THE narrative of the "Acts of the Apostles" extends from about A.D. 30-64. It cannot be ascertained with accuracy when it was written, but it is likely that the time of its composition was the period intervening between A.D. 70 and 80.
The writer of the "Acts" was Luke, a person belonging to the medical profession, for St. Paul (of whom he was the companion) styles him the "beloved physician." Luke was the writer of the gospel which is called by his name, and which was no doubt written to fit into the world-wide mission to men which this narrative of "the Acts" records.
His work was written in two volumes: vol. 1, THE GOSPEL; vol. 2, THE ACTS. The beginning of Acts refers to his "former treatise," that is, the Gospel by Luke. Former treatise is literally "first word," or discourse, or division. The Acts is his second word, or division, both in the order of its composition and because it springs out of the first; for had there not been the narrative contained in the Gospel, there could not have been the Acts of the Apostles, for the Gospel describes all that Jesus, anointed with the Holy Ghost, began both to do and teach, and the Acts what He did and taught by the Holy Ghost through His apostles. But the Lord says, that had He not gone to heaven and been glorified, the Holy Ghost would not have come. The Gospel by Luke gives the beginning, of which the Acts is a continuation. Jesus did not tease (but continued) to do and teach after His ascension to heaven. He acted in, with, and for the apostles and the Church, after His ascension, and does so still (ch. 1:24; 2:33; 7:55, 59).
1. THE FORTY DAYS.—"All that Jesus began," etc., means that there was a full and complete account given, although not all things absolutely had been recorded. John 21:25 shows this would not have been possible. It is in the plural "all things." The name "Theophilus" means a friend of God, and as it points to a real man, it is unlikely that it has the force of "Christian reader" (Luke 1:4) Some have thought Theophilus must have been a high official, from the title "Most Excellent" being given by the writer; for the same epithet is applied in this book as usual to the Roman governors (chap. 23:26; 24:3; 26:25).
"Until the day." The ascension ends the Gospel and begins the Acts. It is the point of contact and transition of both Gospel and Acts (Luke 24:50, 51).
“He was taken up.” This was the act of God the Father, for “God hath raised up His Son Jesus, and given Him glory” (1 Peter 1.) He was taken up and back to heaven because of God's delight in Him, in that He had laid down His life for His glory and in obedience, as the man who perfectly did His will on earth (John 20:17). God gave His only begotten Son, and God took Mm up to Himself as the one who died for sin, and He set Elim at His own right hand, In this we see man in an entirely new place, as risen and ascending into heaven. Man was made for earth, and earth for man (Gen. 1.); but now man dies, rises, and ascends to heaven, and this risen and ascended "Man Christ Jesus" becomes there the new starting-point of the dealings of God. He in death made an end of the old creation to the glory of God, and so, the work being finished, He was raised and glorified as the new man and head of the new creation. Instead then of this book being the Acts of the Apostles, it is the record of God's acts for man and in man, the narrative of God displaying fresh glory in men in the power of the Holy Ghost. This is the reason why the resurrection and ascension are brought in by Luke here a second time, because they were necessary as showing the ground-work or starting-point of this unfolding of the grace and ways of God in man.
"Alter that He by the Holy Ghost had given commandments (charged) the apostles whom He had chosen." After that He had given commandments is one word in Greek, the exact meaning of which is having charged or commanded. The word "was taken up" (for it is one in Greek), being at the end of the verse, would lead us to infer that this specifically referred to the charge given on the day of the ascension. The next verse appears to go back to the forty days in which He had appeared to His disciples. It was also by the power of the Holy Ghost that He gave this charge. Jesus, who was "anointed with the Holy Ghost," in virtue of the Holy Ghost who was with Him still in resurrection, gave commandments to His chosen apostles, whether it were during the "forty days" or the very day of the ascension. And this is interesting, that, as Jesus spake and acted by the Holy Ghost as the risen Man, so shall we who believe in Him. The risen Lord here gives the disciples commandments in connection with the new position He assumes. In John 20:22 Jesus had said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost," and this associated them with Him risen, and was the capacity and intelligence of the new nature; but now by that same Holy Ghost He gave them commandments to wait for His coming as the clothing of power. "He gave them an earnest of Pentecost.”
“He presented Himself alive" (verse 3), or showed Himself. "To whom also He presented Himself living after He had suffered, with many proofs" (Acts 10:41; Rom. 6:13, 16, 19; Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 11:2). We read of Him thus presenting Himself. So John 20:19, 26, " Game Jesus and stood in the midst, and said unto them, Peace be unto you." Also 21:1, 14," This now is the third time that Jesus showed Himself to His after that He was risen from the dead." “By many (infallible) proofs." There is no word for "infallible" in the Greek, but it is really included in the meaning of the word, which is used by Plato and Aristotle for the very strongest proof of which a subject is susceptible. The proofs were presented to the eye, the ear, and the touch. He gave them such signs and evidences, that He who had been crucified was with them alive, that they might be perfectly assured of it (see Luke 24:42, 43; Acts 10:40, 41).
"Forty days." If we look at the Gospel by Luke, ch. 24., it seems to flow on in one continuous narration, and on this some have asserted that it seems to contradict Acts 1., for in Luke the ascension seems to be on the day of resurrection. But here we have the same writer's pen telling us that the interval was forty days.
The fact that Jesus showed Himself alive to His disciples after His resurrection shows the importance of this for our faith. If they were to be witnesses to Him until the time of His ascension, they must have it proved to them that He rose from the dead and was alive; and the apostle Paul shows the deep importance of establishing the resurrection of Christ, that faith may have a firm basis on which to rest (1 Cor. 15:14, 17). It would seem that the main "proofs" referred to of His resurrection were pointed to in this general statement, that “He was seen of them through a period of forty days, and that He was speaking of the things which concern the kingdom of God." Alford thinks that the participles carry with them a ratiocinative force in dependence on the word translated "proofs." Christ appeared only from time to time, not constantly, for those forty days.
“Being seen of them through forty days," is the force of the Greek. He could say, "Lo, I am with you all the days," but it was only by a preternatural or miraculous manifestation of His presence that He could make Himself be seen by them. Only disciples saw Him; the world did not see Him during those forty days, and never will do so until the day of His appearing, when "every eye shall see Him." Speaking concerning the Kingdom of God"—not of the Church. This was left for the still higher glory of His ascension and session at the right hand of God; and He gave it by the apostle Paul (Eph. 3; Col. 1.) The prediction that God was to have a kingdom that would rule over all kingdoms was largely treated of by the Old Testament prophets (Dan. 2) This was no doubt the Kingdom of God, or the Kingdom of the heavens, which has been going on since Pentecost in a mysterious way, but when Jesus returns will go on in open manifestation. Resurrection having made Him in power the vessel of the sure mercies of David (Acts 13.), He sent His disciples afresh to call Israel to receive Him as Prince and Saviour, whom they had rejected as Messiah living on earth.
2. THE COMMAND TO TARRY AT JERUSALEM.— “Being assembled together." This was the last meeting between Christ and His disciples. The word used indicates that all the disciples were present, and that their assembling was deeply important; and its solemnity and importance arose not merely from its being the final meeting, or that they should then witness the taking up of their risen Lord, but because He gave them His last instructions, and communicated His intentions regarding them. He gave them His command at this meeting to remain in Jerusalem.
"Commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem." The word here is different from verse 2. Here it is a peremptory injunction such as a military leader would give. Had they not been so commanded, they would have felt naturally inclined to leave Jerusalem, the place where their Lord had been taken by wicked hands and crucified. His mind regarding them was that they should not be parted or divided by any cause. The word used implies that they were not to allow themselves to be either drawn or driven from Jerusalem, until the promise was realized. "From Jerusalem not to be parted," is the order of the words. Remember every soul the weighty saying, "Go when Jesus calls thee, hasten when He draws thee, pause when He restrains thee." Jerusalem was s the scene of their failure—it was where their Master had been slain—and hence the place of greatest danger for them; but they were enjoined to wait in that very spot, that the Spirit's power in them might convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, and show the power of love triumphing over the hatred of their Lord's deadly foes. The place of tragedy must be made the place of triumph.
"But to await the promise of the Rather." The word in the Greek implies that they were to wait for the fulfillment of it. The promise of the Father is the promise given by Him, not merely in the Old Testament predictions but also through Christ Himself, as He immediately states (see Luke 24:49; John 14:16, 15: 26, 16:7, 13), "Which, said He, ye have heard of Me"—was this specifically in Luke 24:49, "Behold I send the promise of my Father unto you"—unless it were the same as this. It may be safer to refer it to such passages as Luke 12:11, 12, and to His farewell discourse in St. John's Gospel, 14.-16.
"For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with, the Holy Ghost not many days hence" (verse 5). In Matthew 3:11, John the Baptist says, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." The twofold testimony by John was this, and that He was the Lamb of God. He, having suffered as God's Lamb and risen from the dead, announces the certainty of His fulfillment of John's testimony and the Father's promise: only the "fire," or "the wrath of the Lamb," is still in abeyance. As John's work was to baptize with water, so Christ would fulfill His word in baptizing with the Holy Ghost. This was not the new birth, for the apostles were already born again, and had been associated with Christ risen and on the earth by His breathing on them as the last Adam, and saying, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." But they were still enjoined to wait for this baptism of the Holy Ghost, which should be the fulfillment of the promise of the Father and of His own promise. In John 20:22 the receiving of the Holy Ghost was for forming the intelligence of the new man, that in this spiritual intelligence they might wait for the gift of the Holy Ghost Himself sent down from above.
This baptism of the Holy Ghost is the power that goes forth in testimony, and leads to the blessing of others. The order is to be observed (John 20:22 is first), for we must have the capacity and spiritual intelligence, before we have a basis in ourselves for that power of the Holy Ghost that carries forth the witness of the Lord Jesus for the blessing of others. We read of a cup and a baptism in connection with Christ's suffering—the cup being the symbol of the inward the baptism referring to the outward. So in John 20:22 we have the inward symbolized in His breathing into them and saying, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost;" and in Acts 1:5, "Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost," we have that which is outward; and the second chapter downwards verifies this by the accompaniments, manifestations, and effects which flowed from this baptism. Besides, as 1 Cor. 12:12, 13 shows, it resulted in a new and great unity—the Church of God; for in the power of one Spirit we have all been baptized into one body. It was termed a "baptism," says Alford, "because it was the beginning of a new period of spiritual influence totally unlike any which had preceded." The Lord "Jesus baptized not, but His disciples" before His death; but here He intimates that He was about to do so on His ascension to heaven. "Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost" by Me "not many days hence." The number of the days being left in uncertainty quickened and sustained a daily expectation, and also exercised their faith and drew out their prayers.
When they therefore were come together, they asked Him saying, "Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" The assembled apostles asked Him this question, which in its substance and also its time had been suggested by our Lord's own words, for He had been speaking to them of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God, and He had just said, "Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”
If we refer to such a scripture as Joel 2., we shall find the restoring of the kingdom to Israel and the outpouring of the Spirit connected. Their expectations of the kingdom being restored to Israel were justified by such prophecies as Isa. 1:26, 9:7; Jet 23:6, 33:15, 17; Dan. 7:13, 14; Hos. 3:4, 5; Amos. 9:11; Zech. 9:9.
That the kingdom had departed from Israel they knew; for the Romans were in authority and the Jews were paying tribute, and this in Roman money bearing Caesar's image and superscription (Matt. 17:27, 22:19-21), and their Lord had suffered the death of the cross, a Roman form of public execution, and Roman soldiers had guarded His sepulcher. The glory had departed. Was He now to restore the kingdom to Israel? ("Having come together," or "being come together," does not refer to an assembling, other than that of verse 4, for the context gives the impression of one continued conversation.) The Lord does not say to them that they were wrong in looking for a restoration of the kingdom to Israel. He tacitly admits the propriety of their expectation, but He tells them that the immediate object of the coming of the Holy Ghost and His baptism was to make them His witnesses.
The stress of their question lay in the words, "at this time," which are prefixed for emphasis: "at this time art Thou to restore the kingdom to Israel?" The fact was taken for granted; the time alone was the subject of their inquiry. This question shows that, notwithstanding the blessing given on the resurrection day in the Holy Ghost, they did not have any perception of the ways of God in grace that were to come for them, when baptized with the Holy Ghost, but their question was the occasion of further divine instructions. Imperfect inquiries, if addressed to our Lord, bring out His own divine answers, and instruction and guidance are the result.
"It is not yours to know times and seasons, which the Father has placed in His own authority" (verse 7). "The promise of the Father" had been spoken of by Christ, and now when they connect this with the establishing of "the kingdom of the Father," and ask regarding the time of it, He tells them it is not their province or privilege to know "times and seasons," for the measures and the a moments that had to do with earthly changes were in the sole control of Him to whom all belonged (compare Matt. 24:36; Mark 13:32). Times and seasons are not synonyms, but generic and specific terms, the one denoting intervals and periods, the other points and junctures, like era and epoch in modem English. In chapter 7:17, 20, we have both—"As the time of the promise drew nigh;" "In which season Moses was born." The Lord's answer was a kindly repulse, but one which led to this further instruction regarding the divine reserve, that the Father had placed them under His own authority; and consequently there is a definite time known to Him for the introduction of His kingdom, and the thing itself is sure. And, besides, while it would be wrong to pry into things unrevealed, it would be equally wrong not to search into all that is revealed. Whenever it is written by God, we are expected to "search the Scriptures" (Dan. 9:2; 1 Pet. 1:11). "Searching what or what manner of time, the Spirit which was in them did signify." Cf. Rev. 13:8; Deut. 29:29.
Bengel thought that, although the apostles did not then know, they would come to know as the successive revelations of God were unfolded, and that we have now in the Book of Revelation both times and seasons so given that it could be told when the kingdom of God would be introduced; but it is a striking proof of the generality of our Lord's answer that this great scholar calculated from the Apocalypse that the millennium would commence in the year 1836.
There is truth in the remark of another German author, that the apostles were to be less prophets of the future than witnesses of the past. It might be better to say witnesses of Christ in the past and the present. We may know that such and such events will take place, for God has revealed them; and we may also be able very accurately to trace the order and consecution of them, but to give dates (as some did, 1866 and other years) is always dangerous when writing on the coming kingdom.
There is a fixed date, known only to the Father, for the taking up of the saints; a fixed date for the commencement of the judgments indicated by the seals, trumpets, and vials of Revelation; a fixed date for the coming of the Son of Man. in His glory; for the judgment of the nations, and the setting up of the kingdom of God in manifested power and glory on the earth; and a fixed date for making Jerusalem the earthly metropolis of that kingdom, and Israel "the head and not the tail," the regal center of the Father's kingdom on the earth (Isa. 2:2-5), but no such dates have been revealed to us. The Lord does not find any fault with the apostles' expectation, or that they anticipated for Israel a place of high privilege with regard to the expected kingdom. The fact He allowed, the date had been reserved; but the fact of His having told them that it was dated went to confirm their expectation. It is to mistake the meaning of our Lord's reply to affirm that it implies a condemnation of their expectation of a glorious Messianic kingdom upon the earth, with Israel for a center. Our Lord only repressed their curiosity as to the time when it should be established, and turned their attention to their more immediate privilege and duty.
"But ye will receive power, the Holy Ghost having come upon you" (verse 8). The seventh verse ends with "His own power" in our English version, and this verse begins with "Ye shall receive power." But the words in the Greek are different, and it should have been made to appear. The former is authority, the latter power, in the sense of ability or energy. They occur together in Luke 4:36, "With authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they obey him;" and 9:1, "He gave them power and authority." It was not yet the time for the kingdom in manifested power, but the time for their witness-bearing to Christ Himself by the power of the Spirit. The kingdom is in a mysterious form in the power of the present Spirit, and in that sense we are translated into it (Col. 1:13); but the great work that should occupy His followers until His return in glory was witness-bearing by the Holy Ghost's power. When Revelation (the book that introduces the kingdom of God in manifestation) opens, the saints are seen as kings and priests unto God and His Father; but when Acts, the book of testimony to an absent Christ, opens, the apostles are empowered to be witnesses (and the word thus translated is our word martyrs). They needed power in the Spirit to qualify them for such a witness-bearing as should be a suitable sequel to the life and death of Christ. If His testimony ended in martyrdom, they were to look for a similar end, and as a rule they so terminated their course, and for any witness of a crucified and martyred Christ to die a natural and not a violent death is unnatural.
"But" indicates the contrast between what they might not know and what they might experience. They might not know the times of the future, but they would be fitted by the coming of the Holy Ghost for the work of the present. United by the Holy Ghost to Christ in the heavenly glory, to whom all power in heaven and earth is given, they would be made equal to the great business of the Christian life to be witnesses to Him. The great promise of Christ was spiritual power by the coming of the Holy Ghost upon them; the great work for which it would qualify, and to which it would lead, was to be witnesses to Christ; the places and order indicated are Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth, to which the arrangement of the ACTS answers (see as an example of the successive steps, Acts 8:1, 4, 5, 27). Before Christ's resurrection they had been commanded by Hire not to enter the cities of the Samaritans (Matt. 10:5, 6); but on the coming of the Holy Spirit they were commissioned by Him to go not only to the Samaritans but also to the ends of the earth (Acts 13:47). The Holy Ghost was their power, who also wrought power within them. The new nature is weak, the Holy Ghost is its power. In Luke 24:49, "Until ye be endued with power from on high," means spiritual power given in the Holy Ghost. It would include all power which they were enabled to manifest in connection with their important mission as His witnesses.
The promise is power, and that by the gift of the Holy Ghost, He Himself in person coming to them in accordance with the Father's and the Son's promise. "But ye shall receive power, the Holy Ghost coming upon you." This was their power not learning, science, philosophy, and eloquence, but "the Holy Ghost coming upon them." This is the very thing which this book of THE ACTS illustrates, for it records the supernatural energy with which they bore witness to the Lord Jesus, and the results following (see chaps. 2, 3, 4:8-13, 31; 5:29-33).
"In Jerusalem" their witness begins—beginning at Jerusalem (Luke 24:47; Acts. 2., 3:1, 6:7). Then on the martyrdom of Stephen (6:8, 8:3) the disciples were scattered over Judea, while the apostles abode still at Jerusalem. Then they go to Samaria on hearing of the gospel work, and there they testify (Acts 8:4-40); then the apostle of the Gentiles is called (Acts 9.), and Peter preaches in the house of Cornelius (chap. 10.); but the great mission to the uttermost parts of the earth was formally sent forth from Antioch (Acts 13.) The apostles seem to have lingered over Jerusalem as their center for about eight years. What a contrast to the commission given them in Matt. 10:5, 6, when Christ was presenting Himself as Messiah to Israel! "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not; but go ye rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Now their commission is, "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:16), for now Jehovah's word to His servant is about to be made good "I will also give thee for a light unto the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation to the ends of the earth" (Isa. 49:6).
3. THE ASCENSION.— Their mission was founded on their having seen their Lord in life, in death, in resurrection, and as He was taken up into heaven.
“And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight" (verse 9). Having finished all His communications with His apostles, He was taken up while they were looking upon His blessed person, so that they were witnesses of a real rising of their Divine Master before their eyes: and it took place gradually. He did not vanish from their view as on another occasion (Luke 24:31), but was lifted up from the earth; and as they looked, a cloud, whether dark as at Sinai (Ex. 19:16), or, which is more likely, bright with celestial glory, as on the night of the transfiguration (Matt. 17:5), caught Him up and away from their eyes. This was evidently the well-known cloud of glory which had accompanied Israel out of Egypt, and dwelt over the tabernacle and in the temple as the chariot of Jehovah (see Ex. 16:10; 19:16; 24:15, 18; 33:9; 40:34, 38). "Was taken up" describes the commencement of the ascension; "and caught him up and away from their eyes" describes its close, so far as they were concerned. The cloud, as the chariot of the glory, caught Him away while they were still gazing upon Him; and if none of them had seen Him rise from the grave, they all saw Him rise from earth to heaven.
Luke in his Gospel gives some things in his account of the ascension not repeated here; but this is the fullest and most distinct account of this important event; and in both places it is described in a single verse. In Luke 24:50, we read, "And He led them out as far as to Bethany, and He lifted up His hands, and blessed them; and it came to pass while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven." He had been rejected and crucified by the wicked hands of His own people at Jerusalem; and now in resurrection He led them outside the camp, that He might bless them, and He parted from them at Bethany where he had been so deeply loved, to have them remember in the place of love and devotedness that His hands were still lifted up to bless them. This was holy priestly service, and as the Mediator and High Priest in the heavens, He is still carrying on His priesthood in blessing in the Holy Ghost. This was a sample of the work for which He ever lives at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, in the true tabernacle, and as He was blessing He ascended to the temple in the heavens; for as the Gospel by Luke had opened with a priest of the family of Levi in the temple of Jerusalem, it now closes with the risen Lord as the Great High Priest ascending to the temple of the heavens. Christianity supersedes Judaism, the Spirit takes the place of ordinances, and the association of believers is with the Son in the heavens, not with the servant on the earth.
He was "carried up," says Luke in the Gospel. Says a beloved brother, The expression implies that some conveyance waited Him. And indeed He had been thus waited on from very old time. When exhibited and spoken of as "the glory," "the Angel of God," "the Angel of His presence," or "the Lord" (Ex. 14., 23; Isa. 63.), the cloud conveys Him hither and thither. It first took Him at the head of the redeemed people to lead them in the way (Ex. 13.) It then carried Him between the camps of Israel and Egypt, that He might be light to the one and darkness to the other, and out of it so look as to trouble the Egyptians (Ex. 14.) At times it brought Him to take His seat in judgment upon his trespassing and murmuring congregation (Ex. 16.; Num. 14., 16., 20.), and after all this it took Him to fill His place in the temple (2 Chron. 5.), as it had before in like manner borne Ha to fill the same place in the tabernacle (Ex. 40.) Thus did the cloudy chariot wait on Him of old (Ps. 104:3), and when the sin of the people had disturbed His rest in the midst of them, the cherubim bear Him away (Ezek. 1.); and the cherubim was called "the chariot of the cherubims" (1 Chron. 28:18). Thus He was attended on all these occasions by His appointed chariot, and so is He now. He is "carried up.” It is the risen Son of Man who is now carried up to His place on high. It is not merely" the appearance of a man," but one whose manhood has been assured and verified. As such He now ascends. The glory has taken His abiding form, and as the glorified Man it is that we from henceforth in the book of God see Mm. In the vision of the prophet He is after this, as the glorified Man brought with the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of days to receive His kingdom (Dan. 7.) As such he stands in the eye of another prophet in the midst of the golden candlesticks (Rev. 1) As such He tells us Himself that He will hereafter be seen sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven (Matt. 26.); and as such, when all the judgment is past, His name will be made excellent in all the earth (Ps. 8.; Heb. 2.)
"And as they were gazing into heaven as he was going, lo, also two men stood by them in, white clothing, who also said, Men of Galilee, why do ye stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven shall thus come in the manner in which, ye have beheld Him going into heaven" (verse 10). In these verses we have the going and the coming of the Lord Jesus. They were gazing up into heaven after the Lord with a lingering look, and no doubt feeling for the moment His absence, and longing for Him to descend, when they found that two heavenly messengers in lustrous raiment, white with preternatural effulgence, had taken their stand beside them, who assured them He would return. Why stand ye looking into heaven? Is it that you expect your Lord to come back? We are here to assure you of that glorious event, and it will happen in the manner in which ye have seen Him going into heaven. They were not rebuked for gazing into heaven, but rather encouraged to do that very thing in their spirits; and when they go forth to preach they tell of His coming in glory, and that the right Christian attitude is "to wait for His Son from heaven, even Jesus." The sudden visitants were in the form of men, but undoubtedly they were angels and not men—not even Moses and Elias who spake of the Exodus about to be accomplished by Him at Jerusalem, when with Him on the Mount of Transfiguration— but not unlikely the two angels who were in the grave of Jesus (Matt. 28:2; John 20:12; Mark 16:5; Luke 24:4), who were then competent witnesses that He was withdrawn from the grave and alive, and who would now form competent witnesses of His return when withdrawn from earth to heaven. The Lord had just told His disciples that they were to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and be His witnesses, and until that was done they could not anticipate His return; but they were assured by the angels, as they had been by the Lord Himself, during His public ministry, that He would return, and as the testimony here given on the moment of His ascension, let us look at it for a little:—
1. The same Jesus who was crucified and raised from the dead will return.
2. He will come again in like manner, with power and great glory—with clouds. "Behold! He cometh with, clouds" (Rey. 1:7; Dan. 7; Luke 21:27; Mark 13:26, 24:62; Matt. 24:30, 26:64).
3. It will be a visible as well as a personal coming. "As ye have seen Him, going into heaven." Personally, gloriously, visibly, we are told by the angels our Lord shall come again; and we are given to believe it will be to the same spot, "the mount called Olivet" (v. 12), for the Holy Ghost speaking in Zechariah, says, "His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east" (Zech. 14:4). "This makes for the personal coming in glory," wrote the late Dr. Chalmers. The heavens here were opened, and the risen Jesus entered through them to His glorious seat at the right hand of God, and immediately angels began to descend upon the Son of man (John 1:51), to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation (Heb. 1:14); and the angels evidently looked themselves for the return of Christ, for the precision of their language indicates it. We hear nothing more of the two men; they may have entered the cloud and disappeared as suddenly as did Moses and Elias on the transfiguration mount (Mark 9:8).
Says Bengel, "Between His ascension and His coming in glory, no event intervenes equal in importance to each of these two events. Therefore these two are joined together, and it accords with the majesty of Christ, that during the whole period between His ascension and His advent He should without intermission be expected.”
The Lord's coming again is looked at here in its broad general aspect, as known in the prophets; not in the specific and particularized way revealed by Paul. It is the coming of the Son of man in glory to judge the world in righteousness that is spoken of by the angels, His manifestation beneath the heavens and seen by the world. The knowledge of an ascended and coming Christ formed ever the termini and elements of their teaching. This is the true foundation of Christianity, that the Christ who accomplished the work of redemption has risen and ascended to heaven after the work of expiation for sin had been finished: and His place in heavenly glory is now ours as believers, being united by the Holy Ghost to the Second Man, the last Adam. We are not of earth but of heaven, are seated in Him in heavenly places, and waiting to be seated with Him in the glory of heaven. John 20. gives us (1) a place with Christ as Son; (2) peace announced; (3) the Holy Ghost associating with Him as risen; but in Acts i. there is the promise of the Spirit, who baptizes us into union with Him ascended to heaven.