The angel's question to the "Men of Galilee" seems to imply that it was nonsensical for them to keep standing there, looking up, as if to expect something else to happen at that moment. Nothing was going to happen. And the angel also seemed to imply that they should realize what eventually would happen...Jesus would return just like He had departed. Now, go - get on with your lives until He does!
Do we get bogged down sometimes in our refusal to accept the changes that come in our lives? Sometimes it seems that we just can't take the next step because we're so unsure of what to do. We didn't expect to be standing here, surprised, staring into the clouds wondering what just happened...and we're frozen.
The disciples had to feel this way...what were they to do now? Things had not turned out the way they had anticipated and now they were left alone without the Leader that had changed their lives. So they were standing on the Mount of Olives, mouths wide open (that's the way I picture them!), staring into the clouds to see if they could still see just a glimpse of Jesus...no, He's really gone. This time, He's really, really, gone. And they froze.
But the angel assures them that all is well...Jesus will return. You can move away from this point, you don't have to stand here and wait for Him. He will come back just as He left. The disciples left, and got on mission! Boy did they get on mission...these "Men of Galilee", through the power of the Holy Spirit, changed the world with their testimony of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. A testimony that would have been lost had they not put on their sandals of the Gospel of peace and trekked back down the Mount of Olives, back into a dying world.
Instead of standing, frozen and useless, we can move away from the spots that we sometimes find ourselves glued to as well. We can know that no matter what has caught us off guard, the Spirit calls us to continue to live, to live on mission, proclaiming the testimony that God has given us to all who need to hear of God's transforming love and grace displayed through the life of Jesus, our Savior.
I just bet that the disciples always had one eye on the peak of the Mount of Olives, wondering if this would be the day that Jesus would return. I believe they lived their lives with such passion partly because they wanted to be found doing exactly what Jesus had told them to do before He left them. They did not want to be found off course on that day. We should live with that same passion...knowing that Jesus is coming back, and not wanting to be found living for any other purpose than His divine calling.
We, too, can change the world we live in, just as the disciples did. We may not have a book of the Bible named after us, but we can bring the Gospel to those who have never heard, or possibly heard, but never understood. We can live as Jesus taught us and show others a love that makes no sense.
Live for Him...until He comes!
Do we get bogged down sometimes in our refusal to accept the changes that come in our lives? Sometimes it seems that we just can't take the next step because we're so unsure of what to do. We didn't expect to be standing here, surprised, staring into the clouds wondering what just happened...and we're frozen.
The disciples had to feel this way...what were they to do now? Things had not turned out the way they had anticipated and now they were left alone without the Leader that had changed their lives. So they were standing on the Mount of Olives, mouths wide open (that's the way I picture them!), staring into the clouds to see if they could still see just a glimpse of Jesus...no, He's really gone. This time, He's really, really, gone. And they froze.
But the angel assures them that all is well...Jesus will return. You can move away from this point, you don't have to stand here and wait for Him. He will come back just as He left. The disciples left, and got on mission! Boy did they get on mission...these "Men of Galilee", through the power of the Holy Spirit, changed the world with their testimony of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. A testimony that would have been lost had they not put on their sandals of the Gospel of peace and trekked back down the Mount of Olives, back into a dying world.
Instead of standing, frozen and useless, we can move away from the spots that we sometimes find ourselves glued to as well. We can know that no matter what has caught us off guard, the Spirit calls us to continue to live, to live on mission, proclaiming the testimony that God has given us to all who need to hear of God's transforming love and grace displayed through the life of Jesus, our Savior. I just bet that the disciples always had one eye on the peak of the Mount of Olives, wondering if this would be the day that Jesus would return. I believe they lived their lives with such passion partly because they wanted to be found doing exactly what Jesus had told them to do before He left them. They did not want to be found off course on that day. We should live with that same passion...knowing that Jesus is coming back, and not wanting to be found living for any other purpose than His divine calling.
We, too, can change the world we live in, just as the disciples did. We may not have a book of the Bible named after us, but we can bring the Gospel to those who have never heard, or possibly heard, but never understood. We can live as Jesus taught us and show others a love that makes no sense.
Live for Him...until He comes!
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