The Ascension always falls on a Thursday, 40 days after Resurrection Sunday. Then 9 days of praying in the Upper Room (1st Novena) and on the 50th day from the Resurrection the Holy Spirit fell on Pentecost. Pentecost means “the fiftieth day.”
One of our past pilgrims wrote to me expressing an apparent contradiction in the Bible about what I had said in Israel. The wording in the two verses below is what caused the confusion.
Acts 1:12 “[After the Ascension] they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away.”
Luke 24:50–51 “Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven.”
So, did Jesus ascend into heaven from the Mount of Olives or from Bethany?
There is a Muslim mosque five minute’s walk away (called the Chapel of the Ascension) that most Protestants visit but I don’t patronize Muslim sites and don’t accept this as the authentic place of the Ascension.
No one knows the exact square inches where his feet left the ground. But the Church of Pater Noster has the oldest tradition, is on the Mount of Olives and very near Bethany.
If we had had the time, and there was not the big wall separating Jerusalem from Bethany like it does Jerusalem from Bethlehem, in a few minutes we could walk into Bethany from the top of the Mount of Olives. We used to walk people there to go into the tomb of Lazarus. That is how close Bethany is to the top of the Mount of Olives.
However, I can’t do that with groups anymore because of the big wall that keeps us from walking from the Mount of Olives into Bethany.
Bethany is on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives about 2 miles from Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley. From the time of Jesus until the late 1800’s there was nothing on the Mount of Olives but olive trees (even until the late 1800’s, see picture black and white picture from about 1900). If you left from Jerusalem, heading to the Mount of Olives, it was perceived you were headed to Bethany.
The other two maps show the proximity of Bethany, the the top of the Mount of Olives and the short distance from the walled city of Jerusalem. Luke wrote both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. He obviously saw no contradiction in referring to both places as the general location of Christ’s ascension.
If someone asks me where I’m from, I always say “Detroit.” But those who have been to my house know I really live 40 miles east of Detroit in Plymouth. But since no one knows where Plymouth is – I say “Detroit.”
If there is nothing but trees and bare land on the Mount of Olives and you’re heading east from Jerusalem, people would say you are going to Bethany. Jesus left Jerusalem and went over toward Bethany to ascend into heaven.
So if the geography is understood there is no conflict. Scripture can be trusted.
This Post Has 7 Comments
Excellent! Great explanation. Your blog is like learning some new apologetic fact every day.
STEVE RAY HERE: Thanks Tom. You are a good friend.
I’m curious what you think about Matthew 28:16 – “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.” This seems to indicate that the Ascension occurred in Galilee instead of Judea. Is there an explanation for the apparent discrepancy?
STEVE RAY HERE: Tom: We know that Jesus appeared to his apostles many times over the 40 days between his resurrection and his ascension. Some of these appearances were in the Jerusalem area and many in Galilee. While in Galilee he met them at least twice: 1) Mount Tabor where he gave them the Great Commission and 2) at the sea where he fed them loaves and fish in John 21. He also met them in the south. Mary Magdalen at the tomb, two disciples on the road to Emmaus, Upper Room and a few others where the location is not specified (http://www.catholic.org/clife/lent/appearances.php).
The mountain in Galilee is Mount Tabor, the mountain of the transfiguration. The mountain from which Jesus ascended to heaven is the Mount of Olives. It is to the Mount of Olives that the Messiah will return at the end of time. After Jesus departed to heaven, the disciples walked back to Jerusalem and entered the Upper Room.
Enjoyed the entry on the transfiguration. I have written a novel of historical Christian fiction . I am fact checking a final time, hopefully & would you know if Mary the mother of Jesus was with the disciples when He ascended. I wrote that it was only the Apostles who met the Blessed Mother afterward. I will look into the scripture in the meantime & check out your blog as well. I got this in a Google search. Thank you!
Steve who was it that built that big wall and what's it for?
STEVE RAY HERE: The Wall was built by Israel to protect itself. It is intended to keep about Muslims with I’ll-intent, such as suicide bombers, from entering Israel and Jerusalem. It has been very successful in that regard.
I remain so impressed with the guy that I barley knew 12 years ago! I wish that I could have the ardor for explaining and defending the faith that a Steve Ray has. God bless you and Janet in you work to explain and defend the Faith.
THis resonates with me and seems also to answer the question perhaps of what a Sabbath Day’s journey would actually be – 2 miles – Luke 24:50-51 (ESV) And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. [51] While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. Then John 11:18 (ESV) Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, Then compare what Luke said in Acts 1:11-12 (ESV) and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” [12] Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. What do you think?
I enjoyed reading the questions and comments regarding the Mount of Olives and Bethany, regarding Jesus’s ascension. It’s always a pleasure to read and hear something different and make you think about what you are reading or hearing. It’s a wonderful thing to know Jesus as Savior and Lord.
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