Pictures of Jesus Ascension

According to the Gospels, Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. The Gospel of Matthew states that an angel appeared near the tomb of Jesus and announced his resurrection to the women who had arrived to anoint the body.

According to Luke it was two angels, and according to Mark it was a youth dressed in white. The sight of this angel had apparently left the Roman guards unconscious(Matthew 28: 2-4). (According to Matthew, the high priests and Pharisees, with Pilate's permission, had posted guards in front of the tomb to prevent the body from being stolen by Jesus' disciples.)

Mark states that on the morning of his resurrection, Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene. John states that when Mary looked into the tomb, two angels asked her why she was crying; and as she turned round she initially failed to recognize Jesus until he spoke her name.

The Acts of the Apostles tell that Jesus appeared to various people in various places over the next forty days. Hours after his resurrection, he appeared to two travellers on the road to Emmaus. To his assembled disciples he showed himself on the evening after his resurrection. According to John, during one of these visits, Jesus's disciple Thomas initially doubted the resurrection, but after being invited to place his finger in Jesus's pierced side, said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Thereafter, Jesus went to Galilee and showed himself to several of his disciples by the lake and on the mountain. These disciples were present when he returned to Mount Olivet, between Bethany and Jerusalem.

Although his own ministry had been specifically to Israel,Jesus sent his apostles to the Gentiles with the Great Commission ascended to heaven while a cloud concealed him from their sight. According to Acts, Paul of Tarsus also saw Jesus during his Road to Damascus experience (Acts 9:1-19). Jesus promises to come again to fulfill the remainder of Messianic prophecy.

The first account of the Ascension found in the Christian Bible in the Gospel of Mark. Jesus and the remaining eleven Disciples are seated at a table, presumably in a room in or near Jerusalem. Jesus commands his followers to spread the Gospel, and that those who believe will be known by their invulnerability to poison, ability to heal the sick, and the like. After delivering these final words, Jesus is received into Heaven to sit at the right hand of God. No description of the Ascension itself is given; Mark simply states the fact that it happened.


In both Mark and Luke, the Ascension takes place immediately after the Resurrection of Jesus (16:14-19).