Then he said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you. I told you that everything written about me in Moses’ Teachings, the Prophets, and the Psalms had to come true.”
The soldiers said to each other, “Let’s not rip it apart. Let’s throw dice to see who will get it.” In this way the Scripture came true: “They divided my clothes among themselves. They threw dice for my clothing.” So that’s what the soldiers did.
They asked, “Why are you men from Galilee standing here looking at the sky? Jesus, who was taken from you to heaven, will come back in the same way that you saw him go to heaven.”
God the Father used his power to give Jesus the honored position—the one next to him on the heavenly throne. Jesus has also received and has poured out the Holy Spirit as the Father had promised, and this is what you’re seeing and hearing.
I know a follower of Christ who was snatched away to the third heaven fourteen years ago. I don’t know whether this happened to him physically or spiritually. Only God knows.
The mystery that gives us our reverence for God is acknowledged to be great: He appeared in his human nature, was approved by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was announced throughout the nations, was believed in the world, and was taken to heaven in glory.
We need to hold on to our declaration of faith: We have a superior chief priest who has gone through the heavens. That person is Jesus, the Son of God.
We need a chief priest who is holy, innocent, pure, set apart from sinners, and who holds the honored position—the one next to God the Father on the heavenly throne.
The main point we want to make is this: We do have this kind of chief priest. This chief priest holds the honored position—the one next to the majestic God [the Father] on the heavenly throne.