“Men
of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same
Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in
like manner as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11)
We cling desperately to
life, which includes the circumstances and persons around us, even
when those events and people are – difficult! Many want to both
be alive and yet escape this confusing place, all at the same
time. Our friend Mary, who loves the Lord, is nearing nine
decades of life on this planet, and she has discovered in many
ways that life can be and often is – painful. These are her
words: “I love sleep. It’s the best of
two worlds. I get to be alive and unconscious all at the same
time!”
When you read our
Scripture verse for today, you might conclude that the angels who
spoke the words in Acts 1:11, just didn’t understand how the
disciples felt! They had not walked where the followers of Jesus
walked, and it’s true - they could not possibly understand. Yet
you CAN, for you have lived on this earth.
Jesus’ disciples
(students) were ordinary people. Most of them were married (Mark
1:30, 1 Corinthians 9:5), some were in business, at least one was
a politician, another worked as a tax collector, and so on. These
men, plucked from lives not unlike our own, were surprised that
Jesus chose them. They quickly adapted to their new surroundings
and status, however, and began to assume that THIS would be the
way they would spend the rest of their lives – Following Jesus!
They would have IDENTITY! This is not unlike you and me,
expecting our job, marriage or home (our identity) to last! We
decide our children will always be little, and suddenly they’re
forty or fifty! And we’re old!
But you know the story –
The disciples WOULD follow Jesus forever, but not in the way they
expected. They thought He would declare Himself king. Yes, there
would be dangers. They might even be wounded in battle, but He
would prevail and they would be KINGS beside their Lord!
Suddenly, their dreams were ruined, for just as Jesus was entering
Jerusalem to become, they thought, an earthly king, He was
arrested, beaten, killed, and placed in a tomb. It was suddenly
and amazingly over. Just has they were finally becoming convinced
of His deity, after three years of His miracles before their very
eyes, He was dead!
Have you every heard the
words, “You’re fired!” Or perhaps these: “I’m going to divorce
you!” Has someone said, “You have six months to live!” What
about, “Your child will not recover!” You may think NOTHING could
exceed the pain of words like those, but here is what the
disciples heard inside themselves: “My GOD is dead!”
For an agonizing moment
in time, life ended for the disciples of Jesus. He was gone! All
hope left them and NOTHING they could imagine would ever allow
them joy again. Only one event could ever bring any happiness
into their lives, and that would be if God turned the clock (the
sundial) back and made things different; but it did not happen.
Jesus was dead and so was life as they knew it! But a short time
later, He was suddenly ALIVE again, and nothing could prepare them
for the feelings they were having!
If you’ve ever spent
time in a courtroom, you’ll understand that someone who has heard
a lot of witnesses begins to recognize those who are telling the
truth. Some have said that the disciples invented the
resurrection in order to create a religion. I spent quite a
number of my early adult years as a Superior Court Clerk and have
heard hundreds of witnesses. These men: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
and the others – told the truth.
They were slow to
believe, didn’t want to believe – They had just wanted to slink
back to what they were doing before and pick up the wreckage of
their lives. Only something, Someone, the Risen Christ, who
suddenly was in their midst, saying: “Rejoice!”
(Matthew 28:9) could cause them to “Go”
into the “nations” and “make
disciples” for Jesus Christ as they soon did, in the power
of the Spirit and for glory of God (Matthew 28:19).
He’s alive! And He said
to them, “I am with you always”
(Matthew 28:20), and indeed, He was to be “physically” with them
for the next forty days (Acts 1:3). The disciples had time to
once more develop a certain complacency, based on His words and on
their hopes, that He, like your parents, your spouse, children,
health and the circumstances of your life, would always be the
same. And then he was gone from them again!
He had been speaking to
them and concluded with a reminder of the Great Commission, that
they were (and you and I are) to be His “witnesses”
to the “end of the earth” (Acts
1:8). As He completed those words, “while
they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received them out of
their sight” (Acts 1:9). He was gone!
Can you imagine how they
felt? Once again, in a different way, the heavy burden of
responsibility began to fall on each one. What would they do?
How on earth could they possibly go to “the
end of the earth” and tell of Jesus? They knew that if
they just went to the next block in Jerusalem and told of Him, the
religious leaders would take them and kill them, just as Jesus had
been killed.
You KNOW that Jesus
Christ is calling YOU. He is alive. We have eyewitness testimony
from very believable witnesses that He was dead, He was raised
from the dead, He spent considerable time with those who were slow
to believe, but they believed because He continually showed
Himself to them. He appeared to “over
five hundred… at one time”
(1 Corinthians 15:6 & context). These people didn’t want to
believe. The disciples believed in Him because they were
convinced He was RISEN from the dead! He is alive! And He has
sent His Spirit, to lead those who trust in the Lord.
Here’s your assignment:
Read Acts Chapter 2. Read it prayerfully, several times, until
you understand that He is WITH YOU. The Lord is IN all those who
simply say “Yes,” to the Son of God. Just like when He rose from
the sight of the disciples in Acts Chapter 1, He may seem distant,
but He is here, calling out: “I love you; I am with you.” And He
will come again to this world, for you and me. You will be with
Him – Forever!
Lord Jesus, I trust in
You. Life is often hard, but You are with me. Thank You. I
praise Your Holy Name. In Jesus Name. Amen.
