But the disciples were not yet prepared to fulfil this commission.  So He appointed another meeting, to be held in Jerusalem, where He met them, “speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.”  Here the command on the mountain was limited by another—­not to depart from Jerusalem immediately.  “Wait” said He, “for the promise of the Father which you heard from Me.”  That promise we find in John’s record:—­“I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever.”  “The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, shall teach you all things.”  “He shall testify of Me.”  In the fulfilment of that promise, the disciples were to find the preparation to “go” and “preach.”  For that preparation they were to “wait.”

Jesus then reminds them of the assurance given by John the Baptist concerning Himself:—­“He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.”  Once more John is carried back to the Jordan, and reminded of the time when he and Jesus had been baptized.  All those former scenes must have been recalled when Jesus at the final meeting in Jerusalem declared, “John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”

These words revived in the disciples the hope which had died in them when Jesus died upon the cross.  So, with yet mistaken ideas, they asked, “Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” John and the rest of the Bethsaidan band, who had heard the Baptist say that the kingdom of God was at hand, hoped that “at this time” it would appear.  But, as when Jesus gave no direct answer to the two pairs of brothers on Olivet concerning the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, or to Peter’s question concerning John’s future, so now He avoided a direct answer to this last question.  He reminded them of something more important for them than knowledge of the future:  that was their own duty,—­not to reign, but to be witnesses for Him, first in Jerusalem, then throughout Judaea, then in Samaria, then “unto the uttermost parts of the earth.”  Yet this could not be until they had “received power after that the Holy Ghost had come upon them.”  This was promised them:  they did not clearly understand what was meant:  they were waiting to see.

“He led them out until they were over against Bethany,”—­well-remembered Bethany.  From there Jesus had made His triumphal entry into the City of the Great King:  from there He would make a more glorious entry into the New Jerusalem.  John was not His herald now.  He, with the other ten, was “led” by Him to witness His departure.

As He ascended Olivet the last time, did He not give a parting glance down the slope into the village below, His eye resting on the home of those He loved, made radiant for us by the search-light thrown upon it by the loved disciple at His side?  In thought did He not say, “Lazarus, Martha, Mary, farewell.”

The lifted hands, the parting blessing, the luminous cloud, and the vanishing form—­such is the brief story of the Ascension.