Did Jesus ascend to heaven twice, once to sprinkle His blood on the altar and then again after spending 40 days with the crowds and teaching Paul what we needed to know?
According to Hebrews 9:11-12 Jesus went into the temple in heaven to sprinkle His blood on the altar there, acting as our High Priest. This happened on resurrection morning (John 20:17). He returned that afternoon and met with two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-32) and then with more of them that night (John 20:19-23). He could have gone back and forth a number of times in the 40 days after the resurrection, and even more since. Remember, He didn’t meet Paul on the Damascus Road until several years later. But there was only one official “Ascension” and that’s the one from the Mt. of Olives mentioned in Acts 1:6-11.