Mark Bradford's Bible Blog

Jesus Taken Up Into Heaven

⁶So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

⁷He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

At their last meeting with Jesus in the flesh, his disciples again ask their favorite question; “Are you going to become the political Messiah we expected now?” Not unlike kids in the back seat of a car asking, “Are we there yet?” Remember what the disciples’ favorite topic of discussion was during Jesus’ ministry; which of them was the greatest. They were all concerned about what their position of power would be when Jesus ruled from David’s throne. These are the kinds of things people in the church are concerned about before they are filled with the Holy Spirit.

Jesus corrects them by basically saying, “I know you want power. You will receive power, but not the kind you’re expecting.” God is not interested in giving us power over others. He wants to give us power to be his witnesses. I’m sure the disciples thought their vision of a restored kingdom with Jesus on the throne and them as his administrators was very grand, but it only extended to Israel. They wanted and expected to see Israel restored to its glory days as in the time of King David. The power that God had in mind to give went much farther. His plan extended his kingdom to the ends of the earth. As I’ve said before, we may think our plans are big, but God’s plans are much bigger.

⁹After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

¹⁰They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ¹¹“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

After Jesus spoke his final words to his disciples, he was taken up into heaven. This was different than the way Elijah was taken up (2 Kings 2:1, 11), and it was also different than the way Jesus had been appearing to his disciples and disappearing over the last 40 days. Why did Jesus not simply vanish into his Father’s presence? Why this visual display of ascension? Because if Jesus had simply vanished, his disciples might have expected him to continue to appear to them. As he ascended, a cloud hid him from their sight. Was this a cloud of the Shekinah glory of God, or just a cloud? We don’t know, but we know from the testimony of the angels that Jesus will return in the same way that they saw him go. Jesus himself said that when he returns, “men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory (Mark 13:26).” The clouds at Jesus’ return will not be natural clouds, so it seems likely that this was not a natural cloud either.

It seems probable to me that the two men dressed in white are the same two angels who were at the resurrection (Luke 24:4). Angels attended Jesus in the wilderness after he was tempted (Matthew 4:4) and an angel strengthened Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:43). I can’t help but wonder if these two angels were charged with attending to Jesus in times of need throughout his ministry. They were witnesses to his resurrection, and now to his ascension. Their words to the disciples here are strikingly similar to their words at the empty tomb; “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” Here, it’s “why do you stand here looking into the sky?” Both activities were pointless. He wasn’t in the tomb, and he had been taken up out of their sight. At the tomb, the angels reminded them of what Jesus had told them about his death and resurrection. Now they remind them of Jesus’ promise to return. Instead of doing what Jesus told them to do (wait in Jerusalem and pray for the Holy Spirit), they were staring up into the sky. Aren’t we guilty of the same thing? We too are charged with being his witnesses. Christians of the 21st Century, why do we spend our time on things that are as pointless as looking for the living among the dead, or staring up into the sky? This same Jesus will return in the same way his disciples saw him go, so we must be about his business, doing the things he commanded us to do.

Mark Bible Acts, angels, ascension, Jesus

The Shepherds and the Angels

⁸And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ^[a] the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

I’ve heard that some biblical scholars think that the shepherds were working for the Temple, watching over sheep that were intended for sacrifice. If that’s true, they were guarding over sacrificial lambs that would soon no longer be needed. The baby that they would soon see would be the sacrificial lamb for all of us.

Shepherds were not well regarded in that society. They were thought of as untrustworthy drunkards, and could not testify in court. So why did the angel appear to shepherds, rather than some more trustworthy and respected type of people, like priests? Because Jesus came for the outcasts, the undesirables, those with no social status.

I’ve been trying to read these passages, which I’ve read so many times before, with a new eye. I’m discovering that the traditional images we have of these events bears little resemblance to what the Bible actually says. For instance, the mental image I’ve always had of the angels and shepherds is that the angels were in the sky, with the shepherds below. But Luke doesn’t say that. Verse 9 just says an angel appeared to them. An angel appeared to Zechariah, and also to Mary, but not in the sky, so why would this angel be in the sky? When angels appear in the Bible, more often than not, they appear as men, standing on the ground.

O course, the angel has to start by saying, “don’t be afraid”, as usual. Then he says he brings good news of great joy. This is not just a turn of phrase. The angel is literally bringing the gospel, the good news. This good news will bring great joy to all the people. Keep in mind who the angel was talking to. These outcasts probably did not have a lot of “great joy” in their life. They worked a monotonous job, and weren’t well thought of by others. The angel’s good news wasn’t just for the privileged, the educated, or even the righteous, but for everyone, including them. Including you.

What is this good news? A Savior has been born, Christ the Lord. Israel had been looking and waiting for a Savior for centuries. That Savior had been born, and he is Christ, the Lord. Christ means “anointed one”, and it’s basically the Greek word for Messiah. “The Lord” is one of the Old Testament terms for God, of course. The angel is saying that not only has a Savior been born, but he is the Messiah, and he is God.

After the amazing statement in verse 11, the next statement in verse 12 must have made little sense to the shepherds at first. He’s the Saviour, the Messiah, he’s God, and he’s lying where??? Everyone knew the Messiah would be descended from David, so everyone assumed he would be born of royalty. I’m sure the shepherds expected to be told to go to the house of some wealthy, politically connected family. But instead, they had to go and search for a baby lying in a feed trough. God is making an amazing statement to these downtrodden peasants by doing it this way. The angels appeared to representatives of the Temple, but not to the priests or Levites. And Jesus was born to a descendant of David, but not to a ruler. By being born to a poor peasant family with no political power, and by announcing his birth to the lowest caste of those who worked for the old Temple and its system of sacrifices for sin, God was making clear that this was indeed good news of great joy for all people.

¹³Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

The term “heavenly host” is also translated “armies of Heaven”. This was not an just an angelic choir, it was an army. The Levite singers used to march in front of the armies of Israel singing “His Love Endures Forever” as they went into battle, and God granted them victory when they did (2 Chronicles 20:21-22). Here the armies of Heaven burst into song over the victory that God would win over sin, death, and hell with the birth of the Savior.

I have a little trouble with this translation of verse 14, though I don’t doubt its accuracy. If the good news of great joy is really for all people, then why is peace on earth only for those whom God favors? I prefer the King James version of this verse, “Peace on earth, good will toward men”.

¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

How many doors did the shepherds knock on in search of this baby before they even started searching the caves in the area? They must have finally come to the inn that had refused them. Maybe the innkeeper pointed the shepherds in the right direction. There was no star for the shepherds to follow. Again the imagery of the Nativity scene can get in the way of understanding what really happened. We think of Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus, the shepherds and wise men, angels and barnyard animals, all there at the same time, with the Star of Bethlehem overhead. And of course, they all have haloes. But that’s not how it happened. The angels didn’t go with the shepherds to the manger. The shepherds didn’t leave the field till the angels had gone back into heaven, as it says in verse 15. What they found was a newborn baby in a cave. Not very glorious, when compared to the heavenly host they had just seen in the field. We enjoy the glorious celebrations in song at this time of year, but where we find Jesus is in the nitty gritty of life.

After they had seen the Christ child, the shepherds spread the word of what they had seen and heard, and everyone was amazed at their story. Given the shepherds reputation, I’m sure more than a few were incredulous, and attributed their story to too much wine. The contrast between the shepherds’ response to these events and Mary’s is interesting. Mary didn’t go around telling everyone what she had heard and seen, She “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart”. All through these first two chapters of Luke, I’m trying to keep in mind that all of this probably comes from Mary. The shepherds obviously told Mary and Joseph about the angels, and Mary included that in her interviews with Luke. Who would have known about Mary pondering these things in her heart but Mary herself?

After all these incredible experiences, the shepherds returned to their work, but with a new attitude. Now they had an attitude of glorifying and praising God because of their encounter with Jesus. When we meet Jesus, the drudgery of our everyday work is transformed into service for God. Now we do what we do as unto the Lord, all because we came into contact with the Savior, Christ, the Lord.

Mark Bible angels, Bible, birth of Jesus, Luke, shepherds

⁵For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son;
today I have become your Father^[a]“^[b]? Or again,
“I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son”^[c]? ⁶And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let all God’s angels worship him.”^[d]

The writer of Hebrews, after setting up his opening argument, then sets out to prove through the scriptures that Jesus is superior to the angels. God calls the Messiah his Son in the first reference, something he never did with any of the angels. Then in verse 6, he points out that God commanded the angels to worship his Son. The implication is clear. If God wants the angels to worship his Son, he must want us to worship him also.

⁷In speaking of the angels he says,
“He makes his angels winds,
his servants flames of fire.”^{[e] 8}But about the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever,
and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.
⁹You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy.”^[f]

Here he makes a striking contrast. He calls the angels servants, whereas he calls the Son God himself, and the Son is anointed like a king to take his throne and rule. In modern America, we live in a classless society, so this contrast between royalty and servants is somewhat abstract for us. But for a people accustomed to monarchy as a form of government, there was a clear demarcation between the upper class and everyone else. There was no middle class in those days. That didn’t start until the Renaissance. For commoners hearing this letter read to them (because most of them couldn’t read), it would have hit home that the angels were servants bound to their master, like many of them.

¹⁰He also says,
“In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
¹¹They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
¹²You will roll them up like a robe;
like a garment they will be changed.
But you remain the same,
and your years will never end.”^[g]

I am afraid the writer is quoting this passage out of context. He is supposed to be quoting God speaking to his Son, but the scripture reference he uses here is from Psalm 102:25-27, and God is not speaking at that point in the Psalm. But his point is nonetheless true. Jesus is eternal, coexistent with God the Father. The fact that Jesus is called the Son may confuse some into thinking that Jesus came after God the Father, the way a human child comes after their parents. Jesus’ human body came later, but his person is eternal, no beginning and no end.

¹³To which of the angels did God ever say,
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet”^[h]? ¹⁴Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

Here he makes the king vs servant comparison again, but with a twist. He points out that not only are the angels servants of God, but they are sent to serve us. We are those who will inherit salvation. I believe that angels are often dispatched by God to help and protect us. I have felt their presence, and it feels different than the Holy Spirit. If you’ve ever been in a dangerous situation, but felt a supernatural calm and sense of protection in the midst of it, you know what I mean. It’s easy to see how people could mistake that sort of spiritual presence for one that should be worshiped. But for all their power, they are servants of one who is far greater.

Mark Bible angels, Bible, Hebrews

The Son Superior to Angels

¹In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, ²but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. ³The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. ⁴So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

I’ve decided to go through the letter to the Hebrews next, for no particular reason. Since I started this Bible blog on my website, I’ve gone through Joshua, the Psalms, Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah in the Old Testament, and John’s gospel in the New Testament. I haven’t gone through any of the epistles in the New Testament yet. I thought about Paul’s or Peter’s letters, but in the end, decided on Hebrews. Maybe it’s because nobody knows who wrote it, so I’m not dealing with any biases I have toward Peter or Paul. Or maybe I’m just looking forward to chapter 11, the great “faith chapter”.

There is much disagreement about who wrote Hebrews. It’s very unlikely to be Paul or Peter, since the style of writing is so different from theirs. My English Bible professor in college believed it was written by Apollos. The writer seems to imply that he was a disciple of the apostles (2:3), which Apollos was, and Acts 18:24 says that Apollos was eloquent and had a strong command of the Old Testament, and Hebrews quotes from the Old Testament quite a lot.

A dangerous heresy had sprung up in the New Testament church, the worship of angels. Some were even saying that Jesus himself was an angel. Hebrews begins with a strong refutation of this heresy. I’d like to take this dense passage verse by verse.

¹In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, ²but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.

OK, sentence by sentence. Who divided these verses anyway? Probably the same monk that did such a bad job in Nehemiah! The writer begins by identifying Jesus as God’s Son and heir. This makes him equal with God, which angels are not. Angels are created beings, and God is their creator. If Jesus is God’s Son and heir, he is obviously superior to the angels. He specifically states that God created the universe through his Son, which makes Jesus as much the creator as God the Father. If he is the creator and the angels are created like we are, we should not worship angels, but the God who created them and us.

³The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

This is dense stuff. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory . Even Moses was unable to look directly upon God’s glory. It’s only through Jesus that we’re able to see God’s glory shining through. And he’s the exact representation of his being. Barclay says that Jesus came to show us what God is really like. If we want to know who and what God is, look at Jesus. And he sustains all things by his powerful word. I believe this is the same use of “word” as in John chapter 1. I don’t know for sure if this was the Greek word Logos, but since Hebrews was written in Greek, it seems likely. John spoke about the Word as an active, creative, unstoppable force.

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was with God in the beginning.  ³Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (John 1:1-3)

This is the same concept as the writer of Hebrews is using. Perhaps he learned this concept from John himself.

^3bAfter he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. ⁴So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

He provided purification for sins. No angel could do that. Then he sat down at God’s right hand, while the angels bow down and worship him for all eternity. This is just the preamble to his argument! We’ll get into the rest of it tomorrow, but this is quite an opening passage. This chapter has practical applications today. There is, even now, a New Age practice of worshiping angels. Maybe you’ve seen bumper stickers to that effect. The problem is, no true angel would accept our worship. They worship the One True God, as should we. The only “angels” who would accept our worship are fallen angels, or demons. Those who claim to be guided by angels are deceived. There is only one place they will guide us to, and it’s not anywhere we would want to go.

Mark Bible angels, Bible, Hebrews