Right after World War II, a U.S. Army officer and his wife were stationed in
Japan. That country had been devastated by the war. The post-war economy was
in shambles. Unemployment approached 60%. People came to the Army wife's
door daily looking for work. One man said that he could do wonders for her
garden if she would only give him a chance. So, for the first time in her
life, this young Army wife hired a gardener. He spoke no English, but the
wife, through sign language and pencil and paper gave him instructions about
where to plant, prune, and pamper her garden. He listened politely and
followed her instructions exactly. The garden emerged as the finest in the
neighborhood.
When she finally realized that her new gardener knew far more about the
matter than she, the wife stopped giving him directions and let him freely
care for the garden. It was magnificent. Then one day the gardener came with
an interpreter who expressed the appreciation but the regrets of the
gardener. "He will no longer be able to care for your garden. He must
leave."
The wife expressed her regrets and thanked him through the interpreter for
making hers such a fine garden. Out of politeness, she asked the
interpreter, "Where is he going?"
The interpreter replied that the gardener was returning to his old job as
the Professor of Horticulture at the University of Tokyo.
I can imagine, can't you, the look that must have been on that Army wife's
face when she discovered, that her gardener was the university professor of
horticulture. No wonder he knew so much about gardening.
The disciples of Jesus were gazing intently into the sky. Two men in white
clothing stood beside them; and they asked, "Men of Galilee, why do you
stand looking into the sky?"
That's a good question. Why were they standing there gawking at the sky?
This is the day that we celebrate Christ's ascension into heaven. The
Ascension is probably the most difficult event in the life of Jesus for us
to reconcile with a scientific worldview. If Jesus ascended physically into
the heavens, where was he going? Does that mean that heaven is a physical
place somewhere out in space? It's a problem. And yet the disciples
experienced something that they felt we ought to know about. It was a true
mountaintop experience comparable to that which they experienced on the
Mount of Transfiguration. And so they placed it in the biblical record.
Therefore, we must deal with it seriously. It may not fit our cosmology, but
there are some theological truths here we need to deal with.
Why were the disciples standing there looking into the sky? I can think of
several reasons, can't you?
1. First of all, they were in awe at who Jesus was and what they had
experienced.
2. Second.
3. Third.Right after World War II, a U.S. Army officer and his wife were stationed in
Japan. That country had been devastated by the war. The post-war economy was
in shambles. Unemployment approached 60%. People came to the Army wife's
door daily looking for work. One man said that he could do wonders for her
garden if she would only give him a chance. So, for the first time in her
life, this young Army wife hired a gardener. He spoke no English, but the
wife, through sign language and pencil and paper gave him instructions about
where to plant, prune, and pamper her garden. He listened politely and
followed her instructions exactly. The garden emerged as the finest in the
neighborhood.
When she finally realized that her new gardener knew far more about the
matter than she, the wife stopped giving him directions and let him freely
care for the garden. It was magnificent. Then one day the gardener came with
an interpreter who expressed the appreciation but the regrets of the
gardener. "He will no longer be able to care for your garden. He must
leave."
The wife expressed her regrets and thanked him through the interpreter for
making hers such a fine garden. Out of politeness, she asked the
interpreter, "Where is he going?"
The interpreter replied that the gardener was returning to his old job as
the Professor of Horticulture at the University of Tokyo.
I can imagine, can't you, the look that must have been on that Army wife's
face when she discovered, that her gardener was the university professor of
horticulture. No wonder he knew so much about gardening.
The disciples of Jesus were gazing intently into the sky. Two men in white
clothing stood beside them; and they asked, "Men of Galilee, why do you
stand looking into the sky?"
That's a good question. Why were they standing there gawking at the sky?
This is the day that we celebrate Christ's ascension into heaven. The
Ascension is probably the most difficult event in the life of Jesus for us
to reconcile with a scientific worldview. If Jesus ascended physically into
the heavens, where was he going? Does that mean that heaven is a physical
place somewhere out in space? It's a problem. And yet the disciples
experienced something that they felt we ought to know about. It was a true
mountaintop experience comparable to that which they experienced on the
Mount of Transfiguration. And so they placed it in the biblical record.
Therefore, we must deal with it seriously. It may not fit our cosmology, but
there are some theological truths here we need to deal with.
Why were the disciples standing there looking into the sky? I can think of
several reasons, can't you?
1. First of all, they were in awe at who Jesus was and what they had
experienced.
2. Second.
3. Third.
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