Jesus Return Promised

Acts 1:11

“and they also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

Immediately after Jesus shared with the disciples their responsibility as witnesses He was “lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight” (1:9). The disciples were awe struck and gazing intently at Him as He departed. Two angels standing beside the disciples told them that Jesus would come back just as He departed. This scene took place at the Mount of Olives and I remember standing there with Nana, your Mom and Dad, and uncle Gary reflecting on that occasion. It was an awesome experience, being there on the Mount of Olives and looking toward the city of Jerusalem, thinking of all the Biblical history that had taken place.

That is a promise the disciples really held onto and one that all Christians today cherish. One day Jesus is going to return for all of us. The apostle Paul reveals more about that day in I Thes. 4:16-17 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.” Paul thought the Lord was going to return before he died and we as Christians can have that same expectation. His return is imminent. There is nothing else in the prophetic calendar that needs to occur before Jesus returns for us.

That event is called the rapture. It is distinguished from the Second Coming in that Jesus calls us up into the clouds to be with Him at the rapture. His second coming is a time of judgment for those who have not believed in Him.

An important message from the angels can be drawn from the question “why do you stand looking into the sky?” We should be looking for the Lord’s return but we should not be standing around waiting for it. We should be about the purpose the Lord gave us as well as the disciples of telling others about the Lord Jesus. We should be obedient to the Lord’s command recorded in Matt. 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples”. God has chosen us to be the instruments of sharing the gospel and we should be faithful in doing that.