The Ascension – Acts 1:1-11

When?  How Long?

The disciples ask Jesus if he’s going to “restore the kingdom to Israel.”  It’s quite likely that what they want to know is if He is finally going to deliver them from Roman occupation.  Failing to understand that He came to conquer sin and death, they still are asking questions about politics and earthly kingdoms.

In fairness to the disciples, we all want to know when.  We all want to know how long.  We long for wrongs to be made right… for injustices to be corrected… for the Peace of Christ to reign over all the earth.  In short, we all want to know how long until Christ will come again.

But Christ doesn’t give the disciples the answer they want (nor does He give us the answer we want).  Instead, He essentially says, “wait and see.”  It’s up to the Father in His infinite wisdom to bring about the ultimate redemption of His creation.

The question for us is this, “How do we live in the meantime?”

In anticipation of the coming Kingdom, we ought to live as though it is our present reality, knowing that Christ has already come… that Christ is made present to us right now… and that Christ will come again.