Acts 1:11

11 qui et dixerunt viri galilaei quid statis aspicientes in caelum hic Iesus qui adsumptus est a vobis in caelum sic veniet quemadmodum vidistis eum euntem in caelum

Acts 1:11 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 1:11

Which also said, ye men of Galilee
And which was said by them, not to reproach them with their country, but partly to let them know that they knew them, who they were, and from whence they came; and partly to observe the rich and distinguishing grace of God in choosing such mean and contemptible persons to be the apostles of Christ, and eyewitnesses of his majesty:

why stand ye gazing up into heaven?
reproving them for their curiosity in looking after Christ with their bodily eyes, who was no more in common to be seen this way, but with an eye of faith; and for their desire after his corporeal presence, which they were not to look for; and as if they expected he would return again immediately, whereas his return will not be till the end of the world: and besides, they were not to remain on that spot, or stand gazing there; they were to go to Jerusalem, and abide there, as Christ had ordered, till they should receive the Holy Spirit in an extraordinary way; and then they were to preach a crucified Christ, and declare that he was risen from the dead, and was gone to heaven, and was ordained to be the Judge of quick and dead.

This same Jesus;
and not another; the same in person, in body and soul:

which is taken up from you into heaven;
who was taken up in a cloud out of their sight, and received into heaven, where he will be till the times of the restitution of all things; and which might be matter of grief to them, because of the loss of his bodily presence; though it should have been rather joyful to them, since he was gone to the Father, and as their forerunner, to prepare a place, and make intercession for them:

shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven;
he shall come in the same flesh, in the same human nature; he shall come in the clouds of heaven, and shall be attended with his mighty angels, as he now was; he shall descend himself in person, as he now ascended in person; and as he went up with a shout, and with the sound of a trumpet, see ( Psalms 47:5 ) so he shall descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God; and, it may be, he shall descend upon the very spot from whence he ascended; see ( Zechariah 14:4 ) and it is a notion of the Jews, that the resurrection of the Israelites will be there: they say ^F13, that

``when the dead shall live, the Mount of Olives shall be cleaved asunder, and all the dead of Israel shall come out from under it; yea, even the righteous which die in captivity shall pass through a subterranean cavern, and come out from under the Mount of Olives.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 Targum in Cant. viii. 5.

Acts 1:11 In-Context

9 et cum haec dixisset videntibus illis elevatus est et nubes suscepit eum ab oculis eorum

10 cumque intuerentur in caelum eunte illo ecce duo viri adstiterunt iuxta illos in vestibus albis

11 qui et dixerunt viri galilaei quid statis aspicientes in caelum hic Iesus qui adsumptus est a vobis in caelum sic veniet quemadmodum vidistis eum euntem in caelum

12 tunc reversi sunt Hierosolymam a monte qui vocatur Oliveti qui est iuxta Hierusalem sabbati habens iter

13 et cum introissent in cenaculum ascenderunt ubi manebant Petrus et Iohannes Iacobus et Andreas Philippus et Thomas Bartholomeus et Mattheus Iacobus Alphei et Simon Zelotes et Iudas Iacobi