Episode Transcript
[00:00:24] Speaker A: Hello, I'm Josh.
[00:00:25] Speaker B: And I'm Gabriel.
[00:00:26] Speaker A: And today on reading the Gospel, we are studying the event, the ascension. This is found in Mark, chapter 16, verse 19 and 20, and also in Luke chapter 24, verses 50 through 53. Follow along with us as we read in Luke chapter 24, beginning in verse 50.
[00:00:50] Speaker B: And Jesus led them out as far as Bethany.
And lifting up his hands, he placed blessed them.
While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.
[00:01:04] Speaker A: And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple blessing God.
We're almost to the end of this project that we're doing studying the Gospels and we come to this amazing event.
Jesus is now heading up in the clouds, going to heaven to sit at the right hand of God, as Luke says.
And as he goes, he blesses the disciples.
Now, we've seen the disciples in the past when Jesus is not around. What is their mood?
[00:01:47] Speaker B: It's fear.
They are distressed, they have questions. Doubt is the key word that is being repeated in many stories.
[00:01:57] Speaker A: And so now what happens when Jesus leaves them?
[00:02:01] Speaker B: They are filled with joy.
And not only joy. They went to the temple to bless God daily.
And I see they were kind of sucked up into this cycle of blessing.
Jesus Christ went to heaven blessing them, and they went to the temple blessing God.
[00:02:21] Speaker A: So the temple, I thought they were in Galilee.
[00:02:24] Speaker B: The great commission, the previous episode happened in Galilee, but before Jesus resurrection that Sunday and Jesus ascension, there were about 40 days.
So they have time to travel back and forth. It seems that they stay for a while in Galilee, but they came back to Jerusalem because Jesus Christ was supposed to go back to his Father from the Jerusalem area.
[00:02:50] Speaker A: Yeah, we can't study this event without looking into the book of Acts, because In Acts chapter 1, verse 11, the Bible says in the very manner that you have seen him go, this same Jesus will come again. So as the disciples stood and saw him leave the earth, go up in the clouds and disappear, Jesus is coming again.
And I'm sure they were filled with excitement and joy. And you know, it says joy. Not joy, great joy.
They're going through and sharing this good news.
And I wonder how many times they woke up and looked out the window. Is he coming today? Is he coming today?
And we have this same joy and that Jesus is going to come again as he came the first time, as he died on the cross, as he lived on this earth, as the. As sure as the events of the past are real. There will be a day when we will look up into heaven and we will see Jesus coming again.
[00:03:54] Speaker B: Beautiful.
[00:03:55] Speaker A: What can we learn from this event?
[00:04:01] Speaker B: One small detail that made me think is why Jesus Christ went as far as Bethany, outside of Jerusalem.
Was that to be in a familiar place? That was Jesus headquarters for the week leading to crucifixion.
Was that to honor the faith of Mary and Martha and Lazarus?
Was that to be close to one of the greatest miracles, resurrection of Lazarus that coalesced not only the face of the disciples, but also the enemy when they decided to really eliminate Jesus for good.
I don't know exactly what is the answer, but Jesus Christ went to this familiar place.
So their new stage of ministry without the physical presence of Jesus Christ will start in a familiar place.
When we ask for Jesus help in a difficult situation, Jesus Christ takes us to a place where we have experienced light before.
So we discover him. We find the solution for the problem. We experience God's presence, starting with a place where he was manifested before.
And this is a form of encouragement for me. And I think what I take practically from this small detail is that Jesus Christ, as a response to my prayers, will take me to a familiar place where I have experienced his presence before.
And he will lead me in the new challenge, in the new stage of my spiritual growth, in a new ministry beginning or starting from a familiar place?
[00:06:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
Would I take out of this?
Yes, there's going to be a day when Jesus comes again, but I don't need to wait for that day to experience the joys of the kingdom of heaven.
You know, I like to say I have four citizenships. I was born in New Zealand, got Australian through my mom, and I'm a US by naturalization.
But most important is I'm a citizen of heaven.
[00:06:37] Speaker B: Amen.
[00:06:38] Speaker A: And I'm a citizen of the kingdom of God.
And I enjoy the benefits of being a child of God, being a son of God. Today in my sinful body, in this sinful world, my life is filled with joy. And it's not just joy. It's. It's a great joy. It's an abundance. And. And God has poured so many blessings out on me. I love God and. And I love spending time with him and. And so while I am looking forward to that day when I can just sit at God's feet, you know, I don't care about building a house on the new earth. I don't care about exploring the universe, all that stuff. I just want to be in the presence of God. And while that is in the future where I can physically see God and Physically be in his presence. I can physically be in his presence. Right now.
I don't see it. I can't touch him, but I can experience it all around me.
[00:07:43] Speaker B: In many modern languages, the word blessing or the verb blessing is being translated as speaking good or positive about someone else. It's the opposite of gossip. That is speaking bad.
So another lesson that I take from this passage is if you speak good about someone else, I cannot promise this, but you might be taken to heaven.
At least it happened to Jesus Christ. It happened to Elijah in the Old Testament.
Something good will happen when you speak positive about others.
I like to connect this with the essence of the gospel. Gospel is good news.
Gospel is not essentially bad news. Yes, there are some consequences of our bad choices which are listed in the Bible.
They are called curses in the Old Testament.
But Jesus Christ came to share the good news in a world of darkness and in a hopeless world, in a world of despair.
The most important need that we have is of a good news. And there is a way out from that situation, and there is a solution. And that solution is based on the price that was paid by Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. So let us focus on the good news. Let us focus on the positive. And that is our responsibility.
That is what we have to do.
[00:09:17] Speaker A: Yeah.
And so Jesus is just as accessible today to us as he was back then to the disciple. In fact, I would say he's more accessible because when he was alive on this earth, if he was in Jerusalem, he wasn't in Bethlehem. Now God was there. You know, God never abandoned them.
But now I can have God, I can have Jesus impact my life today, or while my grandmother on the other side of the world has him impact her life at the exact same time.
And it's interesting, in the message to Laodicea In Revelation chapter 3, Jesus is depicted as knocking on a heart's door. He's depicted as outside.
And so I guess that's the question that I would leave to us now as we contemplate this project, going through these episodes and looking at the events in the life of Christ.
Have we not yet invited Jesus into our lives? Have we not yet invited Jesus into our heart? Are we hoping for some event in the future to take place? Are we hoping to get good enough?
I hear that so often that, well, let me take care of some things in my life.
[00:10:48] Speaker B: Yeah, I like to connect the previous episode to this one.
At the end of the Great Commission, on that mountain in Galilee, Jesus Christ told his disciples, and behold, I am always with you.
Not only that, I was with you for a while, for, you know, three and a half years, that I will be with you for eternity. I am always with you. And that happened through the authority that he has received.
And that authority was passed on to us to make other disciples by preaching the gospel and baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son of the Holy Spirit.
The whole trinity is being involved in making disciples and that is, you know, circling or is being built around the central pillar, that is Jesus presence with us.
And only after Jesus Christ assured his disciples of his permanent presence until the end of time.
Only after that Jesus Christ went up to heaven.
I was always wondering why Jesus Christ didn't ascend to heaven right away after resurrection. Let's say after, you know, the first evening, he showed himself to disciples on the way to Emmaus, to the other 10 disciples in the upper room.
He needed some days to communicate this presence in this new context of a resurrected body.
And he waited until that assurance was being settling into the disciples hearts. And after that he blessed that assurance and he went back to heaven.
[00:12:48] Speaker A: Yeah.
So I can't wait for that day when Jesus comes again.
And until then we can have that assurance of salvation.
I think that's something that many people lack. They're not sure if they're going to go to heaven. They're not sure if they're good enough. But the way we get to heaven is by accepting the gift of Jesus Christ.
And so for the listeners out there, we hope that you will accept that gift. And we don't just accept it once, we accept it always. Because, you know, if I accept a gift and then I put it away in the closet and never see it again, is it really important? To me it's something where we do this daily. And this is why, again, getting back to the theme, this is why we're doing this reading the gospel podcast, that we can get together and we can share each and every day an experience with Jesus which will grow us closer.
[00:13:50] Speaker B: So that is exactly the purpose of our podcast, that we have an experience which we will share with others.
Why?
Because God wants you, each one of you listeners, to become a disciple.
And you become a disciple when you receive the gospel. And receiving the gospel, you receive Jesus Christ and you commit your life to him and you start following Him. That is when you become a disciple or an apprentice.
But you are an apprentice of a new trade that is making other disciples.
[00:14:33] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:14:34] Speaker B: So whatever you have experienced, now it's about time to think how you will share with other people.
[00:14:40] Speaker A: Let us pray. Father God, I pray that as we become your disciples, we will then be empowered by you to make other disciples.
In doing the things that we love, in living our lives and serving others. They will see our good works. And they in turn will glorify you. Not because of who we are, but because of what you have done through us.
May we have that assurance of salvation. And may we constantly look for that day when Jesus will come. In the very same manner that the disciples saw him go.
So keep drawing us close to you each and every day. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
[00:15:21] Speaker B: Amen.
