Section 184
Christ's parting blessing and departure
The Mount of Olives
| Mark 16:19-20 | Luke 24:50-53 | Acts 1:6-12 |
|---|---|---|
| 50Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. | 6So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel at this time?” 7He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has set by his own authority, 8but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” | |
| 19After the Lord had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. | 51While he was blessing them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. | 9After he said this, he was lifted up as they looked on, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10As he went, they were gazing up into the sky, when behold, two men in white clothing were standing beside them. 11They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing here staring into the sky? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” |
| 52So they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53And they were continually in the temple courts, praising and blessing God. Amen. | 12Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. | |
| 20Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked through them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it. Amen. |
Notes
Mount of Olives
The mountainous ridge called the Mount of Olives stretches totay from the Hebrew University Mount Scopus campus in the north to the Jewish cemetery and beyond, to the village of Silwan in the south. Between these two ends of the mountain are the olive trees from which the mountain takes its name. The area at the bottom of the mountain would have been the place for the olive gardens and an olive press, “Gat shemen” in Hebrew, from which the name “Gethsemane” comes.
The gospels record on more than one occasion Jesus’ sorrow for Jerusalem as he made his way down the slopes of the Mount of Olives. It was a path he would have known from childhood from His many visits to Jerusalem.
Down the road from Bethphage He came riding on a donkey colt with palm branches symbolic of Judaea strewn along the way. “Hosanna!” (“save now!”) was the cry upon the lips of the people (Matthew 21:1-9). This prayer from Psalm 118:25 was a request for salvation. Yet Jesus knew that these cries would be changed within a week to “Crucify him!” He wept again for Jerusalem, for He knew what would befall the people in less than one generation as the city would be besieged and taken.