The Ascension

Wouldn’t it have been easier if Jesus had just stayed here with us?

Well, the answer to that is no, but why?

The Ascension means that Christ’s forgiveness will not expire for me.

A. In Luke 24:50-53

Luke 24:50–53 NKJV

50 And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. 51 Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.

Now, the reason Jesus raises His hands over them and blesses them is grounded in Leviticus 9:22

Leviticus 9:22 NKJV

22 Then Aaron lifted his hand toward the people, blessed them, and came down from offering the sin offering, the burnt offering, and peace offerings.

B. Hebrews 9:11-15 teaches us that Christ has entered the Heavenly Temple with a sacrifice that forever satisfies.

Hebrews 9:24–28 NKJV

24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

C. Hebrews 4:14-16 teaches us that Jesus, the One who sacrificed Himself for us, also sympathizes with us and is ready to give us grace in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:14–16 NKJV

14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

The Ascension means that Christ’s reign will never end.

Jesus regularly called Himself the Son of Man which was a reference to Daniel 7. What’s interesting about that passage is that it mentions the ascension in Daniel 7:13-14

Daniel 7:13–14 NKJV

13 “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. 14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.

So, when Jesus talks about Himself as the Son of Man, He is telling us that He would be the conquering One who would ascend into Heaven and would rule over all things. So, when we think about how badly we wish Jesus were here with us, we need to remember that He ascended into Heaven to assure us that the One who rules over everything is the same One who loves us and sympathizes with us. Another interesting passage is over in Ephesians 4:8-10.

In Ephesians 4:8-10, Paul makes mention of Jesus’s ascension as he writes,

Ephesians 4:8–10 NKJV

8 Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” 9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

The text that he is quoting is from Psalm 68:18

Psalm 68:18 NKJV

18 You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive; You have received gifts among men, Even from the rebellious, That the Lord God might dwell there.

In Psalm 68, the Psalmist is teaching us about the goodness of God as the warrior who is the defender and salvation of Israel against her enemies. Paul takes verse 18 to be about Christ and teaches us that when Jesus ascended, He conquered sin and death and freed those of us who were captives to sin. Not only that, but he says that Jesus gave gifts to men through His resurrection. But what is the gift? We could talk about several different things here, but the root of all of those gifts is one gift in particular, the Holy Spirit.

The Ascension means that Christ has sent the Spirit to empower me.

In John 16, Jesus tells His followers that He is leaving them and they are filled with sorrow, but He quickly tells them and tells us, that it is better for us that He goes away. Why? Because He would send the Spirit to us. The Holy Spirit does several different things in the life of the Christian. In the beginning, He regenerates us, gives us faith and points us to believe in Jesus. Throughout our Christian walk, He sanctifies us and gives us assurance and seals us till the end. He provokes us to pray and prays for us. But one thing in particular that is connected to the ascension is that the Holy Spirit came to empower us which takes us all the way back to a desire that Moses had in Numbers 11.

You see, Moses was the leader of millions of Jews who just escaped Egyptian bondage and it wore on him so God promised to anoint 70 men to help him. Well, while this was occuring, Joshua found some guy prophesying and preaching in the streets and came to tell Moses so that Moses would put a stop to it and here is what Moses said in Numbers 11:29

Numbers 11:29 NKJV

29 Then Moses said to him, “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!”

Moses looks at Joshua and is like, “You want this to stop?! I wish that God would put His Spirit upon all of Israel!” And that prayer eventually became a prophecy given by Joel in Joel 2:28-32.

Joel 2:28–32 NKJV

28 “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. 30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. 32 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the Lord has said, Among the remnant whom the Lord calls.

And guess where this prophecy was fulfilled? At Pentecost. Acts 1:8

Acts 1:8 NKJV

8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

And Acts 2:1-4

Acts 2:1–4 NKJV

1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

So, the prayer of Moses and the Prophecy of Joel becomes the fulfilled provision of Christ as He sends the Spirit to empower the Church (OT/NT differences in anointing).

When the Spirit came, He came to equip us with the ability to be empowered servants of God as His prophets, priests and kings on the Earth.

Conclusion:

So, when we think about the ascension, we can be reminded of three things today:

There is One in Heaven who saved me and sympathizes with me.

The One in Heaven that rules over everything is the One who loves me and gave Himself for me.

The One who sits in Heaven sent His Spirit to empower me, so I can serve Him faithfully.