And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.
He led the eleven out from Jerusalem to the vicinity of Bethany on the Mount of Olives and there lifted His hands over them in blessing as His final earthly act, and while He was blessing them He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. The hands He lifted were the wounded hands pierced by the nails of the cross, and with shining face and deep love He spoke no reproach for their failures but assured them of His tender love and protecting care. In blessing those watching disciples He embraced the whole world and called down blessing on all who would follow Him. They worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, for this same Jesus who ascended to continue His work as Advocate and High Priest will return in like manner to Olivet as triumphant King. The blessing sealed His commission to preach repentance and remission of sins among all nations and to wait for power from on high, that the Holy Spirit would enable their witness to the ends of the earth.
Place and Moment of Ascension
He led them out as far as Bethany, to the vicinity of Bethany on the Mount of Olives, the place long associated with His prayers and teaching and suffering, which He chose as the place from which to ascend. He led the eleven out from Jerusalem through its gates, in sight of wondering onlookers who had seen Him condemned and crucified only a few weeks before, across the Kedron toward Gethsemane and across the summit toward Bethany. The disciples did not know this was their last time with Him.
He spent the walk in sacred converse, reiterating former instructions and continuing to give them sacred instruction. He paused at Gethsemane to recall the lessons of the night of His great agony, looking again on the vine He had used as a symbol of the union of His church with Himself and His Father and repeating those truths. All around were reminders of His unrequited love, and of how even these dear disciples had reproached and forsaken Him in His humiliation when He most needed their sympathy and comfort. The blessing came after He had spent forty days with them following His resurrection, teaching them and instructing them in preparation for His departure.
His lifting His hands and blessing them was His final earthly act toward them, the close of His time and earthly ministry with them. While He was blessing them He was parted from them and carried up into heaven, the blessing preceding and accompanying His ascension. His hands were still outstretched in blessing when He was taken from them. He ascended slowly heavenward by divine power, drawn heavenward by a power stronger than any earthly attraction.
The awe-struck disciples watched with straining eyes for the last glimpse of their ascending Lord. Until a cloud of glory and a cloud of angels received Him and hid Him from their sight. Sweet, joyous music from the angel choir reached their senses and floated down to them. The disciples heard the angels' song only briefly and did not hear the greeting He received in heaven.
Hands and Words of Blessing
The hands He lifted were the same hands bruised by the nails of the cross, the hands that had blessed the sick and afflicted and rebuked demons, now mercifully extended over the disciples. They were still wounded as He stretched them out in parting blessing. His face shone with heavenly brightness and smiled lovingly upon them as He looked on them with deep love. His countenance radiated beams of light, and beams of light seemed to come from His hands and fall upon the watching, waiting disciples.
He did not upbraid or reproach them for their faults and failures. His last words to them were words of unutterable tenderness, tender and loving. His blessing with outstretched hands assured them of His tender love and protecting care. In blessing those few disciples He embraced the whole world, calling down blessing on all followers of Christ. The watching disciples represented all His followers, so that blessing reaches to the end of time.
His visible departure was quiet, in keeping with the meekness and quietness of His life. The full glory of His ascent and heavenly welcome was veiled from mortal sight. He ascended in the same tangible human form in which they had known Him as Teacher and Friend, remembered as their sympathizing Friend and glorified Redeemer.
Comfort and Assurance Given
The blessing at Bethany is sanctification bestowed on them, God's power to live clean, wholesome lives, making them loving and gentle and kind and filling them with praise. Sanctification is not a once-for-all instant experience, but must keep being sought by faith.
The apostles were not yet ready to begin their work with this blessing alone, so He told them to wait until they received power from on high. That promised power was the Holy Spirit who would guide and bless them and lead them into all truth.
The verse belongs to a wonderful chapter showing that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to save the sinful race. The gift of salvation is for everyone who repents and is converted, made possible because the Saviour suffered the penalty of death. All who come to the Father through faith in Christ, laying hold of Him by faith and following His example, receive assurance of forgiveness of sins. Every soul can be sanctified through belief of the truth because of His sufferings.
They left the parting not mourning but full of joy. They worshipped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and rejoicing that He had wrought salvation. Their joy at His departure was because the same Saviour would return as He had ascended, and they would see Him again. His blessing marks the close of His earthly ministry with them and accompanies that joyful return. Their last sight of Him was a loving, glorious, human Friend with wounded hands mercifully extended over them as though embracing the whole world and calling down blessing on all His followers, with beams of light seeming to come from His hands and fall on the watching, waiting disciples.
His ascension to heaven, escorted by the heavenly throng in triumph, confirms that He is the living Saviour and Advocate in the heavenly courts. His promise is assurance of blessing to those who believe and are wholly consecrated to Him.
Return and Heavenly Ministry
The place itself looks forward, for the Mount of Olives near Bethany from which He blessed them and ascended is where His feet will stand again, not as a suffering man but as a triumphant king. He departed in the same tangible human form in which they had known Him, and His visible going was quiet and veiled from mortal sight, yet the disciples were assured that this same Jesus would return in like manner. That promise became their lasting hope and joy, for they rejoiced not in the parting itself but that the same Saviour would come again as He had ascended and they would see Him again.
Having blessed them He went to His Father's throne to continue the work of atonement as humanity's Advocate and Intercessor. There He is enthroned as a gracious High Priest and mighty Redeemer for all who call on Him in truth. His ascension was an honored triumph and honored return to His dominion, accompanied by the heavenly host and glorious angels waiting to escort Him on His upward way. In going up on high He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men.
The hands outstretched over them in blessing still bear the marks of the crucifixion, and those same hands will give crowns to the redeemed, so that their reward is a gift from their Redeemer. That very gesture of lifting His hands to bless will be imitated by Satan when he impersonates Christ at the end of time. By that counterfeit blessing he will deceive people into believing that Christ has returned.
Commission and Present Mission
The blessing at Bethany comes as the close of His final instruction after He opened their understanding that Christ must suffer and rise the third day. It follows His teaching and commission for them to testify to His death and resurrection, with promise of His return and of the Holy Spirit. It follows His command that repentance and remission of sins be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem, and His command to tarry in Jerusalem until endued with power from on high through the promise of the Father. Just before the blessing He commanded them to teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things He had commanded, with the promise to be with them always even to the end of the world. The blessing accompanied that commission to preach the gospel, beginning in Jerusalem before taking the message to other nations, even as glorious angels waited to escort Him on His upward way in leading captivity captive and giving gifts to men.
In this parting act He gave them seed-sowing work and a sacred trust to preach that must not be hindered or retarded. The charge to preach only that which Christ has commanded remains the special work, with nothing to divert from it.
The verse belongs to His parting commission and blessing whose promised power is given to believers now. The same power promised to the disciples is promised now to enable mighty preaching of the gospel that converted thousands in a day. Receiving it requires fulfilling the commission by warning fellow beings and working prayerfully for neighbors. It requires entering unworked cities to make them centers of truth, and bringing Bible truth before many to prepare a people to stand in the day of the Lord.
He led the eleven out from Jerusalem to the vicinity of Bethany on the Mount of Olives and there lifted His hands over them in blessing as His final earthly act, and while He was blessing them He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. The hands He lifted were the wounded hands pierced by the nails of the cross, and with shining face and deep love He spoke no reproach for their failures but assured them of His tender love and protecting care. In blessing those watching disciples He embraced the whole world and called down blessing on all who would follow Him. They worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, for this same Jesus who ascended to continue His work as Advocate and High Priest will return in like manner to Olivet as triumphant King. The blessing sealed His commission to preach repentance and remission of sins among all nations and to wait for power from on high, that the Holy Spirit would enable their witness to the ends of the earth.
Place and Moment of Ascension
He led them out as far as Bethany, to the vicinity of Bethany on the Mount of Olives, the place long associated with His prayers and teaching and suffering, which He chose as the place from which to ascend. He led the eleven out from Jerusalem through its gates, in sight of wondering onlookers who had seen Him condemned and crucified only a few weeks before, across the Kedron toward Gethsemane and across the summit toward Bethany. The disciples did not know this was their last time with Him.
He spent the walk in sacred converse, reiterating former instructions and continuing to give them sacred instruction. He paused at Gethsemane to recall the lessons of the night of His great agony, looking again on the vine He had used as a symbol of the union of His church with Himself and His Father and repeating those truths. All around were reminders of His unrequited love, and of how even these dear disciples had reproached and forsaken Him in His humiliation when He most needed their sympathy and comfort. The blessing came after He had spent forty days with them following His resurrection, teaching them and instructing them in preparation for His departure.
His lifting His hands and blessing them was His final earthly act toward them, the close of His time and earthly ministry with them. While He was blessing them He was parted from them and carried up into heaven, the blessing preceding and accompanying His ascension. His hands were still outstretched in blessing when He was taken from them. He ascended slowly heavenward by divine power, drawn heavenward by a power stronger than any earthly attraction.
The awe-struck disciples watched with straining eyes for the last glimpse of their ascending Lord. Until a cloud of glory and a cloud of angels received Him and hid Him from their sight. Sweet, joyous music from the angel choir reached their senses and floated down to them. The disciples heard the angels' song only briefly and did not hear the greeting He received in heaven.
Hands and Words of Blessing
The hands He lifted were the same hands bruised by the nails of the cross, the hands that had blessed the sick and afflicted and rebuked demons, now mercifully extended over the disciples. They were still wounded as He stretched them out in parting blessing. His face shone with heavenly brightness and smiled lovingly upon them as He looked on them with deep love. His countenance radiated beams of light, and beams of light seemed to come from His hands and fall upon the watching, waiting disciples.
He did not upbraid or reproach them for their faults and failures. His last words to them were words of unutterable tenderness, tender and loving. His blessing with outstretched hands assured them of His tender love and protecting care. In blessing those few disciples He embraced the whole world, calling down blessing on all followers of Christ. The watching disciples represented all His followers, so that blessing reaches to the end of time.
His visible departure was quiet, in keeping with the meekness and quietness of His life. The full glory of His ascent and heavenly welcome was veiled from mortal sight. He ascended in the same tangible human form in which they had known Him as Teacher and Friend, remembered as their sympathizing Friend and glorified Redeemer.
Comfort and Assurance Given
The blessing at Bethany is sanctification bestowed on them, God's power to live clean, wholesome lives, making them loving and gentle and kind and filling them with praise. Sanctification is not a once-for-all instant experience, but must keep being sought by faith.
The apostles were not yet ready to begin their work with this blessing alone, so He told them to wait until they received power from on high. That promised power was the Holy Spirit who would guide and bless them and lead them into all truth.
The verse belongs to a wonderful chapter showing that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to save the sinful race. The gift of salvation is for everyone who repents and is converted, made possible because the Saviour suffered the penalty of death. All who come to the Father through faith in Christ, laying hold of Him by faith and following His example, receive assurance of forgiveness of sins. Every soul can be sanctified through belief of the truth because of His sufferings.
They left the parting not mourning but full of joy. They worshipped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and rejoicing that He had wrought salvation. Their joy at His departure was because the same Saviour would return as He had ascended, and they would see Him again. His blessing marks the close of His earthly ministry with them and accompanies that joyful return. Their last sight of Him was a loving, glorious, human Friend with wounded hands mercifully extended over them as though embracing the whole world and calling down blessing on all His followers, with beams of light seeming to come from His hands and fall on the watching, waiting disciples.
His ascension to heaven, escorted by the heavenly throng in triumph, confirms that He is the living Saviour and Advocate in the heavenly courts. His promise is assurance of blessing to those who believe and are wholly consecrated to Him.
Return and Heavenly Ministry
The place itself looks forward, for the Mount of Olives near Bethany from which He blessed them and ascended is where His feet will stand again, not as a suffering man but as a triumphant king. He departed in the same tangible human form in which they had known Him, and His visible going was quiet and veiled from mortal sight, yet the disciples were assured that this same Jesus would return in like manner. That promise became their lasting hope and joy, for they rejoiced not in the parting itself but that the same Saviour would come again as He had ascended and they would see Him again.
Having blessed them He went to His Father's throne to continue the work of atonement as humanity's Advocate and Intercessor. There He is enthroned as a gracious High Priest and mighty Redeemer for all who call on Him in truth. His ascension was an honored triumph and honored return to His dominion, accompanied by the heavenly host and glorious angels waiting to escort Him on His upward way. In going up on high He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men.
The hands outstretched over them in blessing still bear the marks of the crucifixion, and those same hands will give crowns to the redeemed, so that their reward is a gift from their Redeemer. That very gesture of lifting His hands to bless will be imitated by Satan when he impersonates Christ at the end of time. By that counterfeit blessing he will deceive people into believing that Christ has returned.
Commission and Present Mission
The blessing at Bethany comes as the close of His final instruction after He opened their understanding that Christ must suffer and rise the third day. It follows His teaching and commission for them to testify to His death and resurrection, with promise of His return and of the Holy Spirit. It follows His command that repentance and remission of sins be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem, and His command to tarry in Jerusalem until endued with power from on high through the promise of the Father. Just before the blessing He commanded them to teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things He had commanded, with the promise to be with them always even to the end of the world. The blessing accompanied that commission to preach the gospel, beginning in Jerusalem before taking the message to other nations, even as glorious angels waited to escort Him on His upward way in leading captivity captive and giving gifts to men.
In this parting act He gave them seed-sowing work and a sacred trust to preach that must not be hindered or retarded. The charge to preach only that which Christ has commanded remains the special work, with nothing to divert from it.
The verse belongs to His parting commission and blessing whose promised power is given to believers now. The same power promised to the disciples is promised now to enable mighty preaching of the gospel that converted thousands in a day. Receiving it requires fulfilling the commission by warning fellow beings and working prayerfully for neighbors. It requires entering unworked cities to make them centers of truth, and bringing Bible truth before many to prepare a people to stand in the day of the Lord.