New Testament · 1 min read
The Ascension: Jesus is taken up (Acts 1)
After his resurrection, Jesus appears to his apostles for forty days. He tells them to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit and promises that they will be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. Then he is taken up, a cloud hides him from their sight, and two men in white say he will come again.
Read Acts 1Key verses
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Acts 1:8
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
Acts 1:9
King James Version
Luke’s second book, the Acts of the Apostles, begins where his Gospel ends: with the risen Jesus and his friends.
Forty days
For forty days after his suffering, Jesus shows himself alive to the apostles and speaks about the kingdom of God. He tells them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father has promised: they will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
The last question
They ask whether he will now restore the kingdom to Israel. He answers that the times are the Father’s to set. Instead, they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on them, and they will be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
Taken up
While they watch, he is lifted up and a cloud takes him out of their sight. As they stare into the sky, two men in white stand beside them and ask why they are looking up: this same Jesus will come back in the same way they saw him go. The apostles return to Jerusalem and devote themselves to prayer.
Questions to carry
What does it mean to wait well? Where are your "ends of the earth" — the ordinary places where you are a witness?
Read the chapter
Read Acts 1 in full, and Acts 2 for what happens next.