Bible Study series: Luke 24:50-53. Now God’s vindication of his Son is complete. It must have been mind blowing to see.
Friendly greetings and a warm welcome to this Bible study! I write to learn, so let’s learn together how to apply these truths to our lives.
I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click here:
In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Luke 24:50-53
50 Then he led them as far as Bethany and, lifting his hands, he blessed them. 51 And while he was blessing them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.
52 After they worshiped him, they turned back to Jerusalem in great joy. 53 They were continually in the temple, blessing God. (Luke 24:50-53)
Comments:
50:
He led them out of Jerusalem. We must realize that Jesus did not float one foot (third of a meter) off the ground. He actually walked to the nearby town of Bethany, about 2 miles (1.2 km) from Jerusalem.
Bethany is where Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived. He was raised from the dead. No doubt they were in the crowd (John 11:11, 18; 12:1). How long does it take to walk two miles up and down inclines and crests? His feet were getting dusty.
“he blessed them”: We don’t know what he said, but since Luke 24 is full of references to the Old Testament, he probably gave them the Aaronic blessing, here:
24 The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. (Num. 6:24-26, ESV)
I really like the image of Jesus raising his hands to bless them. Today, would pastors and platform speakers be embarrassed to raise their hands to bless their congregations?
51:
The sequencing of the verbs is wonderful. He was still blessing them while he was carried up. In v. 31, Jesus vanished from the two men’s sight. In v. 36 Jesus suddenly appeared in a room. He could come and go as the Father willed. Similarly, he could have just “popped” out of their sight or vanished. However, Father God wanted to convey this message: heaven where he dwells is above the atmosphere and stars and is another dimension entirely.
Let’s explore this a little more.
Paul wrote that he was in the third heaven or paradise (2 Cor. 12:2-3). To have a third heaven, you must have two others. In this case, the other two are below the third heaven. The first heaven is the atmosphere, including the stars and sun and moon (the ancients didn’t know about the far reaches of space). The second heaven is also spiritual, where Satan and demons operate. Alternatively, some teach that the second heaven is above the earth’s atmosphere and into space, and Satan and demons operate there. However, if that’s true, then the demonic hordes must work and move in a spiritual dimension that is not bound by the laws of nature. (I prefer the belief that second heaven is spiritual and below the third heaven or paradise.) The imagery was important to teach the disciples the hierarchy. Let’s find out why the hierarchy of three heaven is important. In other words, what is the theological significance of his ascension? Let’s allow the epistles to interpret its significance.
First, God exalted him to the highest place in heaven and on earth:
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2:9-11, NIV)
Second, many scholars believe the above verses were taken from an ancient Christian hymn.
Third, and the same goes for the next verse. It was part of an ancient hymn. He was taken into glory:
He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory. (1 Tim. 3:16, NIV)
Fourth, his ascension secures our heavenly position.
While we live on earth, we are in the heavenly realm by faith and in part, not in fulness, as we will be when we are resurrected: “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6, NIV). As written, that promise and truth is remarkable. Let’s accept it into our minds and hearts right now.
Fifth, the next verse (Col. 3:1) goes with that one, above. It means we set our hearts on things above. One very important practice in the Christian life is renewing our minds. “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Col. 3:1, NIV).
Those two verses are remarkable (Eph. 2:6 and Col. 3:1). We are raised up with Christ, and now we set our hearts on him. We do not fight from a weakened position or point of view. We fight from his position in the heavenly realm. Confess and meditate on him and our heavenly position.
Sixth, it grants us our citizenship is in heaven right now. “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20, NIV).
That verse does not say our citizenship will one day be in heaven in the future. Rather the present tense “is” indicates our citizenship is there now. Our place in heaven is secure, thanks to Christ’s ascension.
Seventh, his ascension means our bodies will be like his glorious body. “Who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Phil. 3:21, NIV)
The verse in this point and the previous one (Phil. 3:20-21) teach us that Christ has power to bring everything under his control—a process that is happening gradually and sometimes imperceptibly right now. That power will transform our bodies, but that transformation won’t be gradual, but will happen in the twinkling of an eye (1 Cor. 15:52).
Eighth, Jesus entered the heavenly tabernacle, where he makes intercession for us (Heb. 7:25):
11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come,[e] then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. … 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. (Heb. 9:11-12, 24, ESV)
Verse 24 says he is up there on our behalf or for our benefit. Some Bible interpreters say that he sprinkled his blood on the altar in the tabernacle, to effect, once and for all, the sacrifice he did on the cross.
The significance is now clear. We too have access to where God and Christ Jesus dwell. We are to fix our attention and our minds there; we are spiritually seated there, as well.
Do I Really Know Jesus? He Ascended into Heaven
Do I Really Know Jesus? His Ascension Means Everything
52:
“worshipped”: It is the verb proskuneō (pronounced pros-koo-neh-oh). kun– means to “fall” or “kneel,” and pros means “towards,” among other things). Further, it can mean, depending on the context, “(fall down and) worship, do obeisance to, prostrate oneself before, do reverence to, welcome respectfully.” The Bible shows that people do those things to humans (Matt. 18:26; Acts 10:25; Rev. 3:9); to God (Matt. 4:10; John 4:20, 23; 12:20; Acts 24:11; 1 Cor. 14:25; Heb. 11:21; Rev. 4:10; 14:7; 19:4); to idols (Acts. 7:43); to the devil and Satanic beings (Matt. 4:9; Luke 4:7; Rev. 9:20; 13:4; 14:9, 11); to Christ (Matt. 2:2, 8, 11; 8:2; 9:18: 14:33; 20:20; 15:25; 28:9, 17; Mark 5:6; 15:19; Luke 24:52).
Welcoming people respectfully is appropriate. However, the only appropriate beings to whom worships belongs and is due are God and Christ, not humans or devils or idols.
Bible Basics about Praise and Worship
Their worshipping him means that they finally came to believe that he was not an anonymous ghost who appeared to them. They believed that he was the risen Jesus. No one else on the planet can claim to have seen Jesus rise to the heavens as these original disciples did. People today don’t get the privilege to witness the theological and eternal truths of his ascension. Renewalists may be invited to heaven to speak with an angel and even the Lord, but this is not the ascension. They may even have a visitation from the Lord, but when he disappears, this is still not the ascension. The ascension of Jesus in the previous verse deserves our worshipping him. His ascension means a whole “new ballgame.” The world has shifted and a new Jesus-centered age has dawned, and it is proceeding apace. The gospel, after two thousand years, is going around the globe and transforming lives.
53:
Their living near and preaching in the temple continually is show in Acts for the first eight chapters in Acts, and even beyond. This is the focal point of the proclamation of the gospel. However, the earliest disciples may have been too comfortable there. They were supposed to go into Judea and Samaria and beyond. Only persecution moved them out, as far as we know (Acts 8:1). Yes, they probably were ministering in the area surrounding Jerusalem, in Judea, like Bethany, but they were not going outwards as soon as and as far as they should have.
But let’s not end on a criticism. Luke wants us to see that the disciples were blessing God in the temple. They are reaching people daily. Thousands will convert to the new Jesus Movement.
GrowApp for Luke 24:50-53
1 Thousands converted to the Jesus Movement two thousand years ago. What about your conversion story?
2. Write down one significant element of the ascension.
RELATED
11. Eyewitness Testimony in Luke’s Gospel
3. Church Fathers and Luke’s Gospel
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND MORE
To see the bibliography, please click on this link and scroll down to the bottom. You will also find a “Summary and Conclusion” for discipleship.
