I posted an article that posed the question about the Ascension of Jesus, asking “Who are the two men clothed in white?” I also posted this meme that was on an Internet search of pictures the depicted this part of the story from Acts 1. (I added the red parts)
Since Christianity is a religion of ‘paper lions’ – pew riders (at best) – no one has responded to the question; but that was expected.
I would expect someone to declare they were angels. That makes sense, because the New Testament tells of Gabriel appearing to tell people about important events; but Gabriel always appeared alone. In Genesis, Abram encountered three men, who are believed to be angels dressed like humans; so, more than one can appear at the same time. Two angels being sent by God to rescue Lot from Sodom’s coming destruction is another example. Still, Jesus is telling his disciples what to expect (after having spent forty days with them, postmortem) and when he turns into a cloud, “suddenly two men clothed in white stood beside them” (the disciples).
My question was posed to find out if leaders of congregations of Christians explain these “two men clothed in white” in their sermons, or if they ignore them because they do not know anything more than a guess: “I guess they were angels sent by God.”
To be honest, my question stems from a time when I had not put much meditation into receiving the answer. I always wondered who they were and where they came from “suddenly,” but my writing schedule always kept me from giving those verses their due attention.
On May 18, 2020 (three days before Ascension Day that year), I posted an article that interpreted this even recorded in Acts 1. Three years later, no one has read that article entitled “Look! Up in the air! It’s a bird, a plane, a …?” So, under the philosophy “Try, try again,” I will repeat myself.
To understand these three verses that some Bible sites list a heading that announces “The Ascension,” here is the Greek text, followed by my literal translation into English. My translation actually ponders the whole scope of meaning the Greek words have in translation, based on notes that delve into how some words are used elsewhere in Scripture. One element that I add, beyond this scope of scholastic analysis, I have explained before (in several reading interpretations), but I will quickly explain here, again.
It has to do with the Greek root word “autos,” which Strong’s defines as: “(1) self (emphatic) (2) he, she, it (used for the third person pronoun) (3) the same.” It is the translation of “self” that attaches that word to "he" (masculine singular) and "them" (plural), as “himself” or “themselves.” It is my firm belief (because everything about the Holy Bible is primarily a spiritual lesson and only in a secondary sense is it historical, as physical) that a “self” is the soul, which inhabits and animates the physical flesh. As such, I have found the various forms of “autos” being best translated as statements about some “self-soul.” Still, at times, the physical translation (as “themselves” or “them”) is written to show the different states a soul in its flesh depicts, as a physical self, before one’s soul is “raised” to a spiritual state of being (a Saint). This is found in these verses as the disciples are almost Apostles, but not quite there at the time of this event.
Acts 1
Verse 9
Kai tauta eipōn , blepontōn autōn , epērthē , kai nephelē hypelaben auton apo tōn ophthalmōn autōn .
Verse 10
kai hōs atenizontes ēsan eis ton ouranon poreuomenou autou , kai idou andres dyo pareistēkeisan autoiss en esthēsesi leukais ,
Verse 11
hoi kai eipan , Andres , Galilaioi , ti hestēkate blepontes eis ton ouranon ? houtos ho Iēsous , ho analēmphtheis aph’ hymōn eis ton ouranon , houtōs eleusetai hon tropon etheasasthe auton poreuomenon eis ton ouranon .
Translation into English:
[One more translation note, which I have pointed out many times in the past, but will repeat here again. The Greek word "kai" should not be translated as a pointless (almost stutter, it appears so often) "and." It should simply be read as a symbol or sign to take note and pay close attention to that said next. A capitalized "Kai" says something of great importance is now being written. A lower-case "kai" simply denotes importance that must be realized.]
Verse 9
Most Important to know these having commanded , of seeing of their souls , he was raised , important to know a cloud he was received of his soul away from of those of eyes of their souls .
Verse 10
important to know as it were looking steadily they existed among [in union] this spiritual presence of transport of his soul , important to know you behold brothers two appeared [close beside] to their souls within [inside] vestment bright [white] ,
Verse 11
those whom important to know they had been commanded , Men , Galileans , why do you stand looking into [upon] this sky [atmosphere] , he this Yahweh Saves [meaning of the name Jesus] , this having been raised hereafter of you into [in union] this spiritual presence , in this manner he will come this way you have contemplated of his soul moving to a new state in union [into] this spiritual presence .
[The words placed within brackets reflect alternative translations. When Jesus is named, I have added the meaning of that name, bracketing the name Jesus.]
Without going deeply into what the Greek text says (read the article from 2020 for that), the translation above in English should convey the spiritual aspect of these words. That differs significantly from the English translations that tell a children’s church story, with Jesus floating off on a cloud into the sky. The truth says Jesus’s soul was removed from being in union with each of the souls of his followers (he did not spend forty days in a dead corpse rotting off him … he spent that time as an angel or spirit within each disciple-follower, teaching their souls spiritually). You have to be able to see this for yourselves.
As for the “two men clothed in white,” the Greek word “andres” is written, which can translate as (in the plural): “men, male human beings, husbands” (Strong’s definition); but it can equally translate as “brethren” or “brothers.” This aspect of “brothers” is important to catch here.
The next key element has nothing to do with the written text, but everything to do with the timing of this event physically. The Church has declared Ascension Day is to be recognized in late May. This calculation is directly associated with the timing of the Passover festival and the fifty days [Pentecost] until Shavuot. Passover always begins on Nisan 15 and fifty days later is always the month of Sivan, with Shavuot always on the sixth day of Sivan. That month is said (Wikipedia) to be in May-June, in the Gregorian calendar. 6 Sivan is then relative to mid-to-late May; and, the Church leaders of old knew that.
In 2016, I was led by the divine to find (really quite miraculously) the actual birth date for Jesus. Casting an astrological chart for that birth (which the Magi would have done many months before and seen how miraculous the chart reflects phenomenal planetary (solar system) arrangements is. That chart spoke loudly to holy men that advised the king of Persia (descendants of captive Jews in Babylon). Perhaps Gabriel appeared and spoke to them as well, ensuring they knew this was a sign of a Messiah coming. That was what then led them to get a trip to Jerusalem financed and approved by the Persian king; and, that explains “the star of Bethlehem,” It is that big star we see in the sky every day. [Hint: It is the Sun.]
This then says the “star” points to where the sun’s placement in May … actually 5 Sivan … is, on the day before Shavuot [what we like to call Pentecost]. Jesus was not born in the dead of winter, nor at night, but when the sun was high in the sky, during mid-spring. He was born on 5 Sivan (on a Sabbath), which was in the Roman calendar made it be May 25 that year. Jesus then Ascended on the same 5 Sivan date, meaning he came from the Father and returned to the Father on the same day of the year!
That birth date says Jesus was astrologically a Gemini, when the sun is before that constellation between May 21 and June 21 each year [Tropical calculation, not Sidereal]. The sign Gemini (from the Latin word Dídymoi ) means “the twins.” The “twins” were “brothers,” named Castor and Pollux, where “Pollux was the son of Zeus, who seduced Leda, while Castor was the son of Tyndareus, the king of Sparta and Leda's husband.” (Wikipedia article Gemini)
Long story short, both were allowed to become immortalized as stars in the constellation named Gemini. So, while all the disciples were looking up in the air (like all the pew sitters listening to the children’s church story of this event), they were spiritually allowed to see these two immortal “brothers” (something like angels), who asked them (basically), “Why do you look outside your souls (yourselves) to find Yahweh’s Salvation (Jesus)?"
Rather than see a constellation of stars in broad daylight, their souls saw two immortal spirits [angels] who symbolized where each of their souls would be (the next day, atop the house the disciples and followers were still utilizing). Those immortal spirits told them the return of Jesus' soul will be within you, in the same was the vision of an external soul of Jesus just suddenly vaporized into nebulosity (a cloud).
The statement made to the disciples by these "two brothers," whose "robes" were the "bright white" star arrangement they were given immortality to represent, reflect the "brotherhood" of a soul (the metaphorical equivalent of the mortal Castor) with the soul of Jesus (the metaphorical equivalent of the immortal Pollux). Jesus is the soul of Adam reborn, with Adam being the equivalent to the immortality given to the "union" between an elohim (spirit-angel-god) and the flesh formed from earth-clay-matter. Jesus being born (sent by the Father when the sun was in that sign - a sign He created) as a Gemini reflects the duality of the Son of Yahweh, who was created to join with lost souls to save them. This relates to Pollux pleading with Zeus to raise his 'half-brother' from his mortal death, where Zeus obliged, sending both sons to the immortality of the stars (metaphor for Heaven, as Eden).
To me, that is part of the story that needs to be told. It tells the truth and the truth is what gets one’s butt off the pew and headed to work as a disciple, wanting with all one’s heart, soul, strength, and mind to be an Apostle. The Ascension of Jesus' soul (not his dead flesh, which had been taken away by angels forty-two days prior) was to be like the two brothers robed in brightness and stand beside the soul-flesh of his disciples, until Yahweh would send His Son's soul to join with the soul of an Apostle, immortalizing each pair forever, as Saints whose Lord will forevermore be Jesus Christ.
You do not become immortalized (saved by Jesus) by doing nothing to receive his soul alongside AND within one's soul-flesh. You have to stop looking up in the air for Jesus' return!!! Belief is what disciples try to figure out; but faith is being led by the inner Christ Mind to know the truth, when Yahweh sends His messages to His Son and a submissive wife-soul gets to be 'in on that inside skinny.'
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