This Same Jesus

 “They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

Acts 1:10-11

 

Have you ever had to say good-bye to a loved one without the assurance of when you would see them again?

Perhaps these were the feelings the disciples were experiencing as Jesus ascended to the Father.

Sure, they weren’t grief-stricken at this departure like they had been at His crucifixion.

But still, it was a good-bye they didn’t fully understand.

This time He told them to wait in Jerusalem for a promise from the Father.

But as they stared into the heavens a couple of angels said the equivalent of:

Snap out of it!

This same Jesus…you have come to love.

This same Jesus…you have forsaken all to follow.

This same Jesus…who died and rose again will return.

He will return in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.  

He went into heaven having defeated sin and the grave,

He ascended after defeating the enemy of our soul.

He left them after restoring the way back to fellowship with God.

The words of the angels carried such promise and such hope for the disciples then and the disciples now.

The work Jesus did was a complete work and would not need to be repeated.

He will come back, not needing to re-do what was sufficient the first time but to claim His bride!

Through the ages, He has not changed…this same Jesus, the same Jesus you and I love and worship is the same Jesus the disciples stood intently watching ascend to His Father.  

He’s coming back for us, how great is that!