Some experiences we never forget. God did not want the disciples to forget what they saw and experienced when Jesus left them. And He wants it, through their account, to be just as real for us who are still living on this earth.

With outstretched arms Jesus blessed the dis­ciples, and while He was doing so He left them and ascended into heaven. God wanted Luke to tell that to the church of all the ages — including ours.

Forty days had passed since Jesus arose from the grave and conquered death. During this period He showed Himself at least ten times to the disciples and other believers. Nowhere do we read that un­believers ever saw the risen Lord. Unbelief never comes to the resurrection. But now Jesus' work on earth was finished. It was time to go to heaven and to continue His work from the heavenly "head­quarters." The work of Calvary was history. The atonement had been made for His people. It would be of infinite value to all of His people for eternity. He had also risen from the grave and broken the bars of death. That too was part of His great work on earth. But He would do still more. (We must be careful that we do not become unbalanced, as some Christians appear to be, emphasizing almost exclu­sively His work on Calvary.) He would continue working in the great program of His Father, the sal­vation of sinners, working in the history of the world through the entire New Testament age which would culminate in His return and renewal of heaven and earth.

When the time came for Him to leave in body this earthly sphere of labor. He took the disciples with Him to the well-known Mount of Olives, east of Jeru­salem. Does it perhaps have some symbolic signifi­cance that He ascended, not from a valley, but from a mountain which was pointing heavenward? Hav­ing spoken a few words to the disciples, He suddenly began to go up into the air. Who had ever seen any­thing like this before? There was no launching pad for a take-off or mechanical rocket-booster with thousands of pounds of thrust power. It was a miracle. The disciples must have watched in utter amazement. Slowly he ascended, higher and higher. What particularly interests us now is that while He was going up His hands were outstretched, and He was blessing those who were left behind. Why did He do it? What does it mean for us?

Recall the work of the priests in the Old Testa­ment. Among their many tasks, no doubt the main one was the bringing of sacrifices to God for the peo­ple. Following the sacrifices and offering of incense in connection with them, the high priests regularly blessed the people. Remember that when people waited for Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, to bless them, he was not able to speak because of his unbelief.

It was important that the pronouncing of the blessing followed the sacrifices. Sinners can be blessed only when their sins have been forgiven by way of the sacrifices.

What did the high priest say in the blessing with his outstretched arms? In Numbers 6 the Lord had told Aaron what the high priest must say:

The LORD (Jehovah) bless you and keep you,
The LORD make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you;
The LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Jehovah, the faithful covenant God, was making these great promises. He assured the people of His blessing and protection. This did not mean that no adversity would trouble their lives. It meant that at all times He would protect them. The "face" of God is the "personality" of God, expressing His love. As the smiling face of a mother can show her love to her child the Lord says to us in this benediction, "I love you, you are mine, and I am going to give you peace." These words are apparently a repetition of thought to emphasize the faithful promises of God to His peo­ple. They cover every experience in their lives, at all times and in all circumstances. Believing and enjoy­ing those promises, we have the peace which Paul later describes as surpassing all understanding. This was the benediction, spoken by high priests thousands of times through many centuries.

Jesus is the great High Priest — "Our Only High Priest," says the Heidelberg Catechism. He had paid for sin, once and for all, for all His people. And He had conquered death. As a result, blessings will be poured out upon the church, the body of believing sinners.

Did Jesus literally speak these words of Numbers 6 when He was going up into heaven and leaving His disciples? We don't know. We may be sure that this was the meaning of the blessing given with His out­stretched arms.

Those arms remained stretched out while He was ascending, clearly suggesting that He will go on giv­ing the benediction of Numbers 6. In heaven He is Lord of Lords. But even in His kingship He contin­ues to be our only High Priest, always blessing us.

How amazed those watching disciples must have been to see Jesus ascend in this way. How their eyes must have remained glued on Him and His out­stretched arms — until a cloud obscured their view. They knew that even then, above that cloud, those arms were extended and the Lord was pouring out showers of blessings.

To whom do these promised blessings come? They came to the disciples. But the disciples were the rep­resentatives of the church — as well as her "pillars." Therefore, in a broad sense, the recipients of the blessings are all believers. Believers everywhere and in all times, of all races and colors. The blessings are for His people in persecution and distress, for widows and widowers, for lonely and destitute, for burdened, troubled and depressed. We face the question, "Are you looking up at the Lord as He ascended to heaven with outstretched arms, giving His blessings?" Do you hear Him saying to you, "The Lord blesses you, and keeps you; the Lord causes His face to shine upon you and is gracious unto you; the Lord lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you peace?" He is able to convey those bless­ings because as the Ascended Lord He has all power in heaven and on earth.

The disciples must have sensed something, per­haps much, of the meaning of this event. Previously when He had at times left them they were some­what lost, lonely and depressed. Now they returned to Jerusalem with great joy. They did not feel left behind as if the Lord had forgotten them or left them to themselves.

I think of the Ethiopian eunuch who went on his way rejoicing. I hear Paul, while in prison, saying to us,

Rejoice in the Lord always.

I hear the Lord Himself saying,

Let not your hearts be troubled. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.

Again Paul wrote,

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? ... the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Christ ascending into heaven was our forerunner, going ahead to prepare a place for us. At the same time He does not want us to feel left behind or for­gotten. As our ascended Lord He says, in effect, "Remember what the disciples saw when I ascend­ed, and remember what I said and say."

The Lord blesses you and keeps you
The Lord causes His face to shine upon you and is gracious unto you,
The Lord is lifting up His countenance upon you and giving you peace.