“Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬-‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

How different from the day of Jesus’ birth! The only witnesses to that momentous event were Joseph and the animals. He, the King of kings…was born in an animal shelter…where the sheep and goats were kept at night! 

The only ones who came to worship Him and celebrate His birth were a group of lowly shepherds …announced by angels. What a mixture of humility and glory!

Now He was returning to heaven,  not to the accompaniment of angelic choirs heralding His victory or visibly celebrating His arrival. This might have been…but entry into His native realm was hidden from human eyes. 

The memory of the sight…their Lord rising, disappearing into a cloud…would stay with them, sustain them, hold them steady, keep them on the path through many a rough patch…a trial of faith, a test of endurance…until that day when they joined Him in glory, faithful to their last breath and secure in His promise. 

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

No, He had not failed in His mission. He had come, not to secure a kingdom among the nations. He had come, not to drive Rome from Israel’s borders…not to set up another empire to rival Rome. He had come to establish His throne in the hearts of His people, to atone for and remove sin…to breach the chasm between God and man…to restore what sin had destroyed…and He had completed everything to perfection. 

Only one thing remained…

“Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭9‬-‭11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

He was crowned King of kings and Lord of lords and given the nations as His reward. The Father appointed Him to reign in Zion. 

“I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭2‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

And fulfilled His promise…

“Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

And so, risen and ascended to the Father…to receive His reward

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭9‬-‭11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

He reigns, He will reign…

“For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet….When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭15‬:‭25‬, ‭28‬ ‭NIV‬‬

To be continued