Jesus’ Appearance and Ascension. Luke 24:36-53 In Luke’s narrative of all “that Jesus began both to do and to teach,” he did write about all the fundamentals of the faith our Lord taught before coming to the glorious conclusion of the book. These doctrines set the stage for the book of Acts, which is like a sequel to the Gospel of Luke. Acts start with the ascension of the Lord Jesus into heaven in the sight of His watching disciples. Then it moves on to the life of the early believers in Jerusalem and takes us through the first generation of believers in the church as the Gospel spread through the Mediterranean region.
In Luke’s Gospel, the Lord teaches that the Bible is true and that there is power in life through the word of God. His teaching about God includes that He is light, holy, and love. He is full of mercy and grace. His teaching also states that the Son of God became the Son of Man, who came to seek and save lost souls. The Savior of sinners was a perfect man and able to take the place of sinful people because He was sinless. In Luke’s Gospel, there is teaching about the Holy Spirit and angels, about Satan and sin, about the life of a Christian, and how we should pray and praise, as well as what to expect in the future.
The story of Jesus during His time here in the flesh is found in the Gospel of Luke. That story continues in the book of Acts, where Luke describes the “Jesus Movement” that started in Jerusalem and spread across nations. Today, Christianity is known worldwide because true believers know Jesus is alive. He is coming again to reign as the Sovereign King. Sadly, so-called Christendom is hard to recognize in the scriptures of truth. It is only a shadow of the reality found in Luke’s Gospel and the book of Acts of the Apostles.
The words and works of our Lord Jesus Christ were always perfectly timed. As He stood in “the midst” of the group in the locked upper room, He knew the right words to say were, “Peace be unto you.” He knew they were troubled and afraid when they saw Him because they wondered if it was only a vision or perhaps a ghost they saw. For a physical body to come into a room without opening a locked door was beyond belief.
He graciously told them they could touch Him, and He showed them the evidence of His crucifixion by holding out His hands and pointing to His feet. They could see right before their eyes the marks of the nails that pierced both His hands and feet. Then, another emotion replaced fear. Incredulous joy filled them as they saw the Lord Jesus in front of them, looking at Him with hope and some doubt. Again, the Lord said the right words at the right time. “Do you have anything here to eat?” How perfect was that as proof of reality! As He ate the fish and honey right in front of them, they watched Him and realized that this was the same Lord Jesus Christ they had known before He died on the cross. Even though He was different, He was a real Man.
Some events in life are beyond our ability to explain or analyze. We just know they are real because we have seen, heard, experienced them, and gratefully accept their reality. The body of our Lord Jesus wasn’t a restored body like Lazarus's, who was raised from the dead by the Lord’s word. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the firstfruits of resurrection in an immortal body. The limitations we have in our bodies now will be lifted when “this mortal shall have put on immortality.” It will be a spiritual body but not an unreal one. It will be incorruptible and heavenly, not subject to death.
Forty days passed between the day of our Lord Jesus Christ's resurrection and His ascension into heaven. These forty days likely occurred between verses forty-three and forty-four of this chapter. Jesus had previously told them what would happen to Him, and everything happened just as He said. In this conversation with His disciples, He explained that the prophecies in the Old Testament had been fulfilled.
The “law of Moses” consists of the first five books of the Bible. The “prophets” include the historical books, as well as the major and minor prophetic books written during the period from Joshua through Nehemiah. The “Psalms” are the poetic books located in the middle of the Old Testament, beginning with Job and continuing through the Song of Solomon. In many places, either through direct statements, illustrations, or types, the Messiah was predicted to come and redeem Israel. What they had known theoretically—those who had heard and possibly read the scriptures—suddenly became real and personal. The Lord Jesus opened their minds so they could understand the true meaning of what they had been taught.
The same holds true for us today. When we read the Bible and pray to our Lord for understanding, He has the same authority to do for us what He did for those early disciples. God has a sovereign plan for things to happen at the right time and in His own way. The message of God’s love for sinners has been passed on to humans. Angels delivered the message of His birth to Mary, Joseph, Simeon, Anna, shepherds, and wise men from the East. The Lord’s disciples were responsible for telling people about Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. That’s where we come in today. We are still here to tell others about our Savior, who died for the ungodly to show His love. He died for our sins. He was buried, showing that no debt remains because His true death for sins happened on our behalf. The power of His resurrection is that we, too, can have new life as a
The disciples were eyewitnesses to what they had seen and heard from the Lord. They had watched Him die; they knew He had risen and was alive forevermore. They were to share what they knew personally with others who didn’t know these truths. Repentance toward God and forgiveness of sins were to be proclaimed by those people to the nations, starting right where they were—in Jerusalem. The Lord told them to wait for the Holy Spirit to come and fill them, giving them the power to witness for Him.
That charge is the same for us as it was for those believers two thousand years ago. The promise of the Father to them was that the Holy Spirit would come, and it remains the same for us. We are not powerless to do what our Lord Jesus Christ wants. The many witnesses of our Lord then and since have multiplied many times over. As a result, millions of people have entered the kingdom of God with confidence that the risen Savior is not done with us. Much more is yet to come, which is beyond our current capacity to understand. We simply put our faith in Him and move forward, knowing that all is well for eternity.
The Lord’s resurrection body is just as physical and substantial as a human body. However, it has been changed, redesigned, and adapted for eternity in ways that go beyond our understanding. All we need to know and understand about the future is written in the scriptures of the Bible. Our Lord came to fulfill them, and He grants us the privilege of having the word of God to read, learn from, practice ourselves, and pass on to others what we know to be true.
The impact of watching Jesus ascend into heaven after blessing them would never have left those disciples. They praised God openly as they reflected on who they now were in Christ, and their life's purpose became clear. Luke continues his story in the book of Acts. That narrative begins where he left off here.