Acts 1:7-11
And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 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.
EDWARD PAYSON (1783-1827): There are four events in the life of our Saviour, which are peculiarly interesting to all His real disciples. They are His birth, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension to heaven.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): We could not afford to dispense with any one of these four events, nor would it be profitable for us to forget, or to underestimate the value of any one of them. That the Son of God was born of a woman creates in us the intense delight of a brotherhood springing out of a common humanity. That Jesus once suffered to the death for our sins and, thereby, made a full atonement for us, is the rest and life of our spirits. The manger and the cross, together, are Divine seals of love. That the Lord Jesus rose again from the dead is the warrant of our justification and also a delightful assurance of the resurrection of all His people and their eternal life in Him. Has He not said, “Because I live, you shall live also”? The resurrection of Christ is the morningstar of our future glory! Equally delightful is the remembrance of His ascension.
EDWARD PAYSON: It is to this last event that our attention is now called. View it as it appeared to His disciples, and look at it through their eyes. Lifting up His hands, He pronounces upon them a blessing, and while He pronounces it, they see Him rise from the earth, self-moved, self-supported, and begin to ascend. Reclining as on the bosom of the air, He rises higher and higher, with a gentle, gradual motion, His countenance beaming compassion and love, still fixed on His disciples, and His hands extended still scattering blessings on them. Now He mounts to the middle region of the air; now He reaches the clouds, and still they see Him. But there a cloudy vehicle receives Him, conceals Him from their eyes, and rises with Him. “And a cloud received Him out of their sight.”
CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): It was thus they surveyed the ascension of their Lord.
ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): The cloud which received Him while yet He was within sight of the gazers was probably that same bright cloud, the symbol of the Divine Presence, which of old dwelt between the cherubim.
MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): This, though a true cloud, yet was a more than ordinarily glorious one, suitable to the majesty of Him that used it.
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): This cloud received him, it is probable, when He had gone about as far from the earth as the clouds generally are; yet it was not such a spreading cloud as we commonly see, but such as just served to enclose Him. Now He “made the clouds His chariot,” Psalm 104:3.
EDWARD PAYSON: But though their eyes could follow him no farther, we need not stop here. Borrowing the glass of revelation we may see Him still ascending, reaching, and entering the wide, unfolded gates of heaven, sitting down at the right hand of the throne of God, far above all principalities and powers and might and dominion, and every name which is named, not only in this world, but in the world to come; and there receiving the sceptre of universal empire, and exercising all power in heaven and on earth.
C. H. SPURGEON: We have here a picture of our Lord’s glorious ascent. We see Him rising from amidst the little group upon Olivet, and as the cloud receives Him, angels reverently escort Him to the gates of heaven. “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle,” Psalm 24:7,8.
THE EDITOR: Daniel’s prophecy reveals a clear view of Christ’s entrance into heaven: “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed,” Daniel 7:13,14. And notice here that it is clouds—plural.
HENRY HAMMOND (1605-1660): The “clouds” receiving Him were the angels receiving Him.
ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): Both the Greeks and Latins frequently use the term cloud, to express a great number of persons or things.
THE EDITOR: Paul also described the Old Testament saints as “a great cloud of witnesses,” who, saved by faith like the New Testament saints, were not complete without us, Hebrews 11:40, 12:1. It was a “cloud” that received Him—singular. Now, united together, those clouds of angels and glorified saints were waiting for Jesus as one great glorious cloud, including even those “many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many,” Matthew 27:52,53.
C. H. SPURGEON: The fifth link in the golden chain is our Lord’s Second and most glorious Advent.
EDWARD PAYSON: “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.” Still more explicit, if possible, is the language of our Saviour Himself. “The Son of man,” says He, “shall come in His glory, and all the Holy angels with him; then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory; and before Him shall be gathered all nations,” Matthew 25:31.
C. H. MACKINTOSH (1820-1896): He is seen coming “in the clouds of heaven.”
THE EDITOR: The “day of clouds” prophesied in Joel 2:2 and Zephaniah 1:15 are not weather reports. They are great clouds of heavenly witnesses. “And the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee,” Zechariah 14:5. “Ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven,” Jesus said, “then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory,” Matthew 14:62; 24:30. Think of Enoch’s prophecy: “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all,” Jude 1:14,15. See it also pre-figured in Deuteronomy 33:2 and Judges 4:14.
JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): By saints, Jude means the faithful as well as angels; for both will adorn the tribunal of Christ, when He shall descend to judge the world.
EBENEZER J. THOMAS (1839-1923): As a cloud received the Lord, so we shall be caught up in the clouds to meet Him. “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air,” 1 Thessalonians 4:17.
THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen,” Revelation 1:7. The last clause, “Even so, Amen,” may be thus interpreted, “Yea, Lord, be it so; Come, Lord Jesus, in the clouds of heaven.”
