Monday, May 29, 2017
Luke 24:51-53 Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.
REJOICE! JESUS HAS GONE AWAY!
While last Thursday, Ascension Day, may have passed without much notice, Ascension is one of the more important festivals of the Church Year. It was at Christ's ascension that He returned to heaven to fulfill many promises, some of which He is fulfilling as we speak, others that have yet to be fulfilled.
Ascension Day certainly was a turning point for the Apostles. Remember how they were in the days following Christ's crucifixion? Even after His resurrection we can see that they still were timid and unsure of themselves, uncertain as to what the future held for their Lord and for themselves. But after the Ascension, we are told that the disciples, having witnessed the historical fact of Christ's ascension, "worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God."
It is said that, "Parting is such sweet sorrow," and so you would think that the disciples would have been sorrowful when they saw the Lord depart bodily from them. But they knew, as do we, that we, as believers, have reason to REJOICE! Jesus has gone into heaven! He has gone into heaven to rule His Church to rule over all things *for* His Church! Rejoice, He's gone to send the Comforter! And having ascended, His promise is to return one Day in glory to take us into the eternal bliss of heaven.
