PBPC Pastor's Thoughts - the Return
9 When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11 They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." - Acts 1:9-11
There is so much to think about in this first chapter of Acts that we could probably do an entire sermon series on it - but I'll spare you that. But we should not move on from Acts 1 without taking a moment to acknowledge what happened immediately after Jesus was taken up into heaven. As the disciples are staring up into the sky, two angels appear and ask (not without some humor, I believe), "Why are you just standing there staring?" Of course we know why the disciples are looking into the sky - overwhelming awe at what had just happened, and a longing to not let Jesus out of their sight (like that balloon that slipped out my hand when I was 3 years old and which I followed with my eyes until it was a tiny speck in the sky and finally disappeared.)
I think that the heavenly messengers are sent to gently tell the disciples three things:
- Jesus will return - just as he promised. The second coming of Jesus is not a fringe belief or odd interpretation of a single scripture passage; it is clearly referred to over 200 times in the New Testament. At the very least, we know that the return of Christ was the clear hope of the early church. But it should be our hope as well, because the Day of the Lord is when the kingdom of heaven is fulfilled, God's justice and righteous are made complete in the world, and Christ will rule over a redeemed creation.
- We don't know when Jesus will return. The disciples expected and hoped that it would happen within their lifetimes, but that was not the case. And as Jesus has already said, it is not for us to know the times that the Father has set by His own authority. So we should not be fixated on such things, but rather trust that God is in control and faithful to His promises.
- Jesus is on the move - so try to keep up. I think that these two angels are the same guys who appeared to the women at the tomb of Jesus and asked them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen." The risen Jesus was on the move then, and the ascended Jesus is on the move now. Jesus is present and active with us through the power of the Holy Spirit. Our part now is to join him in the work of the kingdom - which is what the book of Acts is all about.
So are you ready to be a part of what the risen and ascended Jesus is doing in the world?
To ponder:
How does the promised return of Jesus bring hope to how you view the world? How does it affect the way you view your life?
Have a blessed weekend,
Pastor Chris