Jesus Ascends To Heaven

Jesus ascends to Heaven is among the most important events in the life of Jesus.  It is important because He died and rose again, then went back to His home where His work continues on our behalf.

One record of Jesus' ascension was written by Luke in the Book of  Acts. In a letter to his friend Theophilus. Luke wrote:

‘In my first letter I told you about Jesus’ life and teachings and how he returned to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions from the Holy Spirit."

Events preceding Jesus' ascension to Heaven

Several important events preceded Jesus' ascension to Heaven. First of all, the Lord was crucified on a cross.

Three days later, just as He  had said to His disciples He rose from the dead.  His tomb is empty and He is not there.

Secondly, Jesus remained on the earth with His disciples for forty days after His resurrection.  In so doing, the Lord Jesus proved to them in many ways that it really was Him they were seeing and He was alive.

He worked many miracles which were too numerous for His disciples to write down.

Jesus also talked about the Kingdom of God.

Jesus also talked about the baptism with the Holy Spirit

During one of these meetings Jesus told His disciples not to leave Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came upon them. This was to fulfil God’s promise and He had previously discussed this with them. 

Jesus said:

‘John baptised you with water, but you shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit in just a few days.’

The day that Jesus ascended to Heaven

Jesus ascended to Heaven forty days after  rising from the dead. On that day, the Lord took His disciples the Mount of Olives, which was located just outside Jerusalem.

Curious, the disciples asked if the Lord would free the nation from the Roman government and restore Israel as an independent nation.

Jesus replied that His Father had set those dates, and did not want His disciples to know this information.  

Instead, Jesus talked to His disciples about how they would become witnesses when they received the infilling with the Holy Spirit. 

He told them that they would receive power to testify about His death and resurrection. They would tell the people in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and through all the earth.

Soon afterwards, Jesus rose into the sky and disappeared into a cloud, leaving the disciples staring after  Him. 

Two Angels appeared to the disciples as they stared up into the sky

The disciples stared up into the sky for another glimpse of Jesus.

As they did so,  two men dressed in white robes appeared and stood with them.  The Angels spoke to them.

‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why are you standing here staring at the sky? Jesus has gone away to heaven, and some day, just as He went, He will return!’

The disciples returned to Jerusalem

The disciples walked the short journey back to Jerusalem. They held a prayer meeting in an upstairs room of the house where they were staying.

The list of persons who were in the Upper Room. included Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon the zealot, Judas (son of James), and the brothers of Jesus.

Some women were also there and this group included Jesus’ mother.

Jesus ascends to heaven verses (NASB)  ACTS 1: 1- 14

1 The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach,

2 until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.

3 To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

4 Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, ``Which," He said, ``you heard of from Me;

5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, ``Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?"

7 He said to them, ``It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;

8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them.

11 They also said, ``Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."

12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away.

13 When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.

14 These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

jesus ascends to heaven verse

jesus ascends to heaven matthew

how many saw jesus ascend?

how many times did jesus ascend into heaven

what happened after jesus ascended to heaven

jesus ascends to heaven kjv

Jesus Healed 10 Lepers

In today's bible story, we will discover the amazing miracle of how Jesus healed 1o lepers.  In Bible times, a leper had a skin disease that resulted in scaly, rough skin (Blueletterbible.org, nd).

In bible times, Hebrews who had the disease had to live away from other people.

The disease did not go away and no one could cure it in those times. Therefore, people were afraid of lepers.

Read on to learn more.

Discover how Jesus healed 10 lepers

One day, Jesus was going to Jerusalem. He had to pass between Samaria and Galilee. 

As He entered one of the villages, Jesus was met by ten men who had a disease called leprosy.

Their skin was rough and scaly and they felt very bad about their condition.  

The men stood at a distance because they were unclean. People with this condition could not mingle with others. They had to cover their lips and loudly cry "unclean, unclean."

Desperate to be healed, the lepers raised their voices and said, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.’ 

When Jesus saw them He said, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’

According to the law, the men would be declared clean by the priests after their skin was inspected.

By faith, the men began to take the route leading to the priest.   As they went along, they were cleansed. 

One of them, seeing that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice.  Maybe he had been inspecting his skin. 

What do you think?

The former leper fell down at Jesus' feet with his face to the ground. He gratefully thanked Jesus for healing him.

This man was a Samaritan and the other nine were Jews.

Jesus was amazed that the nine lepers from His own country had not returned to give Him thanks!

Jesus asked in astonishment, 

‘Weren't ten men cleansed? Where are the other nine?

Why didn't the Jews return to give thanks to God? Why did the foreigner alone give thanks?"

Jesus said to the man, ‘get up and go your way. Your faith has made you well.’

Jesus healed 10 lepers Luke 17: 11 - 19 (NASB)

11 While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee.

12 As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him;

13 and they raised their voices, saying, ``Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"

14 When He saw them, He said to them, ``Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they were going, they were cleansed.

15 Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice,

16 and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan.

17 Then Jesus answered and said, ``Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine--where are they?

18 ``Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?"

19 And He said to him, ``Stand up and go; your faith has made you well."

Jesus healed  ten lepers meaning

Leprosy was a disease in which the skin of the affected person became scaly and rough. One of the related scriptures talked about scales falling from the eyes of Apostle Paul when Ananias laid hands on him (Acts 9: 18). 

Leprosy is like the disease of the spirit that is called sin.  Every human was born with the sin disease and needs to be cleansed, like the lepers.

People with sin cannot see what God is saying because their god satan has blinded their eyes.

The blood of Jesus is the only way to see and to be cleansed from sin.

To be cleansed, we need to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died to save us from our sins.

Believing must be followed by confession of sins and turning away.

Turning away from sin means to repent and do them no more.

Jesus healed  ten lepers video

Jesus healed ten lepers coloring page

Click this link to download the Jesus healed ten lepers coloring page for free 

Jesus  healed 10 lepers resource

In this excellent analysis, Dr. Jay Schamberg shows that the leprosy of bible and modern times is not the same disease.

He reveals that bible days leprosy could have been psoriasis or vitiligo  and drectly related to punishment from God for transgressings  certain laws.

THE NATURE OF THE LEPROSY OF THE BIBLE.FROM A MEDICAL AND BIBLICAL POINT OF VIEW. By JAY F. SCHAMBERG, A.B, M.D., Philadelphia, Pa

10 lepers healed, but only one said thanks

parable of the ten lepers meaning

lessons from the 10 lepers

luke 17 11-19

10 lepers in the bible

reflection on ten lepers

jesus heals 10 lepers sunday school lesson

10 lepers object lesson

Parable Of The New Cloth

Introduction to the parable of the new cloth

Jesus told the parable of the new cloth as part of a response to a question.  The disciples of John the Baptist had asked the Lord to tell them why His disciples did not fast like others.

Jesus answered by saying that wedding guests do not mourn while the bridegroom is with them. They celebrate instead.

Therefore, Jesus' disciples did not fast because He is the bridegroom and they are the wedding guests.

Parable of the new cloth bible verse

Mat 9: 14 - 16

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast,[fn] but your disciples do not fast?”

And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.

The parable of the new cloth

In the parable, Jesus said that no one uses an unshrunken or new piece of fabric to repair a hole in an old garment.

Why does unshrunken cloth tear if it is sewn into an old garment?

Unshrunken or new cloth will shrink and become smaller when it is exposed to water and heat.

The cloth in old garments, on the other hand, have already shrunken because they have been washed and ironed. Washing and ironing also cause old garments to become loose and relaxed.

If an old garment is torn, it is best to use a shrunken or older piece of fabric to mend the area.

If an unshrunken piece is used to mend a patch, that area will shrink when it gets wet. That area will pull away from the old garment, and the tear will become worse.

People listening to Jesus would have understood. In bible days, the fabrics that were worn were likely to shrink after washing.

These fabrics included:

• Cotton
• Wool
• Silk
• Linen

Meaning of the parable of the new cloth

Jesus and His disciples did not observe the tradition of fasting like the other teachers and their disciples.

He conducted His ministry activities in a totally different manner from the other teachers. 

He taught about the Kingdom of Heaven, healed the sick, raised the dead, fed the hungry, cast out devils, and worked all kinds of miracles.

These were things to rejoice about. 

He was the Son of God and the Bridegroom.

He was doing wonderful miracles and wanted His disciples to rejoice and to be glad.

Jesus did not want His disciples to be sorrowful while He was in the earth with them. He wanted them to be glad.

Joyfulness and excitement were present in everything that Jesus did. 

He was not going to follow religious practices just because everyone was doing them.

A time would come for His disciples to fast, but while He was with them, they would rejoice.

Jesus dwells in the spirit of every child of God and He wants us to rejoice.

There will be times to fast, but He wants us to rejoice.

Parable of the new cloth video

Parable Of The Plough

Parable of the plough introduction 

The parable of the plough is today's bible story.  Like all of His parables, Jesus hid a secret message that He wants us to learn and apply to our lives.

Jesus told the parable because one of His disciples wanted to return home to say goodbye to loved ones.

The Lord gave an unexpected response. He told His follower that if he returned home, he would be like someone who looked back when ploughing in a field.

Even worse, Jesus said that such a person is not fit for the Kingdom of Heaven.

We'll talk about what it means to plough and the meaning of the parable.

Parable of the plough bible verses

Luk 9:61

Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.”

Luk 9:62

Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

What is a plough?

A plough is a device, like a rake, that was used to loosen the soil in preparation for planting.

In bible times, ploughs were made from wood. The wooden blade would scratch the ground and loosen the soil.  Some farmers were able to afford a blade made from iron  (Revised English Version, nd).

How did a farmer plough the land?

The plough was fastened by straps or cords to a device called the yoke on the neck of the oxen. The farmer would then stand behind the oxen and the plough. 

As the oxen pulled, the farmer would hold onto the plough in order to make sure that the oxen ploughed in a straight line (Revised English Version, nd).

 

What does it mean to put your hands to the plough?

The farmer had to hold on to the plough and look straight ahead in order to plough in a straight line.

It was impossible for a farmer to plough in a straight line while looking backwards (Revised English Version, nd).

 If he looked behind, the oxen could veer off the straight path. The plough would make a crooked line.  

What is the meaning of the parable of the plough?

Jesus' follower asked if he could return home to say goodbye to loved ones. 

He wanted to follow Jesus everywhere, but his family was also important to him.

We don't know how long it would have taken to say goodbye.

Maybe he would have had to give many explanations to his family.

Maybe he would have had to finish up tasks before returning to the Lord's work.

Jesus didn't think that it was important to say goodbye. He preferred his disciple to focus on the work of the ministry. The disciple only had a short time with the Lord.

Jesus sends this message to us. He is saying that His followers must make Him their most important friend. 

Althought this seems very difficult to do, Jesus did not tell the man to abandon his family. 

Rather, he just wanted him to focus on buliding the Kingdom at that point in time. 

So I hope that you will make the Lord Jesus the most important person in your life.