“And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.”
After he said this, while they were watching, he was taken up, and a cloud hid him from their sight — the cloud (nephele) recalls the glory-cloud (Shekinah) in OT theophanies, marking Christ's entry into divine presence and vindication. The bodily ascension in plain sight establishes that the risen Jesus is not a ghost or vision but the glorified humanity that sat at the right hand of God. The apostles' watching confirms the historical reality and their status as eyewitnesses.
Church Fathers on Acts 1:9
And having this said, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight Acts 1:9. Do you see that they did preach and fulfil the Gospel? For great was the gift He had bestowed on them. In the very place, He says, where you are afraid, that is, in Jerusalem, there preach ye first, and afterwards unto the uttermost part of the earth. Then for assurance of what He had said, While they beheld, He was taken up. Not while they beheld did He rise from…
Read all 2 entries in the readerNicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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