Friday, June 6, 2014
Acts 1:9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
GONE BUT PRESENT TO BLESS
Have you ever thought about why Jesus chose to disappear from the earth in the way He did on Ascension Day, rising gradually into the sky till a cloud hid Him from view? He didn't suddenly vanish from their sight as He did on previous occasions during those forty days.
It seems likely Jesus did this because He wanted to supply His disciples with a visual reminder (how could they ever forget what they witnessed that day!) of the place where He was going and where they would one day be, thanks to His Savior-work. His manner of departure also served to assure them that His earthly mission was a success. No question about it! The assignment He had been given by His Father was done! Having finished the work of reconciling them to their God, He had now taken up full use of the power that was rightfully His from eternity, and He was going to exercise that power for the benefit of all members His Holy Christian Church through all stages of history.
Yes, Jesus' visible presence is gone from Earth. So it will be till the end of the days. But He's invisibly present among us and is using His power to guide, protect, and bless us who have anchored our hopes in Him, till the Day arrives for our own ascension.
Our place He is preparing; To heaven we, too, shall rise,
With Him His glory sharing, Be where our Treasure lies.
Bestir thyself, my soul! Where Jesus Christ has entered,
There let thy hope be centered; Press onward toward the goal.
(The Lutheran Hymnal, 214:4)
