As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!” (Acts 1:10-11)
When I think of “straining of eyes”, I think of the many times I’ve done this at an airport security check point. We might have just checked in our son or daughter for a flight back to college. We watched them go through the entire security routine. They found their way through the controlled chaos of the x-ray machines, body scans, conveyor belts, and manual pat downs, and then collect their carry-on luggage and turn for their gate. We would stand and wave (and tear up), looking at them as long as we could, hoping for a final wave from them, final eye contact.
I’m trying to imagine this “straining of eyes” of the disciples as Jesus ascended. Was it similar to that? I can imagine these guys experienced a sudden wave of panic! “Hey, where did he go?! Do you still see him?! Is he coming back down? Has he stopped rising….? What the what…?!”
This had to be one of those I-don’t-believe-what-I’m-seeing moments. They had already had two of them: watching their hero die, who they must have imagined was invincible; then, seeing him alive again (yes, it was really him!) after one of the most brutal execution rituals of the ancient world. Now, they were trying to figure out what’s going on as he rises and ascends out of sight after 40 days of reunion….“Hey, John, keep an eye on him! Andrew, take the west side! Let’s all fan out. No telling what’s next! He might not be gone—hey, is he going to land over there?!” (Doing so like a hot air balloon that would land in another county after 15 minutes aloft?)
How high up did he get before they couldn’t see him anymore? 500 feet? A mile? Two miles? The Scripture doesn’t record their emotions or feelings, but only their physical response (“as they strained to see him rising”). If I had to guess on their emotions, it would be, “No, no, no! Don’t go! We just got you back…and we’ve got plans.”
Then notice what’s next in the story’s unfolding. Two white-robed men (sounds similar to appearances around the tomb?) suddenly appeared (from where?). These men were not random beings with no specific knowledge; they correctly identified and addressed the disciples as “Men of Galilee”. They knew who they were. The tomb announcement was: “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” The ascension features another why question: “Why are you standing here staring into heaven?”
And then the big news: some day (the two don’t say when that day will be; it’s a ‘some day’ pronouncement) he will come back the same way you saw him go.
Sounds to me that not only were their eyes straining. Their hearts must have been straining to know when he would be back, when they would see him again. “What are you thinking, Peter? Maybe next week? Next Passover? Did he say anything to anyone?” He’s gone out of sight, straight up into the sky. Now what do we do? “Father, we continue to look upward for Jesus to return, just as he went into heaven!”
Freddy Boswell 