Holy Bible - Obsidian Study Guide

The Ascension

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The Ascension

Overview

  • Testament: New
  • Book: Acts
  • Chapters: Acts 1:9-11; Luke 24:50-53
  • Summary: Forty days after the Resurrection, Jesus led the disciples toward Bethany, blessed them, and was “taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9). As the disciples gazed upward, two angels appeared and declared that Jesus would return “in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Luke records that the disciples “returned to Jerusalem with great joy” and continued in the temple praising God (Luke 24:52-53).

Significance

The Ascension marks the exaltation of the risen Christ to the right hand of the Father, fulfilling his own words that he would go to prepare a place for his disciples (John 14:2). It is the event that precedes and necessitates the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and the Birth of the Church, as Jesus had promised the Comforter would not come unless he departed. The angelic promise of a visible return anchors the Christian hope of the Second Coming in the same bodily reality as the departure.

Key Verses

“And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.” — Acts 1:9 (KJV)

“Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” — Acts 1:11 (KJV)

“And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.” — Luke 24:51 (KJV)

Cross-References

  • Resurrection — the Ascension follows forty days of post-resurrection appearances
  • Great Commission — the final charge given before the Ascension (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8)
  • Pentecost and the Birth of the Church — the Ascension sets the stage for the descent of the Spirit
  • Acts — primary narrative account (Acts 1:9-11)
  • Luke — parallel account with emphasis on joy and blessing (Luke 24:50-53)
  • The Resurrection — the bodily resurrection is the presupposition of the bodily Ascension

Key Figures

  • Jesus Christ — ascends bodily to heaven while blessing his disciples
  • The Twelve — witness the Ascension and receive the angelic promise of his return

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