Jesus drew near and said to them, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age."

Then he said to them, "These are the very things I told you about while I was still with you: everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the writings of the prophets, and the Psalms had to come true."

and said to them, "This is what is written: the Messiah must suffer and must rise from death three days later,

You are witnesses of these things.

Then he led them out of the city as far as Bethany, where he raised his hands and blessed them.

After they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?" "Yes, Lord," he answered, "you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Take care of my lambs."

Jesus answered him, "If I want him to live until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!"

until the day he was taken up to heaven. Before he was taken up, he gave instructions by the power of the Holy Spirit to the men he had chosen as his apostles.

For forty days after his death he appeared to them many times in ways that proved beyond doubt that he was alive. They saw him, and he talked with them about the Kingdom of God.

As the time drew near when Jesus would be taken up to heaven, he made up his mind and set out on his way to Jerusalem.

Then he led them out of the city as far as Bethany, where he raised his hands and blessed them.

As he was blessing them, he departed from them and was taken up into heaven.

It was now the day before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. He had always loved those in the world who were his own, and he loved them to the very end.

I did come from the Father, and I came into the world; and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father."

I have shown your glory on earth; I have finished the work you gave me to do.

Father! Give me glory in your presence now, the same glory I had with you before the world was made.

And now I am coming to you, and I say these things in the world so that they might have my joy in their hearts in all its fullness.

They still had their eyes fixed on the sky as he went away, when two men dressed in white suddenly stood beside them

and said, "Galileans, why are you standing there looking up at the sky? This Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way that you saw him go to heaven."

He has been raised to the right side of God, his Father, and has received from him the Holy Spirit, as he had promised. What you now see and hear is his gift that he has poured out on us.

He must remain in heaven until the time comes for all things to be made new, as God announced through his holy prophets of long ago.

which he used when he raised Christ from death and seated him at his right side in the heavenly world.

God put all things under Christ's feet and gave him to the church as supreme Lord over all things.

As the scripture says, "When he went up to the very heights, he took many captives with him; he gave gifts to people."

So the one who came down is the same one who went up, above and beyond the heavens, to fill the whole universe with his presence.

He reflects the brightness of God's glory and is the exact likeness of God's own being, sustaining the universe with his powerful word. After achieving forgiveness for the sins of all human beings, he sat down in heaven at the right side of God, the Supreme Power.

Let us, then, hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we have a great High Priest who has gone into the very presence of God---Jesus, the Son of God.

On our behalf Jesus has gone in there before us and has become a high priest forever, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.

Jesus, then, is the High Priest that meets our needs. He is holy; he has no fault or sin in him; he has been set apart from sinners and raised above the heavens.

The whole point of what we are saying is that we have such a High Priest, who sits at the right of the throne of the Divine Majesty in heaven.

For Christ did not go into a Holy Place made by human hands, which was a copy of the real one. He went into heaven itself, where he now appears on our behalf in the presence of God.

Christ, however, offered one sacrifice for sins, an offering that is effective forever, and then he sat down at the right side of God.

There he now waits until God puts his enemies as a footstool under his feet.

We have, then, my friends, complete freedom to go into the Most Holy Place by means of the death of Jesus.

We have a great priest in charge of the house of God.

Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of God's throne.

who has gone to heaven and is at the right side of God, ruling over all angels and heavenly authorities and powers.

To those who win the victory I will give the right to sit beside me on my throne, just as I have been victorious and now sit by my Father on his throne.

The LORD said to my lord, "Sit here at my right side until I put your enemies under your feet."

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw God's glory and Jesus standing at the right side of God.

"Look!" he said. "I see heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right side of God!"

Then the end will come; Christ will overcome all spiritual rulers, authorities, and powers, and will hand over the Kingdom to God the Father.

For Christ must rule until God defeats all enemies and puts them under his feet.

who has gone to heaven and is at the right side of God, ruling over all angels and heavenly authorities and powers.

Listen! I stand at the door and knock; if any hear my voice and open the door, I will come into their house and eat with them, and they will eat with me.