Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. – Acts 1:11
One of the great challenges with death is that a person, while here one day, is literally gone the next. However, after Jesus died, He returned bodily to His friends, talking, eating, walking, and planning with them, just as He did before, but this time in an immortal body.
During His life, Jesus’s disciples were occasionally slow to understand His words and actions, and it was the same after His death and resurrection. About forty days after His return to them, Christ was teaching, preparing them for a coming gift of God, the Holy Spirit. But, again, His followers displayed their misunderstanding of His mission and their part in it!
Jesus taught, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:5). The disciples assumed He meant that He would soon be taking over leadership in Israel. You can sense Christ’s clarity as He replied, “You will receive power… and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the Earth“ (Acts 1:8). As the disciples began to grasp that THEY were to go and tell the WHOLE WORLD about the Savior, “a cloud took Him out of their sight “(Acts 1:9).
Similar to those disciples standing, mouths agape, you may have little idea what God would have you do next! Like them, you can keep your heart open and eyes to the sky looking for Christ’s return, while making ready to proclaim the gospel of Christ. Pray for those in positions of authority in the United States to look to the Lord for guidance and strength in the days ahead.
Today’s Verse: Acts 1:11
and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: Acts 2:17-21
“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
18 even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
20 the sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
