Luke 24:50-53

Applebury's Comments

The Ascension of Jesus
Scripture

Luke 24:50-53 And he led them out until they were over against Bethany: and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. 51 And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: 53 and were continually in the temple, blessing God.

Comments

And he led them out.He was soon to be taken from them, but He would continue to lead them through the Holy Spirit, He had promised the apostles that the Holy Spirit would guide them into all the truth (John 16:13-14).

and blessed them.He had blessed them on other occasions; just before leaving them, He blessed them again. The memory of that blessing was to remain with them through their sufferings as they carried out the Great Commission, for He had promised to be with them always, even to the end of the age.

and was carried up into heaven.In his second letter to Theophilus, Luke says that Jesus was taken up from the disciples and a cloud received Him from their sight. Heavenly messengers stood beside them with the encouraging word, He will return again as you beheld Him taken up from you into heaven.

and they worshipped him.The resurrection had convinced them that He was both the Son of Man and the Son of God. As He departed from them, they worshipped Him. Indeed, from that time on, their lives were a living sacrifice of real worship to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Their joy knew no limit. They returned to Jerusalem to await the day, not far distant, when they would begin the proclamation of the gospel. They were continually in the temple praising God while waiting for the signal to begin their world-wide mission for Christ.

In a very real sense, the story does not end here. A great climax was reached on the Day of Pentecost as the apostles preached the first sermon in that campaign. The three thousand who reversed the decision they had made at the trial got themselves baptized in the name of Christ for the remission of sins. They continued steadfastly in the apostles teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers (Acts 2:38-42).

The story ends with the triumphant coming of Christ to receive His own unto Himself that they may be with Him always. Even so, Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints. Amen. Revelation 22:20-21.

Summary

Wicked men crucified Jesus at Calvary. There is abundant evidence that He actually died. There is equally positive proof that He arose from the dead.
The women found the tomb empty; the body of Jesus was not there. Angels announced that He was alive. With the startling news, the women hurried away to tell the apostles who thought it was idle talk. Peter. investigated and found the tomb empty just as the women had said.
During the period of forty days between the resurrection and ascension, Jesus appeared to the disciples by many certain proofs. They saw Him, they heard Him explain the Scriptures, they touched Him, and they saw Him eat a piece of broiled fish in their presence. Not only were the Emmaus disciples convinced that He was alive, but also all of the eleven. At one time, more than five-hundred had seen Him alive.
The Risen Lord summed up the Scriptures about the Christ by saying, Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
Having fully demonstrated the fact of His resurrection, and having instructed the apostles as to their duties, He led them out until they were near Bethany. Then He lifted up His hands and blessed them and was carried up into heaven.
Heavenly messengers had announced the birth of the Christ; now angels told the apostles that He was coming again.

Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, even our Lord Jesus, make you perfect in every good thing to do his will, working in us that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21).

Questions

1.

On what day did the resurrection occur?

2.

What precautions had the Jews taken to prevent anything happening to the body until after the third day? Why?

3.

What did the women find when they came to the tomb?

4.

What did angels tell them?

5.

Who were some of the women at the tomb?

6.

What did the apostles think of their report?

7.

Why did Peter investigate it?

8.

What evidential value is there in the fact that the enemies remembered Jesus-' predictions of His resurrection while the disciples did not?

9.

What evidence did Peter discover at the tomb?

10.

Where was Emmaus?

11.

What were the two disciples talking about?

12.

Why didn-'t they recognize Jesus when He joined them?

13.

What had they hoped for in Jesus?

14.

What did Jesus say to them?

15.

Why did they ask Him to abide with them?

16.

How was He made known to them?

17.

What did they mean by saying that their heart burned as He had spoken to them?

18.

What did they do immediately after He was revealed to them?

19.

What are some of the other appearances not recorded by Luke?

20.

How did Luke summarize his report of the proofs of the resurrection?

21.

Under what circumstances did He appear to the eleven?

22.

What was their reaction? Why?

23.

How did they become convinced that Jesus had actually been raised from the dead?

24.

How did He help them to understand the Scriptures?

25.

Why did He order them to begin their ministry in Jerusalem?

26.

What is meant by the promise of the Father?

27.

Where did the ascension take place?

28.

What did the heavenly messengers say to the wondering disciples?

29.

What did the disciples do at the time of the ascension?

30.

Where did they await the fulfillment of the promise of the Father?