He Ascended

How did you celebrate on Thursday? May 29th this year? You didn’t celebrate?

You’re telling me you didn’t celebrate Ascension Day? No, me neither. In fact, I wasn’t even sure it was a day anyone celebrated.

There are groups of people who don’t do any work on Ascension Day. It is, for them, as big a holiday as Easter and Christmas. Ascension Day commemorates Jesus’ ascension into heaven, 40 days after His resurrection.

We don’t hear much about the ascension of Jesus. It doesn’t make the cut in most gospel presentations. It not what most consider to be an essential or even a noteworthy doctrine.

And yet, the Bible would have us consider it indespensable.

What does it matter that Jesus ascended?

Or does it matter at all?

It’s just one of those historical tidbits the Bible has for us, right? It’s not necessarily important, some say.

The ascension of Jesus is merely an afterthought to Good Friday and Resurrection Morning, or is it?

The ascension of Jesus is immensely important. As I think about this text, I realize the fact that Jesus ascended means a great deal for His people.

>If you have your Bible (and I hope you do) please turn with me to the book of Acts. Follow along with me. Acts 1:1-9—

Acts 1:1–9 NIV

1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 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.” 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

What does it matter that Jesus ascended?

That Jesus Ascended Means He is Interceding for Us

40 days prior to His ascension, Jesus was raised from the dead. The crucifixion was not the last word. His resurrection was not His last act. Jesus stuck around and appeared to many of the brethren (I like that word; sometimes it’s fun to be a little King James-y).

Jesus spent time with, spoke with, shared meals with, and taught His disciples and followers about the kingdom of God.

Jesus gives His disciples their marching orders (v. 8), and then we read a very short description of His ascension:

Acts 1:9–10 NIV

9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.

Jesus ascends, out of their sight. Jesus is no longer physically present on earth. He’s, at that very moment (and currently) physically present in heaven with His Father.

So what’s Jesus been up to since He ascended into heaven? Twiddling His thumbs? Binge-watching Netflix? Playing Scrabble with Moses and Elijah?

No!

Jesus is interceding on our behalf. He’s working as Lord and Messiah.

The ascension doesn’t mark the end of Jesus’ work, rather the continuation of Jesus’ work.

This book—Acts—would be better entitled, “The Acts of the Risen Lord Jesus.”

Jesus works from Heaven, through His people, by the Holy Spirit, accomplishing God’s purposes.

The Apostles’ Creed says: Jesus “ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.”

Jesus is taken up to heaven in a cloud in front of His apostles. Later, Stephen declares that he sees the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.

Jesus ascended fulfills and important prophecy:

Daniel 7:13–14 NIV

13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

Jesus has conquered and has been seated with His Father on His throne, receiving unending praise.

Jesus will reign at God’s right hand until all enemies are subdued under His feet.

Jesus is enthroned on high, working for His people, directing His Church, interceding on our behalf.

One of my very favorite assurances in the Bible is found in Romans 8.

There, Paul reminds us of where the Resurrected and Ascended Jesus is and what He’s doing:

Romans 8:34 NIV

34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Jesus is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

That gives me chills as I think about what that means for us. Because Jesus ascended into heaven, He sits enthroned above, continuing His work in and through His Church, and what else is He doing? As if that wasn’t enough...

Oh yeah, He’s praying for us.

He’s interceding for us.

Jesus alone is the mediator between God and man.

No one else—no person, no “saint”, no religious leader, not Mary or anyone else—is mediating for us.

Only Christ mediates for us.

Jesus’ death and resurrection secure our forgiveness, justification, and reconciliation with God. Jesus also, He only and He alone, is our High Priest and Advocate.

That Jesus is interceding on your behalf, Christian!

As Robert Murray McCheyne wrote: “If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies! Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.”

If Jesus hadn’t ascended into heaven, He wouldn’t be at God the Father’s right hand. He wouldn’t be enthroned on high, interceding for us.

But, this is true: He is ascended. And there He sits, ruling the cosmos and directing His Church, and interceding for His people—you and me.

What does it matter that Jesus Ascended?

That Jesus Ascended Anticipates His Return

So, there before their very eyes, Jesus is taken up in the air, surrounded in glorious splendor, the glory of the LORD.

These men are just standing there, looking intently up into the sky as Jesus was going.

And then, as if they hadn’t been shaken up enough over the last several weeks, all of a sudden, two men dressed in white (obviously angels) stand beside them and speak to them:

Acts 1:10–11 NIV

10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

The two men—angels—confirm what we’ve already said. Jesus didn’t just disappear. No, Jesus was going to His Father. Jesus was taken into heaven.

Something like that would probably be a little difficult to wrap your mind around, and yet, it would also make sense if you understood who Jesus was.

These verses teach us that the ascension of Jesus was bodily and visible.

This means Jesus retains a physical human body, as a man, though He is exalted to the right hand of God (given direct executive rule in God’s spiritual kingdom; all authority in heaven and on earth...”).

Based on what the angels tell the disciples, Jesus’ ascension means that Jesus will someday return in the same physical body.

Jesus, the Eternal Son of God, took on human nature and became a person who is God and man at the the same time, AND Jesus will remain both fully God and fully man FOREVER!

When Jesus comes again, to set the world at rights, to judge the living and the dead, His return will be both visible and bodily.

You won’t miss it. You’re not going to sleep through it. It doesn’t matter what part of the planet you live on, you will see the Risen and Ascended Jesus descending, bringing His heavenly reign to earth where it will be fully realized.

At His return, Jesus will execute divine judgment, vindicating His downtrodden people and judging His enemies, once and for all.

Just as the disciples, staring into the sky, watching as Jesus vanished from sight, had to be redirected, so also might the church today.

In the city of Thessalonica, Paul had to correct some of the new Christians there who weren’t doing anything but sitting on the hillsides, scanning the skies, waiting for Jesus to return.

Paul tells them to get to work, to find something for their hands to do, to stop being idle.

The fact the Jesus has ascended into heaven doesn’t give us the right to idly wait for His return.

On the contrary! The fact that He is ascended, interceding, and someday returning should motivate us to go and do and proclaim and share.

>After Jesus ascended and then got a short lesson from the duo of angels, the apostles/disciples/followers of Jesus head back from the Mount of Olives and head toward the city:

Acts 1:12–26 NIV

12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. 15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) 16 and said, “Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. 17 He was one of our number and shared in our ministry.” 18 (With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19 Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For,” said Peter, “it is written in the Book of Psalms: “ ‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, “ ‘May another take his place of leadership.’ 21 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, 22 beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.” 23 So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25 to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” 26 Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.

The apostles have this little issue of replacing Judas to deal with.

Peter, the unlikely spokesman for the early church makes it plain as day.

Everything with Judas had to happen in order to fulfill Scripture; all of this was as the Lord intended.

This much is clear:

That Jesus Ascended Propels the Church’s Mission

In order to fulfill their mission, the apostles are going to set out to fill Judas’ position with one of two men.

But before they do that, notice what the apostles/disciples/followers of Jesus (about 120 men in total) do:

Acts 1:14 NIV

14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

They devote themselves to prayer.

They join constantly in prayer. One thing the book of Acts repeatedly records is the Church and its leaders at prayer (it’s recorded for us no less than 13 times in the book).

They devote themselves to prayer, because they’re concerned about and consumed with the mission of God. They want their wills to be aligned with His will. So they pray.

In those days the believers prayed. In the time between the ascension and the day of Pentecost, the believers were praying.

They set out to have another take Judas’ place of leadership, choosing another man who had been with them the whole time.

Notice what Peter says in verses 21-22:

Acts 1:21–22 NIV

21 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, 22 beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”

One of these must become a witness with us of [Jesus’] resurrection.

The word “witness” is a popular one in Acts. Some form of it is used 39 times.

The apostles know they must get on with the task, the glorious and high calling, of being Jesus’ witnesses.

The very last instruction of the Risen Jesus before His ascension was this:

Acts 1:8 NIV

8 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.”

“You will be my witnesses,” said Jesus to His followers.

This functions as a summary—the thematic statement—for all of the book of Acts. It’s basically an outline of the book itself, a Table of Contents:

Jesus says “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

In Acts 1-7, the Church is in Jerusalem.

In Acts 8-12, the Church spreads throughout Judea and Samaria.

And finally, in Acts 13-28 the Church’s witness spreads to the ends of the earth.

This time would be, for them, a time of witnessing for the gospel. The scope of their witness (until Jesus returns) is not just to Israel, but to the world.

Their witness (and ours) concerns Person, Power, and Place.

The Person is Jesus—the content of the Church’s witness.

The Power is the Holy Spirit—not ourselves, not our wisdom, not our strength, not our clever strategies and programs.

The Place is, well…everywhere—Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the ends of the earth.

The apostles/disciples/followers, the early Church has been given instruction, and this, more than once:

Matthew 28:18–20 NIV

…make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

And now:

Acts 1:8 NIV

8 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.”

That Jesus ascends into heaven is only more of a motivation toward that mission.

Jesus is returning, this they’ve been told. Jesus is in Heaven, interceding for His people, directing the Church on its mission.

This is great motivation to make disciples, to be witnesses.

And the early church does this, not in their own strength, but indwelt by the Holy Spirit’s power. They are faithful in their witness. They go about making disciples.

How about us, church? Are we making disciples? Are we witnessing for Jesus’ sake and in His name?

Jesus is going to return, and soon! We don’t know when, but we know we’re one day closer than we were yesterday. The Day is drawing nigh. Jesus is returning.

And Jesus is praying for us! What have we to fear?!?! Absolutely nothing!

We can go forth BOLDLY knowing that Jesus Christ—the Risen, Ascended, Enthroned Lord of lords and King of Kings is interceding on our behalf.

What great motivation toward the mission of faithful witnessing and making disciples!

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Though often overlooked, the ascension of Jesus has so many important truths for us.

The ascension completes Jesus’ earthly mission and signifies His enthronement as heavenly King.

Jesus has completed His Father’s mission and He now rules with all authority and intercedes with all sympathy as our Mediator and High Priest.

So REMEMBER that Jesus is presently reigning as King and remains active and engaged in our world and in our lives.

In all we don’t know, with every issue that leaves us scratching our heads or shrugging our shoulders, this we remember:

Jesus is King and He is for us.

LIVE boldly, confidently, and strategically as servants of the exalted King of Heaven. Know that your labors in the Lord Jesus are not in vain.

You might not think that your witness is effective. But, let me remind you: there is nothing wasted in God’s economy.

You are where you are, in touch with the people you are, for the Lord’s sake and for His glory.

You are uniquely suited to proclaim the gospel and be a witness of Jesus. Live boldly for Him!

TAKE HEART, sufferers, that Jesus is not indifferent to your struggle. He has endured great suffering and is, therefore, the most merciful and sympathetic Counselor and Mediator.

Take your cares to Him, to the Ascended Lord, who hears your prayers, who is praying for you, and who can respond with the full authority of Heaven.

Take heart, friends.

And finally, HOPE in a glorious future. The ascended Lord will return as Judge and King. He will, on that great Day, abolish injustice, end suffering, destroy death, and set up His Kingdom of truth, righteousness, and love.

And best of all, we will be with our King FOREVER!

Put all your HOPE in Him, the Risen and Ascended JESUS.