organdoes not fall into the categoryof
things perceptible by human sense. The same is the case with the taking up of
the glorified Christ into heaven, which, according to the analogyof Luke
24:31, is perhaps conceivable in the form of a vanishing. (4) Of the two
traditions which had grownup in regardto the time of the ascension(see on
Luke 24:50), in any case the one bearing that after His resurrectionJesus still
abode on earth for a series ofdays, is decidedly to be preferred to the other,
that even as early as the day of resurrectionHe also ascended. And this
preference is to be given on the preponderating authority of John, with which
is associatedalso Paul, by his accountof the appearancesofthe risen Lord, 1
Corinthians 15:5-7,[285]and the notices of Acts 10:41;Acts 13:31.[286]Still
there must remain a doubt therein whether the definite specificationof forty
days does not owe its origin to tradition, which fixed the approximate time
(comp. Acts 13:31) at this sacrednumber. The remarkable testimony of
Barnabas, Ep. 15 (ἄγομεντὴν ἡμέραν τὴν ὀγδόηνεἰς εὐφροσύνην, ἐν ᾗ καὶ ὁ
Ἰησοῦς ἀνέστη ἐκ νεκρῶν καὶ φανερωθεὶς ἀνέβη εἰς τοὺς οὐρανούς), in no way
agrees withthe forty days.[287](5) If the appearances ofthe risen Lord are
transferred as products of the imaginative faculty into the subjective region
(Strauss, Holsten, and others), or if, in spite of the unanimous attestationof
the third day as being that on which they first began, they are viewed as
spiritual visions of the glorified One in the deepestexcitement of aspiration
and prayer (Ewald, Gesch. d. Apost. Zeitalt. p. 68 ff.); then, on the one hand,
instead of the resurrection, in the sense of the New Testament, as an historical
starting-point, there remains only the personalcontinuance of the exalted One
(Schenkel);and, on the other hand, the ascensiondoes not appear as an
objective fact, but just as nothing more than the end of that powerful
excitement, and this must carry with it the conclusionthat from him to whom

He in such wise appeared, the glorified One vanished again tranquilly into His
everlasting glorificationwith God (Ewald, l.c. p. 95 ff.). Every spiritualizing of
those appearances into internal experiences, “into glorifications of the image
of His characterin the hearts of His faithful people” (Schenkel), and the like,
must convert a strange, widespreadfanaticisminto the fruitful mother of the
mighty apostolic work, and into the foundation of the ecclesiasticaledifice, but
must regard the Gospelnarratives on the matter as products and
representations ofself-deceptions, oras a kind of ghoststories,—aview which
the narratives of the Apostle John in reference thereto most decisively forbid.
Comp. on Matt., Remark after Matthew 28:10. This, withal, is opposedto the
generalizationof the concrete appearancesinto continued influences of the
Lord, who still lived, and of His Spirit (Weizsäcker), in which for the
ascension, as such, there is left nothing historical. Weisse’sview, moreover, is
absolutely irreconcileable withthe New Testamentnarratives, identifying as it
does the ascensionwith the resurrection, so that, according to apostolic view,
the factwas no going forth of the body from the grave, but the taking up of
the soul(with a spiritual corporeality)out of Hades into heaven, whence the
exalted One announcedHimself in visions (see also Weisse,Evangelienfrage,
p. 272 ff.; Gebhardt, Auferst. Chr. p. 72). To make out of the ascension
absolutely the actual death which Jesus, being awakenedfrom apparent
death, soonafter died (Paulus), could only be attained at the height of
naturalistic outrage on the New Testament, but is not avoided also by
Schleiermacherin his wavering expressions. The mythical constructionout of
Old Testamentrecollections (Strauss), andthe directly hostile crumbling and
destruction of the Gospelnarratives (Bruno Bauer), amount to subjective
assumptions contradictory of history; whilst, on the other hand, the revival of
the Socinianopinion of a repeatedascension(Kinkel in the Stud. u. Krit. 1841,
p. 597 ff.[288])depended on erroneous interpretations of single passages
(especiallyJohn 20:17). Finally, the abandoning of all attempts historically to
ascertainthe fact (de Wette on Luke 24:53) does justice neither to the
accounts and intimations of the New Testamentitself, nor to the demands
which science must make on the ground of those intimations.

[281]Heaven is not herein to be takenin the sense ofthe omnipresence of the
courts of God, as the old Lutheran orthodoxy, in the interest of the doctrine of
Christ’s ubiquity, would have it (thus also Thomasius, Christi Pers. u. Werk,
II. p. 282 ff.), or of the unextended ground of life which bears the entire
expanse of space (Schoeberlen, Grundl. d. Heils, p. 67), but locally, of the
dwelling place of the glory of God; see on Matthew 6:9; Mark 16:18;Acts
3:21. Erroneously, likewise in the sense of ubiquity, says Gess, Pers. Chr. p.
265:“Where Jesus, according to His divinity, choosesto be essentiallypresent,
there He will also be according to His human corporeality.” No;according to
the New Testamentview, it must mean: He there effectuates this His presence
by the Holy Spirit in whom He communicates Himself. See, especially, John
14-16.;Romans 8:9-10. A becoming bodily present is a marvellous exception,
as in the case ofPaul’s conversion, see onActs 9:3. Calvin, Inst. II. 16, rightly
designates the being of Christ in heaven as a corporalis absentia from the
earth.
[282]Against the denial of the capability of historicaltestimony to prove the
actuality of miracles in general, see, especially, Rothe, zur Dogmat. p. 84 ff.
[283]“Claritas in Christi corpore, cum resurrexit, ab oculis discipulorum
potius abscondita fuisse, quam defuisse credenda est,” Augustine, De civ. Dei,
xxii. 9.
[284]Comp. Martensen’s Dogmat. § 172;Schmid, Bibl. Theol. I. p. 118;
Hasse, Leben d. verklärt. Erlös. p. 113, who, however, mingling truth and
error, represents the resurrectionbody of Christ already as σῶμα
πνευματικόν(“a confluence of spirit and body,” p. 123). More accurately,
Taute, Religions-philosophie, 1852, II. 1, p. 340 ff.

[285]Although at 1 Corinthians 15. it is not possible definitely to recognise
whether all the appearances,whichare specifiedbefore ver. 8, occurred
before or after the ascension. Very little to the point, moreover, does Strauss
(Christus des Glaubens, p. 179)lay stress on the fact that Paul knows nothing
of “touching and eating proofs.” These, indeed, did not at all belong to the
purpose and connectionof his representation, as little as in the Acts at the
narrative of the conversionof Paul “broiled fish and honeycomb” could find a
place.
[286]But to seek to make out an agreementbetweenthe narrative of Luke
about the appearancesofthe risen Lord with that of Paul (see e.g. Holtzmann)
can in no way be successful.
[287]It may be supposed, with Weisse, that the ascensionwas here placedon
the resurrectionSunday, or, with Ebrard, Lange, and many others, that it was
generallyplaced on a Sunday. In respectof the latter supposition, indeed, the
number forty has been given up, and it has been takenas a round number and
increasedto forty-two. But if, with Dressel, Patr. Ap. p. 36, a point be put
after νεκρῶν, and what follows be takenas an independent clause, this is a
very unfortunate evasion, by means of which καὶ φανερωθεὶς κ.τ.λ. is
withdrawn from all connection, and is placedin the air. Not better is
Gebhardt’s notion, Auferst. Chr. p. 52, that Barnabas, in mentioning also the
ascension, did not intend to make specificationof date at all for it.
[288]Comp. moreover, Taute, Religionsphilosophie, II. 1, p. 380 ff., according
to whom the resurrectionof Christ is said to have been His first descentout of
the intelligible region of the existence ofall things, but the ascensionHis last
resurrectionappearance, so that resurrectionand ascensionare so related to
one another as specialepoch-making appearancesofthe Lord before the
brethren after His death. With such extravagantimaginations of historical
details of faith is the philosophy of Herbart, even againstits will, driven forth

far beyond the characteristic limits which by Herbart himself are clearlyand
definitely laid down.
Expositor's Greek Testament
Luke 24:51. διέστη, parted; takenby itself the verb might point merely to a
temporary separation, but even apart from the next clause, referring to the
ascension, it is evidently meant to denote a final leave-taking.—καὶ ἀνεφέρετο,
etc.:the absence ofthis clause from [211][212] and some old Latin codd. may
justify suspicionof a gloss, meantto bring the Gospelstatementinto line with
Acts. But on the other hand, that the author of both books should make a
distinct statementconcerning the final departure of Jesus from the world in
the one as wellas in the other was to be expected.
[211]Codex Sinaiticus (sæc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile
type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.
[212]Codex Bezae
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
51. he was parted front them] “A cloud receivedHim out of their sight,” Acts
1:9. The original howeverconveys a clearerimpression.
He stood apart from them (aorist) and was gradually borne into heaven. The
latter words are not found in ‫,א‬ D.
carried up into heaven] See Ephesians 4:8. The withdrawal of His Bodily
Presence precededHis Spiritual Omnipresence. The omissionof the Ascension
by St Matthew and St John would be more remarkable if it was not assumed
by them both (John 3:13; John 6:62; John 20:17; Matthew 24:30).
Pulpit Commentary

Verse 51. - And it came to pass, while he blessedthem, he was parted from
them, and carriedup into heaven;more accuratelyrendered, while he blessed
them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. The last clause,
"was carriedup into heaven," is absent from some, but not from the majority
of the older authorities. The Acts (Acts 1:9) describe the actof ascensionthus:
"As they were looking, he was takenup; and a cloud receivedhim out of their
sight." The elevenand those chosento witness the last earthly scene ofthe
Lord's ministry came together, in obedience probably to some command of
their Master, to some meeting-place in Jerusalem, possiblythe well-known
upper room. Thence he led them forth from the sacredcity, past the scene of
the agonyand the scene of the weeping, on to some quiet spot hard by loved
Bethany, talking to them as they went; and as he spoke, suddenly he lifted up
his piercedhands and blessedthem; and in the very act of performing this
deed of love, he rose, they still gazing on him - rose, as it appears, by the
exercise ofhis own will into the air, and, while they still gazed, a cloud came
and veiled him from their sight. He was parted from them, and carried up
into heaven. Among the appearancesofthe Risento his followers during the
forty days (ten of these distinct appearances are relatedin the Gospels and
Epistles), this lastnotably differs from all that precededit. As at other times
when he showedhimself to his friends during these forty days, so on the
"Ascension" dayJesus apparently came forth suddenly from the invisible
world; but not, as on former occasions,did he suddenly vanish from sight, as
if he might shortly return as he had done before. But on this fortieth day he
withdrew in a different way; as they gazedhe rose up into the air, and so he
parted from them, thus solemnly suggesting to them that not only was he "no
more with them" (ver. 44), but that even those occasionalandsupernatural
appearances vouchsafedto them since the Resurrectionwere now at an end.
Nor were they grievedat this final parting; for we read -
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES

Our Lord’s Posture In Ascension BY SPURGEON
“And He led them out as far as to Bethany, and He lifted up His hands,
and blessedthem. And it came to pass, while He blessedthem, He was
parted from them, and carried up into Heaven. And they worshipped
Him, and returned to Jerusalemwith great joy: and were continually in
the temple, praising and blessing God.”
Luke 24:50-53
OUR Lord Jesus, having spoiled the grave and so proved His powerover
things that are under the earth, tarried for 40 days among men and so claimed
His powerover the earth, itself, and then ascendedthrough the air to show
that the dominion of the Prince of the powerof the air was brokenand,
finally, entered into the Heaven of Heavens to claim sovereigntythere, so that,
from the lowestdepths up to the extreme heights, He might take possessionof
His vastdomains. I like to think of Him as traversing His dominions from end
to end, like a conqueror looking over the provinces which have been subdued
by his might. Our Lord did not make a rapid passagethrough the world. He
might have gone, on the Resurrectionmorning, straight from the grave, as
soonas it was opened, into His Glory but He had reasons for tarrying a while,
and of those reasons I will briefly speak before I come to the main theme of
my discourse–ourLord’s posture in Ascension.
His Ascensionoccurred40 days after He had risen from the dead. You know
what a significant period 40 days has always been in Scripture and you know
that in our Lord’s own case, He was 40 days in the wilderness tempted of the
devil, so that it was seemlyfor Him to tarry here for 40 days of triumph on the
scene ofHis first greatbattle and victory. Whatever instruction there may be
in these 40 days, I will not attempt to give any fanciful exposition of the
meaning of them, but it is quite clearthat they were sufficient for certain
excellentpurposes.
They were sufficient to prove to all mankind that He had truly risen from the
dead, not as a phantom, but in real flesh and blood. He made many
appearance to His disciples in different ways and in divers places. It was not
possible that 500 brethren at once could all be deceived!And if that could be
imagined, it is not likely that when, by twos and threes, and even as separate
individuals, they had the most intimate communion with Him, they could have
been mistaken! It wasessential, in the highest degree, that the factof His
Resurrectionshould be certified beyond all question–andit now remains the
best ascertainedfactin all history. We may doubt a great many things that

are recordedby historians, but we cannotdoubt the fact of Christ’s
appearance afterHis Resurrectionbecauseit was not done in a corner, it was
not done merely on one occasion, but before so many witnesses andin so many
different places!The 40 days was a sufficient period for our Saviorto be here
to make it clearto all ages that He had really risen from the dead!
Besides that, I have no doubt He timed His sojourn on earth so that He might
remove every lingering doubt from the minds of His disciples. Thomas had to
be talked to and to be told to put his finger into the print of the nails and to
thrust his hand into his Lord’s side. And there were others beside Thomas
who had many doubts. In fact, these was not one of the disciples without some
doubt or other, so their Masterhad to actand speak in such a way that every
one of them would be thoroughly assuredas to His identity and as to the
nature of His risen body. Thus He said to them, “BeholdMy hands and My
feet, that it is I, Myself; handle Me and see;for a spirit has not flesh and
bones, as you see I have.”
Besides that, the instructions which Christ had previously given to His
disciples needed a few finishing touches. Before His death, He had saidto
them, “I have yet many things to sayunto you, but you cannot bear them
now.” But after He had risen from the dead, they could bear much more and
there is no doubt that He made disclosures to them, then, which let further
light into their souls. We read more than once of how He opened their
understandings to receive the Scriptures and opened the Scriptures so that
their understandings might graspthem!
But, chief of all, our Lord tarried here for 40 days that He might issue His
commissions to His disciples. He said to one of them, “FeedMy sheep” and,
“FeedMy lambs.” And He said to all of them, “Go you into all the world and
preach the Gospelto every creature. He that believes and is baptized shall be
saved.” He would not take His final departure until His lastorders were
issued–till He had, as it were, marshaledHis battalions, set them in their
ranks, given them His commands and bid them march forward to battle and
to victory. There was an Infinite Wisdom in the delay betweenthe
Resurrectionand the Ascensionand the more we think of it, the more we shall
see that it was so. Thus much concerning the time of our Lord’s sojourn here
after He rose from the dead.
Further, the spot from which the Ascensiontook place is very instructive.
Luke tells us, “He led them out as far as to Bethany.” But, in the Acts of the
Apostles, he informs us that this memorable scene took place upon “the
mountain called Olivet, which is from Jerusalema Sabbath day’s journey.”
The two statements are not at all inconsistentwith one another. I suppose that

Jesus was carried up into heaven

Jesus was carried up into heaven

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