Promise of Christ’s Second Coming
Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
Listen to the "Verse by Verse" episode covering this scripture.
Jesus Christ disappeared from their sight into the clouds, which some see as symbolizing the shekinah, “the visible manifestation of the divine presence and glory. Such a cloud hovered above the tabernacle in the wilderness as a visible token of the glory of God that dwelt within the tabernacle (cf. Ex. 40:34)” (Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary, Vol. 2, p. 382).
An even clearer reference is to Zechariah 14:4, where it describes Jesus Christ’s return to the same spot, the Mount of Olives: “And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two. …”
Read more about Jesus’ magnificent return to rule the world and bring peace in our article “Second Coming.”
