The Reign of the Ascended King

The Earthly Story of the Ascension

Every year we celebrate the Jesus’ victory at Easter. Then 6 weeks later, we may or may not mention this thing we call the Ascension. Maybe we’re not sure what to make the Ascension – That’s when Jesus went away – it seems anticlimactic.

To the the disciples the Ascension may have seemed like Jesus abandoning his church at the moment of their victory. Jesus had just proved he was the Messiah by rising from the dead. And having Jesus around would certainly making convincing others a lot easier. Yet rather than showing himself to the world to settle all dispute, Jesus shows himself to only a few (Paul says 500 or so) before he ascends into heaven.

Before he goes he leaves his disciples the task to telling everyone about what he’s accomplished:

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. (Acts 1:4-9, NIV)

What are we to make of Jesus leaving the Earth? What is the power of his ascension? Has Jesus abandoned his disciples? or is there something else going on here? The account in Acts tells the story from an earthly perspective, by giving the disciples’ point of view. But when we also see the heavenly perspective, the ascension takes on a much different meaning.

The Heavenly Story of the Ascension

The text that is going to help us understand this just happens to be the very next text in Daniel. The story, found in Daniel 7, is a flashback to a perplexing dream Daniel had at the time when Belshazzar became king in Babylon (Between chapters 4 and 5). It begins with Daniel seeing a vision of four beasts:

2 Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. 3 Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea.

4 “The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and the mind of a human was given to it.

5 “And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’

6 “After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.

7 “After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.

8 “While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully. (Daniel 7:2–8, NIV)

This vision was terrifying for Daniel. First, For Jews, the sea was a symbol of chaos. In the creation story in Genesis 1, is a story of God brining order to Chaos. The land is the ordered space God creates, so the sea, with it’s mystery and unpredictability is the symbol of the chaos that still remains in creation. So the origin of the beasts in the sea, indicates they’re agents of chaos.

A second reason this was terrifying was the hybridity of the beasts. What I mean is that the beasts are mashups between different creatures God had made (like a leopard with wings) Many provisions in the law prohibit the mixing of different kinds of things. For example: Jews couldn’t wear fabrics of mixed type (sorry, polly-cotton blend is unholy). Or Jews couldn’t plant multiple types of crops in the same field. So the unnatural mixing displayed by the beasts would make them unclean.

A final reason why they would be terrifying is that they were described in as predatory and vicious. Later on in the chapter, the angel identifies these four beasts as kingdoms. They serve as a sequential list of the foreign empires that dominated the Jews. Which empires is a bit controversial. Option 1 sees the four conquering kingdoms as: Babylon, Media, Persia & Greece. Option 2 sees them as: Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece & Rome. The Medes were a group often associated with the Persians. (Like, for example, the Welsh and the English) so the question is whether they count as 1 or two.

However, Identifying which beast corresponds to which kingdom isn’t really necessary to get the main point. The beasts give a heavenly perspective on the persecution the Jews are currently facing and will continue to face for some time. Regardless of whether the final empire described here is Greece or Rome, the general trend is towards these empires becoming more and more destructive. These beastly images show us the horror of the Jews experience as a small people group living in a contested land among the region’s great powers who want to subject the land and people to their own selfish ends.

But when Daniel might be tempted to despair, the Scene changes and we see God’s response

9 “As I looked, “thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. 10 A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened. 11 “Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. 12 (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.) (Daniel 7:9–12, NIV)

In a vision of the heavenly throne room, Daniel watches as God judges the empires that have oppressed his people. God strips the first three of their power and destroys the fourth. But if the empires of this world are defeated and judged by God, who then will reign and how will that reign be different? When one empire falls, don’t they always seem to be replaced by something worse? Daniel goes on to answer that question:

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. (Daniel 7:13–14, NIV)

At the centre of this scene is the enigmatic character simply described as ‘one like a son of man.’ ‘Son of Man’ can simply be a fancy way of saying human. In Ezekiel, God addresses Ezekiel as ‘Son of Man’ nearly 100 times. But here the word has a deeper meaning. This isn’t a son of man, this is the Son of Man. He is invested with authority and the Humanity of his rule is contrasted with the bestial nature of the kingdoms that proceed him.

And this son of man rides a cloud – this is important because cloud-riding is an image used many times in the Old Testament to describe God:

“Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds; rejoice before him—his name is the Lord.” (Psalm 68:4, NIV)

“He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind.” (Psalm 104:3b, NIV)

“See, the Lord rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt.” (Isaiah 19:1, NIV)

“By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way…..” (Exodus 13:21, NIV)

So the Son of Man is identified with God.

At the same time, this son of man is also identified with God’s people, Israel. The term Son of Man emphasizes his humanness. In fact, we could say the Son of Man represents an idealized vision of what humanity was always supposed to be. When Daniel turns to an angel to explain the meaning of the son of man, he is told,

18 But the holy people of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever.’ (Daniel 7:18, NIV)

And a bit later

The sovereignty, power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.’ (Daniel 7:27, NIV)

So in heaven, someone called ‘the son of Man’ who is identified with both God and perfected humanity comes to heaven (from somewhere else) and is given authority to reign, and in his reign, God’s people participate in his rule of the earth.

Of course, if you’ve read the Gospels, you know that Jesus constantly refers to himself as “the Son of Man”. Jesus isn’t just emphasizing his humanity, he’s applying this prophecy to himself. This is the story of the Ascension from heaven’s perspective: Jesus, who is both fully God and fully man comes to heaven from the earth on a cloud (the cloud hiding him from their sight was the last detail in the story) to receive the authority to reign, and God’s people are able to participate in his reign of the world.

So to answer the question I posed at the beginning, Jesus doesn’t abandon his people in the ascension, rather he ascends to heaven so that he can take up his rightful place as king in heaven for the sake of the church. The incarnate Jesus was subject to our human limitation of only being present in one place at a time. The exalted Son of Man, reigning in heaven, can send the Spirit so God can be present everywhere at once. During the Last Supper, John tells us how Jesus explained the connection between his ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit

5 but now I am going to him who sent me. … 7 But 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 if I go, I will send him to you. (John 16:5-7, NIV)

Jesus hasn’t abandoned us, rather because he is enthroned in heaven, he is able to be present with everyone at once through the Spirit who dwells with us by faith. This lines up with Jesus’ last words to his disciples recorded in Matthew’s gospel, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Living As God’s People After the Ascension

We have not been abandoned by Jesus, instead, he is present with us by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is his presence through the Spirit that allows us to exercise his authority.

God had given Old Testament Israel the same task—being his representative people for the world—but Israel failed. In Israel’s failure, we see a sobering vision of humanity’s limitation. Even our best human efforts to follow God prove woefully inadequate.

But no doubt when we look at the church, we see that same tendency for faithlessness that we read about in Israel’s story. If you’ve spent significant time in church, no doubt you’ve seen pretty awful stuff happen by people who profess to follow God. Christians are capable of every kind of evil non-Christians can do. Sometimes we’re worse because our religious pride can become a rationale for cruelty towards others.

The Presence of the Spirit with the church is no guarantee of the church’s faithfulness. Even in the New Testament we see Christians blowing it. Ananias and Saphira lied to God. Simon the Sorcerer tries to buy the power of the Spirit. Some of the Corinthians frequent prostitutes. Jewish believers in Galatia try to force their culture on Gentile believers. Having access to the Spirit alone is not enough.

God has entrusted us with the reign of creation, but we must submit to the Spirit, for that reign to be life-giving for the world. In Daniel, we see heaven’s perspective on every kingdom that doesn’t submit to God’s ways: they are beastly. Compare this with God’s way of reigning: human, as defined by the Son of Man—the truly human one. Jesus is more human than we are because in him we see God’s design for humanity lived out perfectly. So let’s look at what it means to reign with Jesus on the earth

Don’t Reign Like Beasts

First, it’s important that our participation in God’s reign is not like the beastly reign of the nations The nations governed by seeking their own power at the expense of others. For example Rome conquered territory, not for the love of the people involved, but so they would have more people to conscript into their military machine and more land to tax, so they could enrich the elite. They didn’t care that many of those taxed were barely getting by, and this was making it worse. It was all about what was good for them. This give us an idea what beastly authority looks like.

On a individual level, we exercise authority in a beastly way when we place our own personal interests over those of others. When I am tight-fisted with others, prioritizing my own extravagance over others’ basic needs. When I take credit for someone else’s accomplishments at work. When I use the bodies of others to meet my own selfish desires. Basically, every time I behave selfishly, I’m reigning like a beast, rather than as a Son of Man.

But living in a beastly way is not just an individual problem, it’s also a collective problem. The church’s reign is beastly when it Seeks the power to dominate others. “We need power so we can force the world to behave.”; When we excuse disobedience to Jesus, “Yes, Jesus says love your enemies, but he doesn’t know my enemies!”; or when we prioritize ministering to the needs of ‘desirable’ people over ‘undesirable’ people: “We need to target young suburban professionals, let someone else minister to the poor”

Reign Like Humans

Instead of raining like beasts, we must reign like Christ. God hasn’t put us in charge like Christian versions of the authorities we see in the world. We reign as Christ reigns–not in telling people what to do, but by showing the way through laying down our lives for others as Christ has laid down his life for us. God hasn’t given us tools to dominate others, but rather the tools to love and serve others.

Jesus explains what this means to his disciples just as he finishes washing their feet:

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35, NIV)

In washing his disciples’ feet, Jesus had taken the lowest position to meet the needs of others.

In the world’s estimation, this makes Jesus seem smaller, but when John describes the events, he explains Jesus’ humble service as a consequence of his exalted position:

3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (John 13:3–5, NIV)

It is precisely because Jesus is so great that he humbly serves.

To participate in his reign, means that we model Jesus’ same greatness by serving others, even if—especially if—that service makes us seem smaller in the world’s eyes. It might not seem like a big deal, but when we do things because they need to be done, not because we need recognition, we participate in the reign of Jesus. Maybe it’s doing the dishes after a church potluck. Maybe it’s volunteering to help out in Sunday School. Maybe it’s taking someone without a car to get groceries because that’s what they most need at the moment. Maybe it’s extending hospitality to your neighbour. Jesus shows us that seemingly insignificant acts of service are how he reigns in the world. So we should pray that we have eyes to see the opportunities to follow Jesus’ example.

Being Witnesses to His Kingdom

Just before Jesus is taken up into heaven, he tells the disciples that by the power of the Spirit they will bear witness to his kingdom (Acts 1:8). What does it mean for us to bear witness? In what follows in Acts, Peter and Paul show what it means First, They explain that Jesus is king. If we were just a teacher, we can choose to accept his teachings or not. But as a king, it means we’re accountable for what we do with his teachings. And Second, that Jesus’ lordship is established by his resurrection. These two ideas are controversial, but they are central to our testimony.

Bearing witness doesn’t mean we force people to become Christians, But it does mean that we refuse to accommodate our message to the demands of a culture. We don’t present a Jesus who affirms people’s existing values.We don’t turn him into a mascot for our social, political or economic agenda: Jesus the militarist. Jesus the radical individualist. Jesus the materialist. We don’t present a Jesus who asks nothing of his followers, rather one who challenges us to become new. After all, our old way of being in the world led to the mess this world is in.

Bearing Witness isn’t just about what we say. When people look at our lives, do we practice what we preach? When we say a poor man is Lord, do we undermine that message by treating the poor with contempt? When we say Jesus’ is our king, do we follow his instruction to love our enemies? When we say that Jesus teaches us to speak the truth, do we have unimpeachable integrity in everything we say? When I say I believe in resurrection do I live my life to satisfy my ambitions for this life, or to build treasure for the resurrected life? Is the kingdom proclaimed by my actions the kingdom of the truly human Son of Man, or is it just like the beastly kingdoms that God has judged?

Conclusion

So what have we learned about the Ascension? The Ascension isn’t Jesus abandoning his church to carry out their task without him. The Ascension is Jesus’ enthronement in heaven so that his reign can take place on the earth.

When Jesus ascends to heaven, the Father and the Son send the Spirit, so that God can be present to a worldwide body who represent his kingdom to people everywhere. The Ascension means that we are entrusted with Christ’s authority on earth. That authority is only legitimately exercised when it is directed and enlivened by the Spirit. It manifests itself in humble service

and in proclaiming Jesus’ resurrection and Lordship. So let’s rejoice that we serve the victorious king, and let’s remember the kind of king we serve must shape the way we reign with him.