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The ascension of Christ:
v. 9. And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
v. 10. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
v. 11. which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.
Jesus had finished the words of His last commission to His disciples; He had entrusted to them the preaching of the Gospel to all nations, Mat_28:19. But while they were still looking at Him in anxious expectation, desiring to hear more of the words of comfort and strength out of His mouth, He was lifted up before them. He was in the act of blessing them with uplifted hands when He was taken from them. That is the picture of Christ which should be most dear to the memory of a Christian, with His hands stretched out in blessing over them. And a cloud, the symbol of divine glory, a truly regal chariot, shut the Master from the view of the disciples as He entered its bosom. There was no deception, no optical illusion; the ascension of Jesus is a historical fact which cannot be doubted. The Lord went up with a shout, with the sound of a trumpet, Psa_47:5. He has ascended up on high and led captivity captive, Psa_68:18. He has spoiled principalities and powers, He has made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it, Col_2:15. He has ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things, Eph_4:10 By His exaltation and ascension the Son of Man, also according to His human body, has entered into the full and unlimited use of His divine omnipresence. His gracious presence is therefore assured to His congregation on earth. He is now nearer to His believers than He was to His disciples in the days of His flesh. He is now sitting at the right hand of His heavenly Father. As our Brother He has assumed the full use of the divine power and majesty. He reigns with omnipotence over all things, but especially also over His Church. God has put all things under His feet, and has given Him to be the Head over all things to the Church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all, Eph_1:22-23. By His Word and Sacrament He gathers unto Himself a congregation and Church upon earth. He works in and with His servants; He governs in the midst of His enemies. He preserves and protects His Church against all the enmity of the hostile world and against the very portals of hell. And His intercession before His heavenly Father makes our salvation a certainty, Rom_8:34. While the disciples were still looking after their Lord with longing gaze, there suddenly appeared two men in white garments, in shining vestments, two angels that had just acted as escorts to the victorious Lord. These angels aroused the disciples from the revelry into which they had sunk when gazing after their Lord. Addressing the apostles as men of Galilee, the heavenly messengers told them that the time spent in longingly wishing for the visible presence or return of Christ was wasted. And they gave them and all the believers a joyful assurance. This same Jesus, who was here taken up into heaven, apparently taken away from them, will come back again in the very same way in which they watched Him disappear from sight. Jesus will return visibly and bodily. With the same body, clothed in the same human nature, He will descend from heaven to judge the quick and the dead. That is the hope of all believers, that they will see Jesus with their own eyes. And in the mean time they live under His merciful reign and government, safe and secure, knowing that He is with them to the end of the world. This hope and certainty makes the believers willing to work for the Lord and to do the works of their calling on earth in His name and to His glory. The time is short, and His return is both sure and imminent, Joh_9:4.