Before Jesus returned to heaven, He made sure the world knew He was truly alive. Paul later wrote that after His resurrection, Jesus appeared to Peter, then to the twelve, and “then He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time” (1 Corinthians 15:6), most of whom were still alive when Paul wrote it, meaning anyone could go ask them. This wasn’t a rumor whispered by a handful of grieving friends. Hundreds of people saw Him with their own eyes.
Forty days after the resurrection, Jesus gathered His disciples one final time. He gave them a mission, told them to wait in Jerusalem for what was coming, and then “He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9). The disciples stood there staring at the sky until two angels appeared and gently redirected them, promising Jesus would return one day the same way He left (Acts 1:11).
Before He went, He made them a promise. He wouldn’t leave them alone. “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever” (John 14:16). The Holy Spirit would come, not as a replacement for Jesus, but as His continued presence, living in every believer from that point forward. Paul later described this same Spirit as a guarantee, a down payment on everything still to come (2 Corinthians 1:22). Jesus left the earth, but He didn’t leave His people.
All of this circles back to why any of it happened at all. God became a man, lived among us, taught us how to love, healed the sick, and then willingly died on a cross to pay for sins none of us could pay for ourselves. He didn’t have to do any of it. He chose to, because “God so loved the world” (John 3:16). The resurrection proved He’d conquered death. The ascension confirmed His work on earth was finished, and heaven welcomed Him back as King.
That’s the story this whole section has been telling. A king who came quietly, in a manger, in an overlooked town, to an overlooked couple, and who left having done exactly what He came to do. He’s coming back one day. Until then, He hasn’t left us alone.