Trusting In The Ascended Christ (Luke 24:50-53)

Introduction

I invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to the closing words of the Gospel of Luke.

Please go to Luke 24:50-53. So an easy way to do that is to find the first page of the Gospel of John and go one page to the left and you should be set.

Luke 24:50–53 (ESV)

And Jesus led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

You might be surprised that on this First Sunday of Advent, I am not doing what I usually do which is to press the “Pause Button” on whatever sermon series I happen to be in, and then proceeding to preach an Advent or Christmas themed series. I love doing that, and will probably do it next year. But I would like to continue making our way through the Creed even in this blessed season as I think it will still serve us well. And, there’s no reason why we still can’t celebrate the expectation of Christ and his incarnation as we go.

We have made it through a large portion of the Apostles’ Creed so far. You have heard of his death on the cross. His decent into Hades, into the place of the dead. You’ve heard of how the dead body of Jesus rose again to new life. You might know that he had a ministry after that resurrection of 40 days before he ascended up into heaven.

I love getting to preach the ascension. It is one of the most neglected doctrines of our faith, and we would do well—especially in this day and time in which we find ourselves—to give it fresh attention. It is not an afterthought to the story of the earthly ministry of Jesus. It is, in so many ways the crowning moment from which we are meant to draw amazing comfort.

It doesn’t play well in the modern world. It has an almost Superman-esque feel to it. It’s a bird, no it’s a plane, no it’s the ascended Christ. It seems strange. Christ, at the conclusion of his earthly ministry, literally began to levitate and then take on altitude, up, up, and away he went, until they could no longer see him. He flew up into heaven at the end of his ministry. Yes, he did. That is what we mean by Ascension. We confess it. We believe it.

And it is meant to supply us with such marvelous hope. We confess in our Creed that our Lord Jesus ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

So this morning I will be focusing on the Ascension of Christ, while next week, Neil will be preaching on the Session of Christ, that is the Seating of Christ at the right hand of God the Father.

And there are at least three things I want to draw out of the joy and the the reality of Christ’s Ascension this morning.

First, he Ascended to Return to Heaven.

Second, he Ascended to Bring us With Him

Third, He Ascended in Blessing

Let’s Pray

O Lord, make your Word a swift Word, passing from the ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip and conversation; that, as the rain returns not empty, so neither may your Word, but accomplish that for which it is given. Amen.

(Prayer by George Herbert)

I. He Ascended to Return to Heaven

This is the most obvious point to make, right? But let us not hurry to quickly over it. Jesus, at the end of his ministry, returned to heaven. I opened with those closing words from the Gospel of Luke, and we will return to those later in the sermon. But the same incident is also mentioned in the book of Acts

In the first chapter of Acts, the Resurrected Christ is giving his final words to the eleven apostles, and we read

Acts 1:9–11 (ESV)

And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

So this remarkable—even comical moment—of two angels showing up and saying “Why are you guys just staring up at the sky?” Notice something. There is a direct connection between the ascension and the second coming. The same man who went up will be coming back down someday. And the subtext is not subtle. The meaning here is so clear it almost shouts. He’s coming back. So why are you standing around staring? Get to work. And you of course know that only a few days later the Holy Spirit would fall upon those eleven men, and they would be marvelously empowered for the work that continues to this very day unabated.

But there is a sort of note of sadness here, you might think, right? I mean, Jesus has left. Isn’t that bad news? Well funnily enough, the answer is no. For Jesus himself said

John 16:5–15 (ESV)

But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Jesus told them I am going so that the Holy Spirit can come. I am going because from my heavenly seat, my Father will give me the authority to send the Holy Spirit.

Ok, so far so good.

But…it is to your advantage that I go away? In what universe is it to our advantage if you go away, Jesus?

And the simplest answer is because Jesus, wrapped in flesh as he was, took on the human limitation of only being in one place at one time. The ministry of Jesus was absolutely staggeringly remarkable, but let us be honest, it was rather contained, geographically speaking. The Son of God did indeed walk this earth, but the square mileage of all his walking was remarkably limited. Jesus took no summer vacations to Paris or Greece or Spain. He was sent for the lost sheep of Israel.

But when the Ascended Christ leaves and pours out the Holy Spirit, now where is Jesus? By the work and presence and preaching and ministry of his body the Church? He is everywhere, all over the world. Do you see?

Jesus told them “It is to your advantage that the Son of God leaves, so that an endlessly growing army of sons of God, filled with the Holy Spirit, will conquer the world. Christ has ascended so that he might fill millions to reach millions. “Men of Galilee, why do you stand there staring at the sky. There is work to be done, and the Holy Spirit will equip you with His Word. He will guide you into all truth so that you can write all that truth down, and secure it for generations in Holy Scripture, and he will indeed glorify me by taking what is mine and declaring it to you. Go therefore, to Jerusalem to Judea, to Samaria, indeed, to the ends of the earth.”

So he is ascended, he has returned to heaven, and second

II. He Ascended to Bring Us With Him

You might recall this from the Ephesians series

Ephesians 4:8–10 (ESV)

Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)

Jesus in triumphal victory, ascended up into heaven, and took with him the spoils of victory. All those souls he busted out of Hades, went up with him.

But he was taking a much larger group than just that. This is what Paul means when he says

Ephesians 2:4–6 (ESV)

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

Wait. We have been loved. Fine, of course. We have been made alive, yes, we believe that. We’ve been saved. Yes, Amen. Raised up, Hallelujah. But seated?

That’s a past tense verb. Christ has been seated in heaven. Christ is in heaven. But I’m not in heaven yet…right?

Wrong. When Christ entered heaven, the cosmos was never the same. Because for the first time, flesh had come into the heavenly places. Don’t miss this. When Christ ascended, he took with him his beating heart, his blood vessles, his skin and bones. And for the first time in history, flesh walked through the heavenly gates. Not just a soul, but an embodied, resurrected God-man.

And he walked in as our representative. And wherever our represtative is, we are there too because he is representing us.

Let’s explore this

Hebrews 9:18–24 (ESV)

Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.

So what’s happening here? Hebrews is famously opaque, and I want to try to quickly unpack this for you.

The author of Hebrews (I think it’s Paul so we’re just going to say Paul)—Paul is saying that Moses cleansed the instruments of the tabernacle with blood. Everything got sprinkled with blood. From the book itself to the people to all the vessels used in worship, indeed under the law almost everything is purified with blood and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

Paul continues by telling us that it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified. Wait, stop. The tabernacle was…a copy of heaven? Yes. Tabernacle worship was, in one sense, the closest man has ever gotten to heaven. It’s not that crazy to suppose that when God gave Moses all the details for Tabernacle worship, he was pealing back the heavenly curtain and saying “Get as close to this as you can, but it’s going to take a lot of sacrifices to cover sinful people surrounded by such glory.”

This is why our gathered worship is so important, and why our pattern of worship reflects many Old Testament Patterns. The Old Testament patterns of Call, Confession, Consecration, Communion and Commissioning. Our worship reflects the tabernacle model because it’s based on heaven itself.

No we do not sacrifice any animals, rather, we ourselves, the body of Christ is the living sacrifice every Sunday. We are the ones who get—as it were—cut open by the living and active Word of God, and renewed for service in his Kingdom.

And as we read that Hebrews 9:24

Hebrews 9:24 (ESV)

...Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.

Christ after he ascended, did not enter into a manmade copy of heaven. He walked into the heavenly courts themselves, and brought us with him. And if that were not enough.

III. He Ascended in Blessing

Let’s return to our text from Luke from the start of the sermon

Luke 24:50–53 (ESV)

And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.

Here we see Luke summarizing that final conversation as a word of blessing. With Jesus Christ, our great high priest, lifting up his hands, and blessing them. What did he say? If I had to wager a guess, I would say the Aaronic Blessing from Numbers 6, spoken often in our services here. Where at the end of service, I raise my hands, just as Christ raised his, and I speak God’s words of blessing over you and to you and in a real sense, put that blessing on you.

And Jesus, in his last few moments before ascending up into heaven stretches out his hands to bless them.

And so it is with us. The reason why the final word of our worship service is a word of blessing is because that is the same word that the Lord Jesus Christ left ringing in his Apostles’s ears. So that they would go out with all great confidence and boldness to proclaim what they had seen and heard.

And so it is also for us today. The ascension is a word of blessing for us that makes us bold.

Conclusion: Ascended Boldness

The Ascended Christ has entered into heaven and brought us with him so that his work can spill out of the windows of heaven and cover the whole earth.

And this has always been God’s way: As in heaven, so on earth. It’s what we pray for every Sunday isn’t it? Our Father in Heaven, let it be on earth as it is in heaven.

That was what the ripping of the temple curtain meant. Yes, it meant that we were brought into the Holy of Holies, but it also meant that the Holy of Holies is spilling out and invading the earth.

When John the Baptist said “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” he still had both feet planetd on terra firma.

And Paul has already told us in Hebrews 12

Hebrews 12:22–24 (ESV)

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

You have come.

That is not a typo. It is not future tense.

You have come. Really Paul? We’ve come to join angles? Yes, you have.

“Well I can’t see them.” Well don’t be silly. They are in heaven. That’s where you are.

You have come to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Able.

What does Able’s blood speak? Do you remember that moment? The first murder. The blood of Able has fallen to the earth, and God says that blood cries out for justice. Able’s blood fell to the earth and cried out “Kill him. Give me justice. Kill my brother.”

And on the cross, the blood of Christ fell to the earth and said “You are clean. You are forgiven.”

And if all of that is true, dear saints, whom shall we fear? What shall trouble our hearts?

Oh no! I said the wrong thing at that social gathering. I made it really awkward! Shake it off, laugh a bit louder, and try again, and make sure you attend the next gathering.

Well Pastor, my kids are a bit older now. You know, they’re not stupid. If I try to turn my life around, try to turn my household around, try to do family worship with my wife and children, they’re going to know! They’re going to know it’s so late in the game for this. How can I do this? How can I change bad patterns in my house? Bad habits, bad communication?

With boldness. Brother, you have been washed clean. Charge on ahead!

Pastor Bryan, There’s this sin I just can’t shake. It’s eating me alive. It keeps coming back. I don’t know what to do. Get up and face it in boldness. And have the boldness to get some held, some assistance, some accountability. You’re washed in the blood. What are you afraid of?

Pastor, I feel like my spirit has just gone cold. I haven’t prayed in ages. I haven’t picked up my Bible in months. How can I do it now? With boldness.

Pastor, I’ve got some work ahead that’s really intimidating. I’ve got HR and political correctness threats and DEI nonsense and how am I going to face all that? If you can walk into the holiest place right now with boldness, you can walk into any place on earth with boldness.

That thing I tried didn’t work out so good. Ok. Try again! God in heaven is for you. Be wise, but don’t be scared. Start that business. Open your front door. Meet your neighbors. Bring them in for a meal. Weaponize all the glory of your household for the good of the spread of the Gospel.

Or maybe you’re single, and the idea of marriage terrifies you, nevermind kids. Boy do I get that terror. It’s not a terror I have anymore, but I certainly understood it as a single man. I had to repent of that fear.

And how do you do that? With boldness. You will still struggle and sin. Your kids are going to sin too. And when you stumble, you make sure that you fall right by the mercy seat of the Lord Jesus Christ, and teach your kids to do the same.

So what is it in your life? What is it that you hold back because you foolishly believe that your own fear is an excuse? Christ has ascended. Shall we not then be bold?

Our Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ has won the victory, has ascended into heaven, he has brought us with him, he has left us with blessing, and he is one day returning. We have his victory. We have his promises. We have his arms outstretched in blessing.

Let us therefore eagerly get to work as his body pushing back against the darkness, waging our warfare against the world the flesh and the devil himself, starting with the sin in our own kitchens and living rooms. And in this way, we will plant heavenly flags on earthly soil saying “Here too. The Ascended Christ reigns here, too.”

In the name of Jesus, Amen.