Ascended to the Right Hand

Introduction

On the Apostle’s Creed: What is it that we believe? What is worth dying for? When we seek to answer this question, we are not seeking out what divides us from other churches, or what makes us distinct or different; rather, what is it that ought to unite the church, to bring it under one roof, or really, one head, as Ephesians 4:1-16 says. And so for us, while knowing the Bible and thinking deeply about God and about life and having conversations about how this works out in the everyday stuff of life is important, we want to be clear that somethings are worth holding on to in the church more tightly than others.

Button downs vs. t-shirts? Worth talking about, but Not so important.

Meeting at 11am vs 10am? 5 songs or 4? Worth talking about, but Not so important.

Does Jesus return at a certain point in the future with regard to his millennial reign? I mean, it’s interesting, and we can debate it, but it’s not worth leaving dividing over.

Is salvation derived solely by God’s decree, or do humans bear some personal responsibility in the matter? That’s worth studying and talking about, but don’t die on that hill.

Can you baptize infants, or should all who are baptized be able to state their own belief about the matter? It’s certainly a sticky issue, and there are interesting points on either side, but we don’t need to point our guns at those who argue something different.

Democrat or Republican? Don’t get me started. Believe it or not, IT’S NOT THAT IMPORTANT.

This series is not about hills that we in the church divide on, or debate over, or just decide for ourselves. It’s about the hills we die on. The apostle’s creed is an important framework for those hills. Baptists can state these words confidently. So can Lutherans. So can Methodists. So can Catholics. So can Pentecostals. So can Russian Orthodox. Every Christian on the globe, of every tribe and tongue, throughout history, can claim the Apostles’ Creed as not only compatible, but central to their understanding of what it means to believe as a Christian. These are the hills we die on.

READ THE APOSTLE’S CREED

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

maker of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord:

who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again.

He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church,

the communion of the saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is conceived by the Holy Spirit in the marvelous act of new creation, born of a virgin woman miraculously, yes, but in the vein of God’s redemptive arc of history. Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of heaven, he healed diseases and cast out evil spiritual forces, he spoke with authority and called people back to a relationship with the true father, mediated not by religious rituals and temple sacrifices, but by the Son himself. In the end, he was rejected by man, slandered and mocked and beaten and crucified and killed. He was buried in tomb, where he stayed, dead for three days. As we learned last week, even dead, Jesus continues to work out the plan of redemption, entering every space of the human domain and taking it back for himself. And then, Jesus rises from the grave, conquering even death and decay. We talk about the resurrection a lot, and in a few more weeks we will celebrating Easter Sunday, where we will go more in depth into the resurrection of Jesus and why that that is so important. But today, I want to focus our attention on the second part. Jesus ascends to the right hand of the Father.

What about the Ascension?

What do we do with the current state of Jesus? We talk a lot about what Jesus did in the past (teaching, performing miracles, dying for our sins, rising from the grave), and we a talk a bit about what Jesus will do in the future (coming again to bring about the end of the age, to finish the work of reconciling humanity to God, of heaven and earth). But what about Jesus in the present? There are a few things that we do in cultural Christianity that seem somewhat peripheral to Jesus’ present work:

We ask Jesus “into our hearts”; not sure where this comes from (Revelation 3:20, maybe?), or what we are supposed to do with it, but I suppose it means Jesus somehow lives in me, like a puppet master operating me with controls, but not really.

We pray “in Jesus’ name”; Somehow, whatever we say or do doesn’t really count unless we add “in Jesus’ name” at the end. Again, this doesn’t seem to be the trend in Scripture, but somehow I can’t stop myself from tacking it on to the end of every prayer. That, and “Amen.” And, yet, it’s only public, spoken prayers that I do that. Never personally, never in the quiet of my heart.

We charge people to have a “personal relationship with their Lord and Savior”; not that this is bad, in fact, none of these things are really wrong, but is this all Jesus is alive and well for? to be my friend and mentor? A relationship with Jesus is vital, but how does this work, particularly when the way that I often relate to him is past tense (recognize the historic work of redemption that has ongoing, present effects), future (Jesus will return), or present, but mystical and magical (Jesus is a mantra, the secret code of prayer, or a trans-dimensional being that somehow occupies my left ventricle).

Again, none of these are wrong, but they are their own do not encompass what Jesus is all about, presently, at work in me and in the world.

Acts 2:22–36 CSB

“Fellow Israelites, listen to these words: This Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through him, just as you yourselves know. Though he was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him. God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death. For David says of him: I saw the Lord ever before me; because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. Moreover, my flesh will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me in Hades or allow your holy one to see decay. You have revealed the paths of life to me; you will fill me with gladness in your presence. “Brothers and sisters, I can confidently speak to you about the patriarch David: He is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn an oath to him to seat one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was to come, he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Messiah: He was not abandoned in Hades, and his flesh did not experience decay. “God has raised this Jesus; we are all witnesses of this. Therefore, since he has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, he has poured out what you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but he himself says: The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

Jesus is a better prophet (Eph. 4:7-16)

Prophets: the mouthpiece of God

Prophets were “fore-tellers” and “forth-tellers.”

Their role was to reveal the heart and nature of God to people and to call them back to covenant relationship with YHWH

One of the OT standards when speaking on behalf of God was “Thus says YHWH...” A human prophet spoke with the very authority of God behind him, not as God himself, but with the same creative force and power.

The work of a prophet was marked by three things:

the empowerment of the Spirit;

the speaking of God’s word, and

signs and wonders, visible manifestations that revealed God’s power and purposes.

Jesus came as a better prophet on the earth

When Jesus is baptized in the Jordan river, the Holy Spirit falls on him, and he is marked from here on as a prophet to the nation. But Jesus is more than just indwelt by the Spirit. He and the Spirit are one and the same. Jesus is the actual presence of God standing among men.

When Jesus stands among the people, he begins with this powerful turn: “You have heard it said, but I SAY to you.” He speaks with the voice of God, but this time with an authority no prophet before him could claim (this is why he was so often accused of blasphemy).

Jesus performed healings, held authority over the wind and sea, drove out demons, multiplied a boys lunch into thousands, and raised the dead. Then, he himself was resurrected in body, the ultimate sign of the prophet.

But now that Jesus has ascended, he takes that prophetic work to new levels

Before Jesus ascends in Acts 1, he promises there will soon come a time after he is gone that the Holy Spirit will come upon his followers, and they will be witness beginning in to the local space of Jerusalem, but going out, spreading further and further, carrying the presence of God out to the very ends of the earth.

Jesus authors a living word, a text that is “God breathed” (2 Tim. 3:16), meaning filled with the Spirit. The Bible is not merely a historical text that drives our faith and practice; it is Jesus speaking to us even today. Yet, once again, it is not limited in space and time, as the historical person of Jesus was during his time on earth. Throughout our world, in churches and in homes stretching the corners of the globe, Jesus speaks with authority and power to the hearts of millions, calling them forth into covenant faithfulness with the father.

Finally, Jesus works out the prophetic ministry of signs and wonders through his followers. Paul says in Ephesians 4:7-16 that, upon his ascension, Jesus gives gifts to his followers, the church, empowering them to become his hands, his feet, his body, that he may continue to show the world, in deed as well as in word, the power and purposes of God.

Jesus is a better priest (Heb. 4:14)

Priest: the mediator of God and Man

Priests made sacrifices to atone for sins of people

Priests were the vehicle through which forgiveness was carried out

Their role was to represent the people in the presence of God, to bring their needs before him (intercession)

The work of a priest was marked by three things:

chosen from among humanity

act on behalf of humanity

offer gifts and sacrifices to God

Jesus came as a better priest on the earth

Jesus was chosen from among humans. Indeed, Jesus becomes human for this very task, to serve humanity as a priest, who is able to sympathize with our weakness and our limitations in every way (Heb. 4:15). He is flesh and blood man, not self-appointed, but uniquely positioned to represent mankind in the presence of God (Heb. 5:1-10).

Jesus acted on behalf of humanity. He interceded for them. Jesus taught and instructed them and pointed them toward the heart of God (prophet), but he also went to God for them. When Jesus spent time in prayer, he prayed for the people. When Jesus is in the garden, he prays for unity in the hearts of men, he prays that they would persevere through trials and temptations and hardships. And when Jesus is hanging on the cross, he prays to his father for his accusers, his executors, his betrayers, that they would be forgiven, that the Father would not hold judgment against them.

In order to carry out this forgiveness, Jesus makes a sacrifice to God on the behalf of the people. His blood is poured out, covering them with the death of another, atoning for their sins with a sinless, spotless atonement sacrifice.

Now that Jesus has ascended, he takes that priestly work to new levels

Jesus is the ultimate human, Jesus ascends to heaven, but he ascends bodily, not just in spirit. Prior to Jesus’ descent from heaven to earth, the Son was spirit, just like the rest of the Godhead. Now, as Jesus ascends, he is both body and spirit, still fully man as well as fully God. In the heavenly realm, before God, he embodies the presence of humanity in the realm of the divine. (Heb. 5:1-6)

Jesus intercedes on our behalf in a new and better temple. Priests would enter the holy of holies, once a year, into the space of God’s presence, where he would intercede for the people, ask for forgiveness, make atonement sacrifices. Jesus now enters into a heavenly tabernacle, a spiritual dwelling place for God and man made without human hands (Heb. 9:11-14). The author of Hebrews states that Jesus entered into this place “once and for all”. I believe this means that Jesus is still there, still interceding, still making our case to be forgiven, to be cleansed, to be reconciled to the Father.

Through Jesus’ continual gift sacrifice, we are able to approach the presence of God ourselves, reconciled to the Father by the work of the Son. (Heb. 4:14-15)

After the ascension, Jesus acts as our heavenly priest with a heavenly body who ministers in the heavenly tent. His priesthood endures forever. As the priest, Jesus’ actions and service also continue. He intercedes for his people and presents his blood before God the Father. He blesses his people as Aaron did. However, Jesus blesses his people with the gift of the Spirit. The Spirit advocates for us on earth; Christ advocates for us in heaven.

Now, his priestly work is universal, not limited to Israel. It is everlasting, never ceasing. It is unchangeable, never being superseded. It is effected, never dealing only outwardly with sin. It is pure, not stained by sin, It is heavenly, not relegated to the earth. As the head of the body that we call the church, Jesus also serves as the ultimate worship leader. This was a role of priests in the OT, and it is one that he continues today. Jesus determines our posture before YHWH. He ushers us into the throne room of heaven, to fall before God and to offer ourselves as a gift to God. Our worship is made possible because our perfect worship leader directs it.

Jesus is a better king (Phil. 2:5-11)

Kings protected the borders of the kingdom

Kings determined right and wrong an enforced justice within the realm

They represented the people to the nations; his character and values became theirs both through decree and through example

The work of a king chosen by God was marked by four things:

Rule with justice and righteousness

Defeat of the people’s enemies

Devotion to the Torah, the laws of God

Bless the world

Jesus came as a better king on the earth

This role, more than anything else, represents the person and work of Jesus. In many ways, the role of King subsumes the roles of prophet and priest, because a king both proclaims the ways of God and intercedes on behalf of the people. He represents the true rule of God to the people, and he represents the people to God and to the world.

Jesus constantly pointed people toward the kingdom, called people into the kingdom, spoke of the future coming kingdom, and spoke in parables that explained the nature of the kingdom.

Jesus not only taught justice and righteousness (the way of the Torah), he embodied it. He lived it. He was Torah personified, which is what he means when he says he did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5-7).

Jesus came to set up the kingdom of God on earth, to rule with justice and righteousness, but he did so through suffering and death

Through his death, he conquered the forces of darkness, forgave the sins of his people, and left an example for them to follow.

And this king blessed the world. His first message began with a pronouncement of blessings. He showed people what a world ruled by a good king would look like. It looked like healing of disease and sickness, it looked like restoration of those who had been cast aside. It looked like blind people seeing, lame people walking, hungry people eating, dead people rising.

Now that Jesus has ascended, he carries that kingly work to new levels

When Jesus rises to the right hand of the Father, he becomes king not only of the Jews, not only of Sheol (his proclamation in the place of the dead), but over all things (Phil. 2:5-11).

Jesus’s work uniquely served to bring heaven and earth together. What is unique about Jesus reigning and ruling in heaven today is that, for the first time, God exalted a human, flesh and blood, above the rest of the spiritual beings.

Jesus did not ascend, as Patrick Schreiner asserts, just to “float around in space.” Jesus ascends to the right hand of the Father, he asserts his role as king, and he gets to work. Jesus is right now working to accomplish the mission to set all things under his feet, to expand his kingdom to the ends of the earth. Jesus is taking out nations, expanding his borders, bring them all under his control. But make no mistake, he’s not doing this through political means. Jesus is not trying to set up human kings that demand Torah obedience. He’s not doing this by waging culture wars. Jesus is continuing his work of establishing the kingdom the same way he always has. By leading through the example of the Spirit-filled church. By waging war against spiritual forces, not human ones. By blessing the world through love and provision and kindness and care.

What does that mean for us?

The ascension of Jesus inaugurates an infinite expansion of the redemptive project, to stretch out the mission of relational reconciliation to the ends of the earth.

It might be tempting to think that Jesus’ ascension, his departure from the earth, means that somehow his ministry is reduced or diminished from his earthly presence and work. But nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus’ ascension turns the work from a few select prophets, priests, and kings, to an entire society patterned after him. Because of Jesus’ ascension, the whole of the church operates in this capacity. We are all prophets, priests, and kings.

You carry the presence of God in you, you speak with the authority of God, you are the hands and feet of Jesus, pointing to the Father with everything you do.

You are a mediator between God and man. You are able to intercede on behalf of those who need God’s power intervening in their life. You bear the blood of Jesus on you, and you are commissioned to lay down your life willingly so that others may live.

You have been remade in the image of Christ. That means you represent his lordship here on earth. That doesn’t mean that you should expect everyone to bow down and offer allegiance to you, because you are a marker, a signpost, not the real thing. But it DOES mean that you seek to do all things out a reordered sense of justice and righteousness. You wage war against spiritual forces that threaten chaos and disorder against flesh and blood. You devote yourself to the ways of Jesus, the ways of God, and you are inspired to call others forward into this better way of life. And you bless the world in what you do; you seek good, you seek peace, you offer love and grace and mercy. As you have been shown favor by God, so you now show God’s favor to others.