Someone’s Already There

Someone’s Already There

Jesus’ Ascension

Read: Acts 1:6-11

Barb yawned and turned onto the long gravel driveway that led to her parents’ lakeside cabin. Glancing at her watch, she grimaced. Maybe I should have waited ’til tomorrow to come. It’ll be two in the morning by the time I get things set up. Barb was surprised to see her sister’s car in front of the cabin and felt relieved to know that the heat would already be turned on. More surprises greeted her as she lugged her bag to the bedroom. The bed looked inviting, with new, turned-down flannel sheets. On the nightstand stood her favorite roast beef sandwich, with a note that said “ENJOY.”

When Jesus physically ascended into heaven, his followers didn’t immediately grasp all the implications of his leaving them. Their minds strained to comprehend recent events: Jesus had been arrested and executed, three days later he rose from the dead, and for forty days he appeared to groups of his followers to comfort and teach them. Now Jesus had risen into the skies in a cloud. Only later, through the help of the Holy Spirit, would believers fully understand what it meant to them personally that Jesus had returned to heaven.

Whatever we face in life, we can know that Jesus has already been there ahead of us. He willingly took on a human body and suffered the same temptations and trials that we go through so he could identify with us. If we experience loneliness or rejection, we can find strength and compassion from One who endured those same things on our behalf. If we struggle with grief and troubles, the Man of Sorrows offers us comfort. Jesus has gone ahead of us into heaven. Someday, we’ll arrive to find the new home he has prepared for us and really learn the meaning of “ENJOY.”

I am going there to prepare a place for you.

John 14:2 (NIV)