Reading: “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.” Acts 1:11

Christ really knows how to encourage His people. Even as He left His disciples and returned to heaven He made sure they were given promises, perfectly suited to their new circumstances. They were told that the Spirit would come upon them and that the Saviour would come again for them. The text is a gem sparkling with encouraging truths. It radiates the fact that Christ is in heaven. He has entered into the presence of His heavenly Father. He came to earth to do a work and when that work was finished, He appeared in the presence of God for us.

These words also glow with the truth that Christ is in heaven as a true man, one with us. The word was, “This same Jesus has gone into heaven.” The Jesus the disciples knew—the God-man, the perfect man, the gracious and sympathetic Saviour who wept with men and for them—went into heaven and is there for His people.

We have a High Priest who is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. As a man He knows our needs, and as a man in heaven He is able to meet our needs. But the luster of the text continues, for this same Jesus will return again. “He shall so come in like manner.” This world thinks Christ is finished. He is gone. But our Redeemer has gone to glory to wait for a time. He will return in power and glory to reward His people and judge His enemies. Jesus is coming again. Now, that’s a gem worth holding on to! Let the luster of this truth lift your spirits and brighten your life: “this same Jesus.”