Jesus Goes Up to Heaven

“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 1:11

Forty days after Jesus rose from the dead, He met with His disciples for the last time. He told them, “Don’t leave Jerusalem. Wait for the gift My Father promised. In a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.”

“Lord,” the disciples asked, “is now the time when You will make Israel a great kingdom again?”

“It’s not for you to know the times and dates the Father has set,” Jesus said. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Then Jesus led them out of the city, as far as Bethany. He lifted up His hands and blessed them.

And while He was blessing them, He was taken up into heaven, right before their eyes. A cloud hid Him from their sight.

The disciples stood there, staring up into the sky, watching the place where He had gone.

Suddenly two men dressed in white were standing beside them. They were angels.

“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing 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.”

Jesus had gone back to heaven, to His Father. But He hadn’t gone for ever. One day, He will come back.

And the disciples didn’t go home sad. They worshipped Jesus. And they went back to Jerusalem filled with great joy, and they spent their time in the temple, praising God.

Why were they so happy? Because they knew that Jesus was alive. They knew that He was now King in heaven, with all authority. They knew that He was with them always, just as He had promised. They knew that He would come back one day. And they knew that the Holy Spirit was coming soon, to give them power.

So they waited and prayed in Jerusalem. They didn’t know exactly what would happen next. But it was going to be amazing.

And that is where the Life of Jesus ends, and where the next part of the story begins: the story of how a small group of ordinary people took the good news about Jesus all the way to the ends of the earth.

Read it in your Bible: Acts 1:1–11; Luke 24:50–53

Dear Jesus, thank you that you are King in heaven, and that you will come back one day. Thank you for sending the Holy Spirit. Help me to be your witness wherever I go. Amen.