In Like Manner

After Jesus’ resurrection he was with his disciples for 40 days (Acts 1:3), and on the day of his departure he took them to the Mount of Olives. There he was asked, if he would at that time restore the kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6). That is, his disciples wanted to know if, now that he had been resurrected, would he restore the Kingdom of God to Israel, namely make it once again a Theocracy, as it had been before the reign of Saul. Jesus replied that it was not for them to know the times (G5550 – meaning the greater period of time) nor the seasons (G2540 – meaning the lesser period of time). In other words, Jesus was saying it was not for them to know the day or the hour, which God had placed under his authority alone (Acts 1:7; cf. Matthew 24:36).

After Jesus finished speaking with them, they beheld him rise up into the heavens until a cloud took him out of their sight (Acts 1:9), but as they kept looking two angels appeared to them and told them that Jesus would return “in like manner, as you have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:10-11). Many presume that the angel told the disciples that Jesus would return literally on a cloud to the Mount of Olives (Matthew 24:30; Acts 1:11) from where he ascended to heaven. Would this be an accurate interpretation of Acts 1:11?

What if Jesus were to return, not as a physical man on a cloud to Mount of Olives, but, rather as foreign armies—the Roman army commanded by the Roman general Titus, who no doubt looked upon the city from the Mount of Olives. Could this be a fulfillment of what the angel claimed in Acts 1:11? Certainly no one would have actually seen a visible, physical, Jesus return to Mount Olives under such circumstances, but Daniel claims:

And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (Daniel 9:26-27; emphasis mine)

First of all, notice that the subject of the first complete sentence (verse-26) is “the Messiah.” The Messiah is cut off, and then the people of the prince (probably Titus) shall destroy the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (the Temple) in what is called a “war”. Next, Daniel says: “He shall confirm the covenant with the many for one week…” Who is the “He” that Daniel mentions?

The only single person Daniel could refer to is the subject of the previous sentence, which is the Messiah. This not only works as far as the rules of grammar are concerned, but also because Daniel 9 is about the 70 Weeks Prophecy, and 69 of those weeks brought us to the coming of the Messiah. Therefore, the Messiah confirms the covenant (the New Covenant) with many for the final week of Daniel’s prophecy. It is the Messiah who caused the sacrifices to cease, and it is the Messiah who makes **it** the Temple desolate (verse-27)!

Therefore, according to Daniel, which means: according to scripture, Jesus is, indeed, able to return in glory through the armies of Rome, and this satisfies the angel’s words in Acts 1:11 (cf. Matthew 24:30; Luke 21:20). Nevertheless, what did the angel mean by “in like manner” – “on tropon” (G3739; G5158). This same phrase is used in Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34 to say Jesus could have gathered Jerusalem’s children together, “as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.” If taken literally, as some folks like to render Acts 1:11, Jesus would have had to literally gather all Israel under his literal arms. The logic is simply ridiculous.

Another example of the use of this same phrase is found in 2Timothy 3:8. There false teachers or scoffers would arise in the last days to resist the truth just **as**” (G3739; G5158) Jannes and Jambres (Egyptian magicians) resisted Moses in Pharaoh’s court. If we take this literally, the false teachers or scoffers would have to resist the truth in the latter days by changing rods into snakes. The whole idea is preposterous. Therefore, in like manner in Acts 1:11 cannot be forced to mean Jesus **must** come on a literal cloud and literally, visibly and physically stand on the Mount of Olives. Coming on the clouds of heaven (Matthew 26:64) in the person of Titus with his armies in 70 AD and destroying Jerusalem and the Temple fulfills the angels words in Acts 1:11.