After 40 days, Jesus ascended to heaven. The disciples continued to look for Him in the clouds, until the angel told them He wasn’t coming back. This daily devotional discusses where we should fix our gaze as we wait for Jesus to return.
"And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven" (Ac. 1: 10-11 ESV)
I have always liked these verses. The disciples must have been going through a whirlwind of emotions.
No, they didn’t understand — really understand — what was happening. The past month and a half had been … shall we say, chaotic?
When Jesus rose from the grave, the disciples were probably thinking things were sorta going to go back to normal. Don’t we crave normalcy?
The Eleven were probably thinking they would take road trips again. People would be healed. They would keep doing what they had been doing.
But then Jesus was gone again. We don’t know if He said, “Well, today is the day I go back to Dad.” He probably had been talking about it.
Jesus did prepare the disciples for His death. He predicted His death in Mark 8: 31, Mark 9: 31, and Mark 10: 33-34.
Jesus said in John 14: 3 that He was going away and coming back, but He said they would be with Him always. Wouldn’t He have dropped into the conversation that He was going to be heading out in a little bit, but they weren’t going with Him yet?
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Maybe Jesus told them He was going back to His Father, but didn’t tell them when. Maybe this was another “only the Father knows” situation (Mk. 13: 32). He may have told them all He knew at the present time.
Maybe Jesus did say that the disciples would be joining Him later. They had assignments to finish first.
Or maybe the disciples just didn’t understand. Things had been happening that they hadn’t experienced before — again — still. They were probably just having trouble processing.
Jesus would know, whatever He said, that this was going to blindside them. Being blindsided is not fun. I remember when Mom told me she had cancer. I was home alone one afternoon. The not-yet-ex was out and about. It was pre-Adam. We had given the cat away because the not-yet-ex was allergic to her and hadn’t gotten the dogs yet. So it was totally just me.
Mom calls and says, “Hi. I’ve got cancer. I start radiation soon. I am going to beat this. Is there anything you want to tell me before we hang up?” Yes, that may not have been word for word, but it is pretty darn close.
I’m going, “Oh, can we slow this puppy down? Can we back up and take another run at this? I am having a little trouble processing.”
Don’t we do that? We get blindsided, and we just freeze. Everything comes to a complete standstill, and we just go, “Huh?”
So, Jesus was gone, and as much as He had prepared them, the disciples froze and were still looking up.
Aren’t We Supposed Look Up?
Part of me says, but aren’t we supposed to look up? Aren’t we supposed to seek God? Aren’t we supposed to keep our eyes fixed on Him?
Well, yes and no.
Hebrews 12: 2 says, “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith …” (ESV). Jesus was up in heaven now, so that is where our eyes are to be fixed.
Proverbs 4: 25-27, on the other hand, says, “Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil” (NIV).
So, we’re supposed to look at Jesus in heaven and on the road before us. What? Are we supposed to be cross-eyed?
Well, yes. We are supposed to be cross eyed while we live our lives. We need to keep our focus on Him while we journey through our lives.
We are supposed to seek to know God and Who He is. We are supposed to seek His Will for our lives.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
Get Moving
Just like we have to sometimes stop praying and move, we have to stop seeking and move. True, we are to pray without ceasing (I Thess. 5: 17). But that doesn’t stop us from moving.
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And move we must. Matthew 28: 19-20 says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (ESV). A pastor once said that the beginning verb is the present tense: as you are going.
Here on earth, God doesn’t call us to just sit here and worship Him. He doesn’t call us to sit here and let people come to us.
God calls us to work to expand His kingdom. We have to tell others what He has done for us. We have to seek them out.
What better way to show God we love Him than to live out our lives through faith? What better way to show His love for us and His great power than to extend that love to others?
But that is hard. Satan is going to try to derail our trains. He is going to throw so many obstacles into our paths.
We have to watch the paths before us so we can avoid the temptations. We have to remain strong in our faith. The best way to do that is keeping our eyes fixed on the giver of life.
So, yes, we have to be cross-eyed.
This Isn’t the End
Jesus is coming back. “They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen him going into heaven’” (Ac. 1: 11 CSB). I wonder what the disciples felt when they heard these words.
I mean, Jesus was there. Then He was gone. Then He was back. Now He was gone again. They were probably getting whiplash looking for Him.
Little did they know at that point that Christ lives in us. “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2: 20 ESV). Believers journey through life with Christ inside of them.
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That understanding was coming for the disciples. They figured things out after they were given the Holy Spirit. They went on to complete their work for Him.
The disciples — and us — were given the reassurance that Jesus is coming again. “Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Mt. 24: 30 ESV). Although we don’t know the exact day and time (so, all these predictions are wrong), we will have signs that He is coming.
How Do We Apply This?
What do we do until then? We multitask. We keep seeking, and we move. We learn more about Him, and we tell others. We keep praying, and we pray while we are going.
How do we do that?
- We read our Bible, and we live it out.
- We grow our faith, and we put it into practice.
- We grow to love Him more every day, and we love others.
- We spend time in prayer with Him, and we pray in the moment.
The screenplay for the ending of this heaven and earth has already been written. We are just waiting on the movie. Our jobs are to encourage people to look forward with us. Whether we are looking up, out, or in, we need to be focusing on God.
Loving Heavenly Father. You loved us so much that You sent Your only Son to die for us so that we would not experience spiritual deaths (Jn. 3: 16). You love us so much that Jesus is coming back again (Ac. 1: 11). He is preparing our places to be with You eternally (Jn. 14: 3). Help us as we go about the lives that You have given us. Help us to seek You and grow in our faith. Help us to sidestep the temptations that Satan will place in our paths. Lord, we look forward to the day that Jesus will return on the clouds. Until then, we will look up, and in, and out. Amen.
What do you think?
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