1. When did it happen? According to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24 it happened on the resurrection day. According to the Acts 1 it happened 40 days later.
(I will not post specific verses, because the logic goes through lot of them)
Joh 20:15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
Joh 20:16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
Joh 20:17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
Joh 20:18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.
Jesus told Mary not to touch Him,for He had not yet ascended to His Father,and then when He ascended at that time to the Father,He came back to earth,for He had further instructions for the saints.
Joh 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
Joh 20:20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
Joh 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
Joh 20:24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
Joh 20:25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
Jesus came back and showed Himself to the disciples,but Thomas was not there,and said he would not believe unless he had proof.
Joh 20:26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
Joh 20:27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
Joh 20:28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
Joh 20:29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
Jesus allowed Thomas to touch Him,which was permitted for He had already ascended to the Father,and Jesus was in the flesh,and gave Thomas proof that it was Him,and He did rise from the dead,in which Thomas had his proof and said,my Lord and my God.
Luk 24:39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
He also allowed the other saints to handle Him after He ascended to the Father,and showed He was in the flesh,which means Jesus had not received His glorified body yet.
Act 1:1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
Act 1:2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:
Act 1:3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
Jesus in the flesh,and showed Himself alive to the disciples for 40 days,in which He also gave them further instructions,and testifying to the saints of His death,burial,and resurrection,to wipe away all doubt if they had any,and gave them proof of the Gospel,by them witnessing of His death,burial,and resurrection.
Joh 20:29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
Blessed is he that has not seen Jesus,but yet believes,for it is by faith we are saved.
The disciples did not need faith,for they knew without a doubt,for a fact,witnessed it with their own eyes,the death,burial,and resurrection of Christ,the Gospel.
Jesus rose from the grave,ascended to the Father,came back,and was in the flesh,and showed Himself to the disciples for 40 days.,and had not yet received His glorified body yet,for His dealing with the disciples was not done yet,and after 40 days when it was done,then He ascended to heaven and received His glorified body.
Act 1:6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
Act 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Act 1:9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
Act 1:10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
Act 1:11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
After Jesus spent 40 days with His disciples,then He ascended up to the Father,and at that time He received His glorified body,which He ascended from the Mount of Olives,and will return the same way.
Zec 14:1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
Zec 14:2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Zec 14:3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
Zec 14:4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
Zec 14:5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
Zec 14:9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
Jesus ascended from the Mount of Olives,and shall come back the same way,and will step foot on the Mount of Olives,and save Israel,and defeat the world,and take over the world,and Jesus and the saints will rule over the people that God spared at the battle of Armageddon.
2. According to the Scriptures, He was taken up to the sky/clouds. What is the reason for this? We know that there is no "heaven" above our clouds, the Universe is almost unending to all sides from our planet. And being in Australia, He would go to a different direction. So what actually happened? And why in this way?
There is a heaven above the clouds for the Bible says that a person was caught up to the third heaven,which is where God dwells with the angels,and to symbolize that God dwells in the highest place,and Satan dwells in the second heaven for he is the prince of the power of the air,and the clouds above us,what we see is the first heaven,which Satan can also dwell in the first heaven,for he has access to the second,and first heaven,which we wrestle not against flesh,and blood,but spiritual wickedness in high places,so he influences on earth.
The Bible says the heaven,and the heaven of heavens cannot contain God,for He is an omnipresent Spirit,which means all of the space above the earth is considered heaven,for it is above the earth,so there is a heaven above the clouds,for it is all heaven above the earth.
There is a heaven above the clouds,for to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord,and the souls under the altar say to Jesus,how long will it be before you avenge us,and He says when all the saints are gathered unto us,and I do not think that this is going on under the clouds,but of course they would be invisible so how would we know,but still it is not going on under the clouds.
I get what you are saying,for it would appear that if there is a heaven above the clouds,then it can only be one direction up,and there is this side,and that side,so how can that heaven be straight up from both sides,or "four sides",which it can be,for heaven is above the clouds,but this is concerning where God dwells with His angels.
But this is Jesus we are talking about,and if He ascended from the Mount of Olives,but the heaven was actually straight up from the other side of the earth,after He disappeared from the disciples sight do you not think with all His power,and all His intelligence,and all His navigation skills,as being God,that He cannot find His way to where God is dwelling with His angels,and saints,for I do not think He would get lost on the way there,especially when God translated Him there.
Heaven is above the clouds,and where ever Jesus ascended from on earth,it is all heaven straight up,and God dwells there,but where Jesus dwells with the angels would not seem like it could be straight up from all "four sides" of the earth,for is there that many angels that can be straight up on any part of the earth,if they dwelt so far away from us in the third heaven.
Heaven keeps going in all directions from above the earth,for all that is above the earth,no matter how far it goes is considered heaven.
This is one of these pondering questions to me,and not totally clear cut for me,but for the most part settled for me,but it would seem like where God dwells with the angels could not be straight up from every single spot on the earth,for how can there be that many angels that could be straight up from the earth dwelling with God,although God is above every single spot on earth.
But heaven is above the clouds,for all that is above the earth no matter how far up is considered heaven,for the heaven,and the heaven of heaven,cannot contain God,and no matter where Jesus ascended from the earth,He will be where God and the angels dwell.
