Acts 1:9-14 - He was taken up

1:9-11

Jesus was then “taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight”. This is the only account of the ascension in the Bible. The disciples were looking up into the sky when two men dressed in white appeared alongside them. I think it is safe to assume that these were angels. They tell the disciples that Jesus will one day return in the same way. In the meantime they had work to do!

1:12-14

A “Sabbath day’s walk” was a little under a kilometre, 2000 cubits to be exact. Jesus had ascended at the Mount of Olives. They had a place in Jerusalem where they were staying, and all the apostles were there. Luke names all of them, so there are eleven of them. I wonder why he names all of them here. Maybe to emphasise that all of them, except Judas Iscariot, remained as Jesus’ followers. So Jesus’ words in Jn 17:12 are shown to be true, where Jesus kept all of them, except the “son of destruction”. They committed themselves to prayer. They were also joined by Mary and Jesus’ brothers. This is the last mention of Mary in the Bible. During His ministry Jesus’ brothers had been, to say the least, somewhat sceptical, to downright opposed to Jesus. However, the events of the cross and the resurrection have changed their minds. Most of us have family members who do not believe, we should never lose hope.