Observations©

By Donald S. Conkey

Date: April 1, 2010 - Title: Christ was ‘taken up’ so He could come again (4091)

As the Christian world once again stops to ponder that great sacrifice that the Anointed One made for all who would believe on his name I too stop to ponder and to worship at his feet. As many ponder the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ on this coming Easter Sunday I too will ponder that miracle – the Christ being raised from the dead as Atonement for all mankind. The story does not stop with the raising of the Savior from the tomb. The story continues in the Book of Acts where we are told that Christ spent 40 days with his disciples before being “taken up” into the heaven. This continuing story intrigues me! Why did Christ spend 40 days ‘after’ his resurrection with his disciples? What did they talk about? Was he instructing the disciples on how to organize the restored church – how to call an apostle to replace Judas? I believe he was doing all of these things and more, much more, regarding things ‘pertaining to the kingdom of God.’

Verses 9, 10 and 11 then jump off the page at me. These verses speak volumes to me today. They tell me that after Christ was finished training his eleven remaining apostles in the manner of how his Church was to be organized he stood in the midst of them and “was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.” Then the record says that “two men stood by them (the disciples) in white apparel” and said unto them who were looking upward, likely wondering where their Lord had gone – and how. And this is the point of this story. Their words are revealing: “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”

Later, in chapter 3 Peter, the newly anointed leader of the apostles and Church, reinforced these words with his own words. Referring to Jesus, Peter stated: “Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of his holy prophets since the world began.”

Today, as the Christian world ponders the sacrifice this man Jesus made for them and for all the sons and daughters of God the Father, I ask myself, when will that day come. Then I ask, when will He return in great splendor, perhaps, even with some wrath, and institute the “restitution of all things, which God has spoken of by the mouth of all his holy prophets.” That will be an eventful day for many of us!

Equally important, I am anxious for the America that so many of us have grown up in and who cherish the great blessings of freedom and liberty that were given to us by the Founding Fathers via that One we honor and worship on this coming Easter Sunday. Today I see those principles being trampled by those elected leaders willing to destroy our sacred liberty and freedom for personal power and glory. We see it daily. The latest happened this past week end as the President of the United States snubbed the President of the only free country in the near east, Israel. A receive e-message mentioned that it was strange that this man could make such a fuss over building a house in Jerusalem and totally ignore the building of the ‘bomb’ by Iran, the nation who has vowed to destroy Israel  and destroy America.

The words ‘so come in like manner’ and ‘restitution’ are challenging words. For me there is a meaning that suggests that perhaps what Peter and the other apostles were just beginning to do was to put into place the ‘kingdom of God’ that had existed before. As I ponder just how closely the creation of America, with its ‘just and holy principles that were for all mankind,’ not just Americans, resembles the creation of ancient Israel I wonder if the consequences that befell Israel will befall America for the same reasons – a rejection of their God for “a king to judge over us like all the nations.”

These thoughts frighten me because the consequences for Israel were harsh, very harsh. If that ‘restitution of all things’ includes the restoration of the Jews to their lands then I might think that Iran may have a very difficult time ‘driving Israel into the sea.” And I think the President of the United States may want to give more attention to how he treats the President of today’s Israel. He, President Obama, may think he is the ‘king’ and that what ever he says goes, but I continue to believe there is a “King’ above him who may take exception to the way the ‘king’ is destroying the freedom and liberty established here in America for a very specific purpose – so that no one would be in bondage one to another.  

For the Christian world this week is “Holy Week.” Tomorrow, Friday, the world will remember how the Anointed One was dragged through the streets carrying a cross on his shoulders, then hung on that cross, then died, but not before after asking His Father “to forgive them for they know not what they do.” Then Sunday came and He rose from the grave that we, you and I, might follow his example and return to whence He came. Happy Easter!