On the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
Jesus didn’t exit this world through the shame of death; but through the glory and honor of ascension.
We don’t focus as much on Jesus’ ascension in our tradition as some other churches – certainly not as much as we focus on his crucifixion and resurrection – but Jesus’ ascension is preserved and professed in the creed as an essential aspect of our faith.
And, it’s not just a time-filler between Jesus’ resurrection and return; but it’s packed with meaning and significance for our world and for our faith.
It reminds us where Jesus is and what he is doing now –
Because we might be tempted to think that Jesus is no longer with us – distant – uninvolved;
Or we might be tempted to think that Jesus is sort of just taking a break – after the laboring of being crucified and passing victorious through death that he’s just sitting down taking a breather until he’s up again; that he’s inactive or even apathetic or uncommitted to us or to our world
And we’re going to see that:
- It doesn’t mean that Jesus is inactive; but that he’s reigning;
- It doesn’t mean that Jesus is distant; but that he’s present;
- It doesn’t mean that Jesus is apathetic; but that he’s interceeding;
- It doesn’t mean that Jesus is uncommitted; but that he’s coming
In Jesus ascension, we see:
- Jesus’ Reign
- Jesus’ Presence
- Jesus’ Prayers
- Jesus’ Coming
In the accounts of Jesus’ resurrection, he goes “up” to heaven. And while heaven seems to be in the sky, nevertheless that “up” is not primarily a directional thing; but it’s primarily an “up” of status – it’s a movement to the place of highest honor and exaltation.
Jesus ascension is all about his movement to the place of ultimate honor and exaltation.
It’s not so much that he’s moving physically up although that is what the disciples witnessed; but that’s not the significance of it – the significance of it is Jesus being exalted to the highest place.
The place of honor and exaltation – that by virtue of who he is – and by virtue of what he has done to accomplish the salvation of humanity through the self-sacrificing and suffering in the laying down of his life; that now he is raised up to the highest place.
And not only exaltation and honor; but in the idea of being seated at the right hand of the father carries with it – not the idea of taking a rest or taking a break – but the idea of royalty – this is the place of honor which even the angels aren’t worthy to sit;
because it is the throne that was always his, but now he sits on it as the exalted conquering King; with all things under his feet.
This is of crucial importance: The ascension doesn’t picture Jesus in heaven waiting; the ascension pictures Jesus in heaven ruling with and at the right hand of his Father. He is on his royal throne; he is king over all; and he is governing all things by his power according to his sovereign will – directing and permitting and working all things for the good of those who love him.
Jesus reign isn’t yet fully realized – that’s why we pray “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
because we recognize that Jesus reign isn’t fully recognized or perfectly lived out in our world;
But, at the same time, Jesus is really reigning – thats why we pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
And that gap – between Jesus’ kingdom as it is in heaven and as it will be on earth one day – and Jesus’ kingdom on earth now – now imperfect; now still filled with sin and struggle and suffering; now still a mixture of good and evil and submission and rebellion – which won’t all be sorted out until that final day –
that is sadness and that is struggle; but we face that with hope and confidence.
Because the longing of our hearts and the aim of our lives is to more fully recognized and reflect Jesus’ reign in our world – until the day when he returns and establishes his new world where there’s no longer any difference between the recognition and reflection of his will on earth and on heaven – they are then on that day one and the same –
And though his reign will be perfectly realized & recognized in the future age after he returns – that doesn’t mean he is reigning as King then anymore than he is reigning as King now – or now any less than he will then – which ought to give us confidence and hope.
No matter how much we see and feel that contrast – that gap – between Jesus kingdom as it is in heaven and as it will be on earth one day – and as it is on earth now – in our world, in our lives – we can trust that Jesus is still in control and is reigning – his victory has been decisively irreversibly one; and one day it will be brought to full completion;
and so we can trust him in the midst of that; we can wait upon him in the midst of that; and he – our sovereign king – can carry us through through – he can lead us through the darkest valleys and he can strengthen us through the spiritual battle we are called to endure and we can trust him to work all things for the good of those who love him.
Jesus’ Reign
2. Jesus’ Presence (with us, and us with him)
Jesus ascending into heaven doesn’t mean his absence. Jesus ascending into heaven actually brings about his deeper, fuller presence with us.
It’s not that Jesus was present before his ascension and not present after his ascension – it’s that he had a different kind of presence before and after:
before his ascension, Jesus dwelt with his disciples; after his ascension, Jesus’ dwells in his disciples.
Which kind of presence is greater? That’s why Jesus said in John 16:7 “Very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but i I go, I will send him to you.”
the Advocate – the Holy Spirit – is Jesus’s greater deeper presence with his disciples – not just those 12; but all disciples in every time and place – us, right here, right now.
The person of Jesus is no longer physically present with us; but the third person of the Trinity – the Holy Spirit who is inseparably one God with God the Father and God the son – is in us.
We’ll look at the Holy Spirit more fully next week – but for now, all that Jesus said about his departure was to emphasize that it wasn’t really a departure – but a progressing in the biblical them of God being with his people – which in the New Covenant begins with the incarnation of Jesus and then advances through the ascension of Jesus where he is now universally available by his Spirit – and present not just with 1 group of disciples in 1 time and 1 place only as he was during his earthly ministry – but in his exaltation present with all his disciples, in all places, at all times.
Jesus not only is reigning from heaven; but he is with us as we engage in the spiritual struggle and battle here on earth – strengthening us, empowering us, transforming us – enabling us to persevere and to put to death our sin and put on the righteous life of Jesus.
You are never alone in this life. And that doesn’t mean that we don’t need Christian Community – I believe we do; and that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t pursue it and seek to build strong life-giving relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ; but it does mean, we don’t depend on anyone else so much such that we try to turn them into Jesus or replace Jesus the only savior whom we need and depend, with someone who ultimately can’t be him.
And it means, that in those inevitable times of life when we lack that; or when we have that and it still lets us down or isn’t enough or doesn’t turn out to be as life-giving as we hoped it would be; we remember that even then we aren’t alone.
The ascension is Jesus’ movement not towards absence, but towards his greater presence with us.
But, it’s not only his presence with us; but it’s also our presence with him.
It’s his presence with us on earth by his Spirit; but it’s also our presence with him in heaven.
In the ascension to heaven, we are reminded that by faith we are lifted up with him to heaven – to our true eternal home.
Colossians 3 “Since, then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in Glory.”
Ephesians 2: “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus”
By faith, we are raised up to heaven with Jesus. And what this means, is that that is where we truly belong.
We are reminded that this world is not our home; we are reminded that we are strangers and exiles here; temporary residents who are homeward bound.
This life is our wilderness – the next our promised land; this life our exile – the next our true eternal home.
Philipians 3:20 “their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven.”
The picture is, that Christians are a colony of heaven on earth – that we live in a strange, distant land; and we live in a way that reflects the values of our homeland – until the day when we return home.
And no matter how hard the journey is, when we get home, we’re home.
And the joy of that reunion of our arrival at home simply overwhelms and outlays the difficulties of wilderness journey.
And if you are feeling the dangers and hardships of the wilderness – remember that one day you’ll be home – forever at rest.
And if you are feeling the temptation to settle in to this world – and treat it like this is where your home is – this is where your life is; remember that your life has been raised up with Jesus;
Calvin: “We are to learn to pass through this world as though it were a foreign country, declining to set our hearts on the things this world offers.”
Jesus Reign; Jesus Presence;
3. Jesus’ Prayers
Jesus ascending to the right hand of the Father is not only a picture of honor and exaltation – but it’s also a reminder of Jesus’ special access on our behalf to our Heavenly Father – he ever lives to intercede for us.
“Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”
And this doesn’t mean that Jesus needs to convince God the Father to hear us or answer our prayers – it’s not him arm-wrestling God, but it’s extra assurance to us – that the one who walked among us, experienced suffering and temptation and so knows our sorrows and struggles – that one, is the very same one who is at the right hand of the Father pleading our case before him – that he bridges perfectly that gap between us and his Father – and that through him we have uninterrupted unhindered access to the Father, and so we can pray in the confidence that Jesus prays on our behalf; and that the effectiveness of our prayers lies in him – who he is and what he’s done for us and what he will do.
In pagan religions common at the time of the NT, they had to go through all kinds of elaborate formulas and rituals in hopes that their prayers would be heard.
All we have to do, is pray by faith in Jesus’ name. And we know that we have GOd’s ear; because Jesus’ has God’s ear; Because Jesus is at his right hand in the place of greatest honor.
Jesus’ reign; Jesus’ presence; Jesus prayers;
4. Jesus’ coming
The Christian worldview is that history is moving towards a climactic, decisive ending point; where all accounting will be made; where all wrongs will be righted and all rights will be rewarded and all things will be renewed and put right.
And without that, we really can’t claim to find any meaning in human actions; we really can’t try to place any responsibility upon human choices; we really can’t call evil evil or hope that it will be punished; we can’t hope for any vindication of the victims of evil or any commendation of the good and the right.
And so all those categories simply dissolve into “survival of the fittest” or “eat drink and be merry”.
But the biblical truth is that Jesus came the first time to redeem and offer salvation to the world; and that Jesus will come a second time; to judge the world for it’s response to him.
This is obviously a controversial truth in our day and age – in which “judging evil is often considered worse than doing evil.”
But, if we get out of our suburbia-comfortable-affluent lives; if we consider the real evil in the world – we know that it is good and right for God to judge evil;
And unlike human justice, God’s justice is always based on perfect knowledge and always fair and impartial – such that it will be good and right in the end.
the problem is, we don’t want to consider that we might be on the wrong side of that judgement.
Statistic: 71% of Americans believe people will go to hell.
What percentage of Americans think they could be in danger of going there?
.005%
See we all want to believe that judgement is just for those people out there, but the bible teaches us that the line between good and evil cuts right through every human heart;
and that on our own, apart form the mercy of God – that .005% figure is a little low;
But the good news of the gospel is that “the one who will came to bring judgement is the same one who came to bear judgement”
he died on the cross, so that the judgement which we deserved for the evil in our hearts could be paid in full; so that we could be counted as righteous, and so that our hearts could be reshaped into the mold of his righteousness.
If we’ve experienced that; when we’ve been wronged, we can forgive – and leave vengeance to God.
Jesus will return. And we need to be ready for that.
And, until he does return, we need to be busy.
If you as we confess in the creed believe that Jesus ascended, and that Jesus is returning; then the application of that is that we need to be witnesses.
The story of Acts 1 – of Jesus’ ascension, makes it clear that the disciples aren’t to be standing around staring at heaven – but that they are to be his witnesses – to the ends of the earth –
Acts 1:7-8 – “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Witness is the task of the church between Jesus ascension and his return – we witness to the fact that he is the only savior; that he is the only king; and that he is coming again; and that when he comes, you’re knee will bow either in willing worship of the one we embraced, or in terrible acknowledgment that he is the true king whom we rejected.
Witness is the mission of the church – but it’s only a temporary mission. There is a day when that mission comes to an end; and the realization that it comes to an end is at the same time a reminder of the utter urgency and eternal significance of that mission.
And, the apostles embraced that whole-heartedly. They who resolutely believed that they didn’t belong here; at the same time unreservedly pouring ourselves into this world for Jesus sake.
“Don’t be so heavenly-minded that you’re no earthly good.” This is nonsense! Because it’s the people that are most heavenly-minded that will be the most earthly good.
Remembering it isn’t our home is what enables us to not compromise and become the world because when we become the world we can no longer bring a message of transformation to the world – if we love and accept and embrace the world’s values, we no longer bring the values of our true home and King to bear upon this world;
Not making this world our home doesn’t mean apathy towards this world; but that is the way we preserve the message and motive of love towards the world that can bring redemption to the world.
We are wanderers; but we are witnessing wanderers. We are exiles; but we are exiles who love are neighbors and because we recognize that we are undeserved belongers in God’s kingdom, that we want to invite more and more of the undeserving in God’s kingdom to belong by his grace as his children.
We live like Christ; we reflect the life and love of Jesus; and that witness is often sacrificial; that witness often involves suffering; but those things are done out of loyalty to Jesus and out of love for those we witness to – and it’s that very suffering and sacrifice that gives validity and authenticity to our witness – and it’s often that suffering and sacrifice in witness that convinces people of the truth of that message.
Witness is the same word as Martyr – someone who suffers for their cause.
The disciples weren’t called to some sort of triumphalism; they were called to suffer for their savior who suffered for them.
Missionary – walked barefoot from town to town to preach the gospel. After a particularly long walk he tried to preach in a town but was chased out, and in discouragement fell asleep under a tree; the town came to find him, and later listened to his message and believed;
the reason they listened to him, was that while he was sleeping, they saw his blistered feet.
they saw him suffering for his cause; and that gave him the credibility to earn a hearing.
God’s work happens through sacrifice and suffering.