The ascension of Jesus into heaven
| Mark 16:19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. | Luke 24:51 [1] And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven [2]. 52 And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: 53 And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen. | John 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. |
This event is also mentioned in Acts 1:9: And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. Acts does not mention any of the events recounted after John 20:22, but has Jesus ascend into heaven immediately after speaking with the disciples.
[1]Because Luke has Jesus ascending into heaven immediately after blessing the disciples, it cannot be reconciled with John 20:24-21:24.
[2]In Luke, Jesus was clearly among the living for a single day (or less). Mark and Matthew are more ambiguous, and John 21:25 implies that Jesus was on earth for a length of time (Interpreter's One-Volume Commentary, p. 706). The book of Acts states that his stay was forty days in length. Acts 1:2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: 3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
