“While he was blessing them” (Luke 24:51)
The gospel of Luke reveals an oddity that is easy to overlook. The oddity occurred following Jesus’ resurrection. Luke tells us in chapter 24 that after his appearance to his disciples, Christ led them out to the vicinity of Bethany. Once there He lifted-up his hands and blessed them. That figures, right? But here is where it gets unusual. Verse 51 tells us that “while he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven.” He did not bless them and then ascend. He literally ascended in the middle of blessing them. In other words, he never ended the blessing. Odd, don’t you think?
I mean when we want to tell a story, we usually have a point we want to make. We want to bring about a closure to the story. We don’t stop our story somewhere in the middle of it. We don’t draw people into a plot, and halfway through it just suddenly terminate it and walk away. Strange thing Jesus did, don’t you agree?
So, there must have been a very important reason that Jesus did that. The reason was this: Jesus wanted us to know that his blessings have no end to them. He doesn’t give us one blessing and then walk away. His blessings never expire, they have no limitations, and they never cease. The warranty on them will never run out. His blessings were not limited to the first century, or to Jerusalem, or to those disciples standing there around Bethany. His blessings were not merely for the time he walked the earth or rose from the grave. His blessings for us do not stop because of time or space, or because we make mistakes, sin, or do foolish things. His point at Bethany was that he would bless his people whether he was standing in front of them, or from his position of authority in heaven.
There is not one day in the life of God’s children that Jesus will not bless us. Blessings from Jesus Christ never cease for those who follow him. We receive them while we live in this world, and we will receive them in eternity. You see, blessings are one of those things that are eternal. They have a beginning for us when we receive Christ as our Savior, but they have no ending for us. Jesus’ blessings continue throughout our eternity. When we pass away from here, Christ’s blessings will go with us. In light of this truth, we need to start watching for his blessings. I think we miss so many of them because we focus on the negative things that are in this world. Start enjoying all the blessings Jesus Christ is giving you now, because they are but a taste of the blessings we will receive for eternity.
Darlene