Luke 24:44-53 Taken Up

Luke 24:44-53 (Evangelical Heritage Version)

44He said to them, “These are my words, which I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.”

45Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. 46He said to them, “This is what is written and so it must be: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49Look, I am sending you what my Father promised. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

50He led them out as far as the vicinity of Bethany. He lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51And while he was blessing them, he parted from them and was taken up into heaven. 52So they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53They were continually in the temple courts, praising and blessing God. Amen.

Taken Up

I.

They had issues, these followers of Jesus. No doubt the events of Holy Week were seared into their memories.

Holy Week had been fraught with ups and downs. Palm Sunday had been exciting, to be sure, as they marched euphorically into Jerusalem with Jesus riding on the colt, the foal of a donkey. The beautiful Passover celebration, though marred by Judas’ departure, had been nothing short of inspiring; at the third cup of wine in the Seder meal, Jesus had changed things up and instituted a special meal—the Lord’s Supper. They would never forget that, of course. In addition to these two memorable events, Jesus crammed lots of information into their heads. They would come back to reflect on it in later days and weeks and years.

Even as Jesus began speaking to them on this day, I wonder if the disciples were still focusing on their shortcomings of the past few weeks. They had not been able to stay awake with Jesus when he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Trying to show bravery, they had pulled out swords to strike back at the soldiers coming with Judas to arrest Jesus. The bravery lasted mere moments, as they soon fled in fear of their own lives. Peter denied ever knowing Jesus, just as had been foretold. They watched the trials in horror. Then, in even more horror, the crucifixion.

They gathered in fear on Easter morning, forgetting all Jesus had told them about him rising on the third day. Their biggest concern was what would happen to them.

Now, 40 days after Jesus rose from the dead, they had at least begun to understand some of what had taken place. Perhaps still, however, they thought most about the daily troubles that they faced because of being followers of Jesus.

No, they weren’t thinking of turning tail and running away anymore; they no longer doubted that Jesus had risen from the dead; they weren’t meeting behind locked doors. But no doubt the threats were coming from the religious leaders on a regular basis—threats even against their very lives. Even though they weren’t going to run, they still had to face the facts: they had issues. How to deal with them?

II.

You have issues, too. Many of your issues have to do with the daily challenges of life. The tools and equipment you use to maintain your home aren’t working right, or seem to be falling apart. The car has mechanical problems; is the best course of action to fix it or replace it? If it is to be replaced, what do you do in the meantime?

Some issues are a little more serious. Illnesses threaten your way of life, or your life itself. Decisions might need to be made about which treatment is the right one to pursue. Maybe none of them will work the way you would like.

But let’s get back to the same kinds of issues the disciples had. Do you sometimes have issues with or about your faith? Sometimes you act like Thomas who doubted. The Bible is challenged constantly; many think it can’t possibly be God’s Word, many doubt whether everything in there is true; some just want to pick and choose the things they like from the Bible and ignore the rest. Do any of these describe you from time to time?

Perhaps you have been like Peter who denied. There are plenty of situations in this life when openly admitting to being a Christian puts you in an awkward position, at best. The easiest thing to do is to just claim not to know the man; even better, never openly profess to be a Christian and no one will ever challenge you—keep your faith private; no one need ever know. Does an unwillingness to put your faith on display ever accurately describe you?

Just like the disciples, we all have issues concerning our faith. How to deal with them?

III.

Up until the point Jesus began to speak in today’s Gospel, the disciples’ focus had been on earthly things. Constantly and consistently they had been looking for a political Messiah, just like the rest of the Jewish people. “He said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms’” (Luke 24:44, EHV). Jesus had told them. He had told them everything that would happen to him. He told them that he was the Promised Messiah that had been written about throughout the Old Testament. His twelve closest followers, now the eleven who were left, consistently ignored Jesus’ notices that he was going to Jerusalem to suffer and die and be raised on the third day.

“Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” (Luke 24:45, EHV). 20/20 hindsight can be useful. They had seen Jesus die. They had witnessed his appearance behind the locked doors on Easter Sunday and the following week. It was time for them to realize what Jesus had declared before Pilate: “My kingdom is not of this world.” The time had come to stop focusing on earthly things.

“He said to them, ‘This is what is written and so it must be: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem’” (Luke 24:46-47, EHV). Forgiveness of sins is far more important than some earthly kingdom.

Forgiveness for the obsession with all the mundane earthly challenges of life. Forgiveness for the times when we look at health challenges and doubt God’s love because things don’t seem to be going the way we think they ought in our battle against earthly diseases. Forgiveness also for the times we doubt what God has told us in his Word, and the times we have denied our faith by hiding it or outright denying we ever knew Jesus. Forgiveness for all our petty offenses—and not-so-petty ones, too.

Forgiveness is the most important thing. Jesus won forgiveness for all. He wants people to repent of the sins they have committed because he already won forgiveness for those sins—for every person who will ever live. He wants people to know it. He wants repentance and forgiveness of sins to be preached far and wide so that those who have not yet heard might hear the Good News.

IV.

“You are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:48, EHV). The disciples were to share the Good News of what Jesus had done. Repentance and forgiveness of sins wasn’t only important for the disciples he spoke to on the day he was taken up in front of their eyes, but for us, too, 2,000 year later. This is the most important information in all of human history.

The ministry today continues the same responsibilities Jesus placed on those disciples. People need to hear the law. Each one of us has to be reminded that sometimes we focus our attention too firmly on this life and the challenges we face every day. Sometimes we doubt God’s love or that he could ever forgive people like us. But the gospel is also proclaimed. You come to worship to hear the same information over and over. Human beings need to hear it over and over so that we don’t fall into despair. God loved us even when we didn’t deserve it. God loved us so much that he sent Jesus—the Christ—who suffered and rose from the dead on the third day to bring this repentance and forgiveness of sins for all people so that we would hear this great, Good News.

Jesus once taught his disciples that believers are to confess Christ. Telling others about Jesus is to be done for all people, regardless of status. Sometimes it would seem difficult, he said, because they would be confessing Jesus before powerful people. But, he said, “Do not worry about how you will defend yourself, or what you will say, 12for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you should say” (Luke 12:11-12, EHV).

Now Jesus tells them the specifics of that promise: “Look, I am sending you what my Father promised. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49, EHV). In just a few days’ time, at Pentecost, the disciples would experience a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit to give them the strength to plow through any adversity as they proclaimed the name of Jesus. They were to wait for that special moment.

You and I still have such power. It isn’t just pastors who speak from the pulpit, it’s you, living your Christian faith and sharing it with your family and friends. You have the power from on high—the power of the Holy Spirit—to give you the very words you need when you speak about the great things Jesus has done for you in giving you forgiveness of sins.

Then: “He led them out as far as the vicinity of Bethany. He lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51And while he was blessing them, he parted from them and was taken up into heaven” (Luke 24:50-51, EHV). Jesus’ ascension into heaven does not mean that he is physically restricted. Just because we cannot physically hear him or see him doesn’t mean that he is not present. We know that he is here with us. He continues to strengthen your faith when you hear his Word. Jesus is here when we gather in his name. He is here where his Word is preached and the sacraments are administered.

“So they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53They were continually in the temple courts, praising and blessing God. Amen” (Luke 24:52-53, EHV). We continue to worship our risen and ascended Lord Jesus, just as the first disciples did. We continue to be filled with great joy and find ourselves again and again in church, praising and blessing God for keeping his promise to send a Savior for our sins.

Our Lord Jesus was taken up into heaven on Ascension Day, but he has never left us. As he has told disciples of every generation, he has gone ahead to prepare our place, until the time that we, too, will be taken up. Amen.