By Hedrik F. Stander
The New Testament links Christ's ascension with his second coming. We read in Acts 1:10-11 that, when Jesus ascended to heaven, two men dressed in white said to the disciples that "this same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." The ancient theologians often argued about the meaning of the words "in the same way." Ps.-Epiphanius suggests that it means that Christ will come "in bodily form." When he returns to the earth, he will also keep his side which was wounded by the soldier's spear to the front so the Jews could see whom they had pierced (c.f. Rev. 1:7). And Augustine believes that just as Christ ascended as both God and man, he will also come again as both God and man. Diadochus states that Christ will descend on a cloud since he ascended on a cloud.
