Ascension – Luke 24:35-53

The Story in a Nutshell

The story continues…

When the two men from Emmaus (Luke 24:13-24) retuned to Jerusalem and found the disciples, they told them the story of how they met up with Jesus.  And as they were telling the story Jesus suddenly appeared in the room.  He said, “Peace be with you.”

The two men and the disciples were terrified.  They thought they were seeing a ghost. So Jesus asked them, “Why are you so frightened?   Don’t you know who I am?  Look at me.  Look at my hands and feet.  Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost.”

Now everyone was confused – there was doubt, there was joy, and there was wonder.  Then Jesus had a solution.  He ate some broiled fish in front of them, and they knew he wasn’t a ghost.

Now that everyone felt better, Jesus spoke to the disciples.  He opened their minds to the many Scriptures that had been written about him by Moses, the prophets, and in the Psalms telling that he must suffer, die, and rise from the dead on the third day.  Then he told them that by his authority they must take the message of repentance to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.  Jesus said, “There is forgiveness of sins for all that accept and turn to me.  You know this because you have seen it.”  Finally, Jesus told them that he would send them the Holy Spirit.  They were to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came and filled them with power from heaven.

When Jesus finished, he took them to the town of Bethany.   There he raised his hands toward heaven and blessed them, and as he did he left them and went up to heaven.
The disciples worshiped Jesus with great joy and returned to Jerusalem where they waited for the filling of the Holy Spirit.

To be continued…

What did you learn from the story?

If you want to gain a better understanding of the complete story, and for help in answering some of the questions below, you may want to use the following items as helpful resources:  a Bible, a dictionary, and a Bible commentary on the Book of Luke (optional).

1. What happened as the two men from Emmaus were telling their story about meeting up with Jesus?
2. When Jesus appeared, what did everyone think?
3. How did Jesus try and calm their fears?
4. Did it work?
5. What did Jesus finally do overcome their doubt?
6. What did Jesus open the minds of the disciples to?
7. What did Jesus tell the disciples they must do?
8. Who was Jesus going to send to the disciples?
9. What were the disciples to do to receive the Holy Spirit?
10. When Jesus finished speaking to the disciples, where did they go?
11. What did Jesus do when they arrived at Bethany?
12. What happened to Jesus at Bethany?
13. What did the disciples do as/after Jesus was taken up to heaven?
14. What did you learn about God, Jesus, and people from the story?

Have questions about God, Jesus, and the Bible? An excellent source for answers to your questions is gotquestions.org. Check it out. gotquestions.org.

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