Why Do You Stand Looking?

Articles

Lance Byers
04/12/25 - Topical Study

“The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.” ~Vidal Sassoon

The final words Jesus spoke to the original disciples before ascending into heaven were, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon yo0u, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:7-8) He was then carried up in a cloud and vanished. Naturally, Jesus had given these men a mission. If we look back at Matthew 28:19 when He says to, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” This can be seen with even more clarity in Mark 16:16.

These men had a mission, and Jesus was leaving to set them on it. Turning to the book of Revelation, Jesus himself tells us of the importance of doing this duty when He tell us three times in the final chapter the same message:

Revelation 22:7 – “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.

Revelation 22:12 – “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.

Revelation 22:20 – “Surely, I am coming soon!”

Naysayers will scoff at this saying that, “Isn’t 2,000 years long enough?” The truth is that God is longsuffering but there is an appointed time, “but concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” (Matthew 24:36)

Jesus describes this further in multiple parables, keeping in in the same context in Matthew 24:42-44, Jesus says:

“Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, what if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

They had work to do, and nobody but God, Himself, knew when that work was going to be due. That same work is passed on to us because, by the grace of God, we have continued opportunity to keep doing the good work God had set for us to do. The problem is that we often find ourselves in the same position as the disciples of Acts 1. Jesus had just ascended to heaven, having left them a mission. He left in a spectacle and His beloved friends had watched Him ascend, but instead of getting stared with their mission, they just stood and waited, looking, watching into the heavens. How long were they there just looking and staring, we do not know. It was not long, but God had to goad them along in Acts 1:10-11.

“And while they were gazing into heaven as He went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 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.”

“Why do you stand looking?” What a pointed statement. The answer is obvious, but that is not what the angels are trying to do. They had a job to do. They had a mission. They could not keep looking backwards to their time with the Lord, and the extraordinary events which had happened the past three years. They were to take that knowledge and the power they were going to receive in a brief time and apply it. To spread the word. To baptize people into the kingdom. To open the kingdom to those who had previously been outside the gates, only wishing they could enter. To tell and record their stories of Jesus so we can all experience it.

We all have that same tendency to stand looking. Sometimes knowing what we must do, but not doing it, or not sure what to do, so we freeze and contemplate and the time for action passes us by. We must all be ready to not be caught just standing and looking but standing up for the Word and taking opportunities to spread who Jesus is. After all, we only have a fleeting time before our mission’s time will be up and nobody knows how much time is left on the clock. Do not be left looking.

Carpe diem!

Lance Byers

April 12, 2025