This week · Week 49 of 52
The Return of Christ
He who ascended will come again in the same way he went.
Built on Acts 1:6-11. The disciples watch Jesus taken up, and two angels promise that he will return in the same manner he left. The whole New Testament hope hangs on that promise.
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Day 1
This Same Jesus
Loading Acts 1:11…
The disciples are staring upward, and the angels redirect their attention with a question and a promise (Acts 1:11). The word this is doing real work. It is not a spirit, an idea, or a symbol that will return. It is this Jesus, the one they had just watched ascend bodily, who will come back in the same way.
The phrase in the same way rules out a purely spiritual or invisible return. He went up visibly, in a body, before witnesses. He will come the same way. That single sentence is the seed of the entire New Testament doctrine of the second coming.
- The one who is coming is the same Jesus the disciples knew.
- His return will be visible, not secret or symbolic only.
- Standing and staring is not the response the angels commend.
Lord Jesus, you went up before witnesses and you will come back the same way. Keep me from idle speculation and give me instead a heart ready for your return. Amen.