And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.
And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.
Sweet intimation! The Incarnate, Crucified, Risen One, now on the wing for heaven-waiting only for those odorous gales which were to waft Him to the skies-goes away in benedictions, only to continue them, in yet higher style, as the Glorified and Enthroned One, until He come again. And O, if angels were so transported at His birth into this scene of tears and death, what must have been their ecstasy as they welcomed and attended Him up "far above all heavens" into the presence chamber, and conducted Him to the right hand, of the Majesty on High! Thou hast an everlasting right, O my Saviour, to that august place. The Brightness of the Father's glory, enshrined in our nature, hath won it well, because He poured out His soul unto death. Therefore bath He ascended on high, and led captivity captive, receiving gifts for men, yea for the rebellious, that the Lord God might dwell among them. 'Thou art the King of glory, O Christ.' Lift up your heads, O ye gates, be lifted up, ye everlasting doors, that the King of glory may come in! Even so wilt thou change these vile bodies of ours, that they may be like unto Thine own glorious body; and then, with gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought, they shall enter into the King's palace! For fuller particulars of the Ascension, by the same Evangelist, see the notes at Acts 1:9-11.
And they worshipped him - beyond all doubt, in the sense of supreme worship. In the whole Gospel of Luke, remarks Stier, we have this word to 'worship' х proskunein (G4352)] but in one other place - Luke 4:7-8 where it is used of the honour due to God alone; and in the Acts only in the following passages, all in the same sense: Luke 7:43; Luke 8:27; Luke 24:11; Luke 10:25-26. In this last passage, though Cornelius meant only subordinate worship, Peter rejected it-as only a man. And what was the worship of His bright escort on His way upwards, and of His reception above? (Psalms 68:18-19).
And returned to Jerusalem - as instructed to do; but not until, after gazing as if entranced up into the blue vault in which He had disappeared, they were gently checked by two shining ones, who assured them He would come again to them in the like manner as He had gone into heaven. (See the notes at Acts 1:10-11.) This made them return, not with disappointment at His removal, but "with great joy."