A Good Good-bye

A Good Good-Bye

Jesus led them to Bethany, and lifting his hands to heaven, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. So they worshiped him and then returned to Jerusalem filled with great joy.

Luke 24:50-52

He was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

Acts 1:9-11

When you love someone, it’s hard to say good-bye. Have you ever witnessed the parting of two people in love at an airport, or seen parents as their son or daughter moves into a college dorm?

It is interesting to note that when Jesus said good-bye to his closest friends and followers before he ascended into heaven, they “returned to Jerusalem filled with great joy.” We might have expected it to be a tearful parting—and perhaps there were tears. But evidently the sadness of physical separation was outweighed by joy.

Those who loved Jesus were filled with joy because they believed him when he said, “When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am” (John 14:3). They believed there would one day be a reunion, because Jesus promised it.

Perhaps they were also filled with joy because they knew that Jesus was going home! He was going to be in heaven with his Father, where he had been since before the world was made and until he came to earth as a man. Perhaps they imagined the joy in heaven when Jesus returned, having defeated sin and Satan, ready to sit down at God’s right hand to rule over all his enemies.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

When have you been sad to say good-bye to someone?

What do you think the celebration was like when Jesus returned to heaven?

Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. How does Jesus’ ascension show us what ours will be like?