Christ Going Up to Heaven No. 47 — Reading Notes

(0 User reviews) 261

In Category - Theology

Authors: Unknown Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2011 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Jesus Christ -- Ascension -- Juvenile literature; Bible stories, English -- Luke -- Juvenile literature; Bible stories, English -- New Testament -- Juvenile literature Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 4,395

Reading time 20 min

Text sections 1

The catalog record for Christ Going Up to Heaven No. 47 — Reading Notes provides practical reading context through 4,395 words, 20 min estimated reading time, and 1 detected text section.

The text analysis averages about 20.2 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Jesus Christ -- Ascension -- Juvenile literature,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #37564

This anonymous 1848 children's book retells the Ascension of Jesus through direct address, simple dialogue, and vivid sensory details. The author uses a conversational tone, rhetorical questions, and comparisons to everyday experiences to make the biblical event accessible to young readers.

Editorial Edition Score 4.4/5

★★★★★ ★★★★★

Calculated from edition completeness, EPUB availability, text structure and catalogue metadata. Not a user rating.

How this score is calculated

Description quality20 pts
Title & short description10 pts
Source metadata20 pts
Text length15 pts
Chapters / structure15 pts
EPUB file integrity20 pts

Total of 100 points, scaled to a 2.5-5.0 range. Editions with an empty description or a missing EPUB file are not scored.

Edition quality

File: pg37564

Read the Text

Where was Jesus when he took his last walk with his friends? He was in a town called Jerusalem, and he walked into the country. How sweet is a country walk? Children who live in towns are delighted when their fathers say to them, "I shall take you to the green fields to-day." Then the children think, "We shall hear the birds sing, and we shall gather flowers from the hedges, and see the little lambs by the side of their mothers; we shall play about, and be so happy." And even grown-up people like to go into the country. If they wish to talk about God, they like to walk in a quiet place among shady trees. Jesus took his friends by his favourite path; he led them down into a low place over a little stream, then by a garden where olive trees grew,--then up a green mountain called Olivet. When they were at the top he began to pray with them. While he prayed, he lifted up his hands to bless them. In a moment he was gone--a cloud took him up. His friends looked up, and the cloud was going up higher and higher, till at last it looked like a speck, and then could not be seen at all.

But on the mountain-top there stood two men; they were angels, dressed in white. No one can tell how bright angels look, or how sweetly they speak. These angels had come to comfort the friends of the Lord Jesus. They said, "Why do you stand looking up towards heaven? Jesus shall come again in the same way that you have seen him go into heaven."

Has Jesus come again? Not yet; but he will come. Those angels would not have told lies; they know that Jesus will one day come down here again, and that they shall come with him. What a glorious day it will be! Some people will be very much frightened when they see him; they will howl, and shriek, and try to hide themselves in deep holes, but they will not be able to get away. The angels will seize them, and shut them in that dark and burning place where Satan will torment them for ever and ever. But some people will be glad to see Jesus; they will say, "This is our God; we have waited for him." Should you be glad, my dear child, to see Jesus this day? We know not when he will come. Have you prayed to him to-day? Do you love him?

But what became of the friends of Jesus who were standing on Mount Olivet looking up into the sky? They could not stay with the angels, they went back to Jerusalem. Did they go back crying and sobbing, and saying, "We have lost our dearest friend?" Oh, no; they went back quite glad, for they had not lost Jesus; they knew where he was gone; they knew he would pray to his Father, and that he would send down the Holy Spirit very soon. So they waited at Jerusalem as Jesus had told them, and in ten days Jesus did send down the Holy Spirit upon his dear friends.

There is a sweet name given to the Holy Spirit; it is this, the Comforter. Why is he called the Comforter? Because he comforts people when they are in trouble. When we are unhappy we like to be comforted. If a little child falls down and hurts itself, it runs crying to its mother; it wants to be comforted. And oh, how tenderly a mother comforts her little darling! She takes it on her knee and kisses it, and says, "Tell mother what is the matter. Has it hurt its dear little hand?" and then she kisses the hand, and the child soon leaves off crying, and leans its head upon its mother's bosom.

But no mother can comfort as the Holy Spirit can. He tells people that God loves them, and has forgiven their sins, and will take them to heaven. My child, ask God for his Holy Spirit, and he will hear you.

You may find the history of Jesus going up to heaven in Luke xxiv. 50 to end; Acts i. 1--12.

There is a glorious world of light, Above the starry sky, Where saints departed, clothed in light, Adore the Lord most high. We're marching through Immanuel's ground, And soon shall hear the trumpet sound. We hope to meet at Jesus' feet, And never, never part again! What! never part again? No, never part again. What! never part again? No, never part again. We hope to meet at Jesus' feet, And never, never part again.

(_Hill's Collection._)

Macintosh, Printer, Great New-street, London.

Continue Reading →

The anonymous author of Christ Going Up to Heaven, identified only as the writer of Peep of Day, employs a direct, conversational style that immediately draws the child reader into the narrative. The opening lines—'Once the Son of God walked about this world, but he is not here now. Where is he?'—establish a pattern of rhetorical questions that guide the reader through the story. The author consistently addresses 'my child,' creating an intimate, instructional tone. The text is structured as a series of simple declarative sentences and questions, mimicking the cadence of oral storytelling. Notably, the author includes sensory details such as the marks of nails and spear, described as 'quite well, they did not bleed now,' grounding the miraculous in tangible, healed flesh. This choice emphasizes the physical reality of the resurrection while softening its violence for a juvenile audience.

Conversational Directness and Rhetorical Questions

The author’s primary rhetorical device is the rhetorical question, used to anticipate and shape the child’s curiosity. Questions like 'When did he go there?', 'About what did Jesus speak?', and 'What was it?' serve as structural pivots, each answered immediately in the following sentences. This technique mimics a teacher-learner dialogue, keeping the young reader engaged. The questions are not open-ended but lead to doctrinal answers: 'He said that he would send the Holy Spirit down from heaven to be with them.' The author also uses questions to reinforce key points, such as 'Who is the Holy Spirit?', followed by a simple definition: 'He is God; he comes down and fills the hearts of God's people.' This catechism-like pattern reflects the book’s instructional purpose within a religious education context.

Sensory and Emotional Anchoring

Despite the supernatural subject, the author grounds the narrative in concrete, relatable details. The description of Jesus’s walk to Bethany includes a specific route: 'down into a low place over a little stream, then by a garden where olive trees grew,—then up a green mountain called Olivet.' This geographical precision gives the story a tangible setting. The emotional state of the disciples is conveyed through their love for Jesus—'they loved him very much, as well they might'—and their grief is implied rather than stated. The angels’ appearance is described in sensory terms: 'No one can tell how bright angels look, or how sweetly they speak.' The author balances the ineffable with the familiar, comparing the ascending cloud to 'a speck' that 'could not be seen at all,' a visual image a child can easily picture.

Juxtaposition of Suffering and Comfort

The narrative does not shy away from the crucifixion but presents it in a controlled, retrospective manner. The marks of the nails and spear are mentioned as healed evidence of Jesus’s love: 'Whenever his friends looked at those marks, they thought of his love in dying for them.' The author immediately extends this love to the reader: 'for it was for their sins he died, and not for theirs only, but for your sins, also, my child.' This direct address personalizes the atonement. The promise of the Holy Spirit is framed as a comfort: 'It is pleasant to see Jesus, and to walk about with him, but it is still better to have the Holy Spirit in our hearts, for the Holy Spirit makes people good and happy.' The angels’ question—'Why do you stand looking up to...'—interrupts the disciples’ gaze, redirecting their attention from loss to future action.

Stylistic Simplicity and Repetition

The author’s prose is marked by short, declarative sentences and deliberate repetition. Phrases like 'he is not here now' and 'he is in heaven' are repeated for emphasis. The word 'Oh' appears as an interjection ('Oh, it is a long while ago'), adding a conversational, almost wistful tone. The author also uses parallelism: 'he had been nailed to a cross, and killed, and buried. But he had soon come out of his grave.' This rhythmic structure aids memorization, likely intended for oral recitation. The vocabulary is carefully chosen for a young audience: 'speck' for the distant cloud, 'green fields' and 'little lambs' for the country walk analogy. The analogy itself—comparing Jesus’s walk to a father taking children to the country—bridges the sacred and the domestic, making the divine accessible through everyday experience.

Readers will notice how the author balances theological instruction with emotional warmth, never losing sight of the child listener. The text rewards attention to its structural patterns—the question-and-answer format, the sensory details, and the direct address. Consider how the author’s choices in diction and pacing shape the reader’s understanding of the Ascension not as a distant event but as a present reality. The book’s brevity and clarity make it a useful example of mid-19th-century religious education for children.

That rainy afternoon, Christ Going Up to Heaven No. 47 felt less like a lesson and more like a whispered conversation—the same gentle directness I remembered from my mother’s voice. It made me wander over to her old shelf, settling instead on Mother Stories from the Old Testament A Book of the Best Stories from the Old Testament that Mothers can tell their Children — Reading Companion, which held that same unhurried warmth for the hours ahead.