Carried Up Into Heaven - Luke 24:50-53
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Introduction
Introduction
[READING - Luke 24:50-53]
50 And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. 51 While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple praising God.
[PRAYER]
[CONTEXT] Acts 1 says that Jesus appeared to His disciples multiple times over a period of 40 days after His resurrection. During that time He proved that He really had been raised from the dead, and He also taught them about the Kingdom of God.
They had misunderstood the Kingdom of God during Jesus’s public ministry. They thought the Messiah would come as a conquering king with military might—that the Kingdom of God would be established by the sword. This is why they were so confused when Messiah Jesus was crucified. They were not able to imagine that the Kingdom of God would be established through sacrifice.
Even after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus—even after He taught them about the Kingdom after His resurrection, they were still asking the wrong questions. In Acts 1:6, they asked…
6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
Jesus responded by essentially saying that the timing of the full manifestation of the Kingdom was for the Father to know and for them to find out. But Jesus also said in Acts 1:8…
8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
And then they watched as Jesus ascended to Heaven. Acts 1:9 says…
9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
What were the disciples witnessing as they looked on? What did they see as a cloud of glory took Jesus from their sight?
THEY SAW THE KING OF KINGS TAKING THE THRONE.
Hebrews 12:2 says…
2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
And then we read in Revelation 21:3-5…
The Kingdom will come in its fullness, and all things will be made new, because King Jesus is on the throne.
THEY ALSO SAW THE GREAT HIGH PRIEST ENTERING THE TEMPLE.
Hebrews 9:11-12 says…
11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; 12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
Our redemption is assured because Jesus, our High Priest, has redeemed us in the perfect, heavenly tabernacle by His own perfect blood.
Of course, the Apostles did not understand all this when they saw Jesus carried up to Heaven, but all this is what they were witnessing as they watched the ascension of Jesus.
The ascension of Jesus doesn’t get highlighted like the crucifixion or resurrection of Jesus, but it is just as important. The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary has a good article on the ascension of Jesus. It says that the ascension of Jesus is vital for a number of different reasons.
It is vital because in the ascension of Jesus, Jesus becomes our advocate. Romans 8:34 says…
34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.
It is vital because in it we learn that the work of Jesus is finished. Hebrews 10:11-12 says…
11 Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God,
Jesus signified that the work of redemption was finished by sitting down at the right hand of the Father.
It is vital because in His ascension Jesus secures the resurrection of every believer. In John 14:2 Jesus said…
2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
If Jesus ascended to prepare a place for us, He will raise us to be where He is.
The ascension is vital because as He ascends Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to His people. In John 16:7 Jesus said…
7 “But 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.
The ascension is vital because it gives us strength to persevere for His glory. Colossians 3:1 says…
1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
The ascension is vital because in His ascension Jesus demands to be worshipped. Philippians 2:9-11 says…
9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The exalted Jesus commands worship and demands to be worshipped.
And, as our last passage in Luke shows us this morning, that is exactly were the disciples ended up after the ascension of Jesus—worshipping the ascended Savior and continually praising God.
That’s where we should up this morning as well.
[TS] I want us to notice each of the last four VERSES in Luke’s gospel account…
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
VERSE 50 - He blessed them.
VERSE 50 - He blessed them.
50 And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.
[EXP] Jesus traveled back and forth from Jerusalem and Bethany during the week leading up to His crucifixion and resurrection. It’s fitting that this town be mentioned in relation to ascension as well.
When they got as far as Bethany, Jesus lifted up His hands and blessed the. Verse 51 says, “While He was blessing them,” which means that the blessing lasted awhile, but what was the content of that blessing?
I don’t think we can say for certain, but I think it must have included the themes of purpose and power that we see in Acts 1:8.
They would be blessed with power—they would receive the Holy Spirit.
8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
And they would be blessed with purpose—they would be His witnesses.
8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
They were blessed with the power to achieve the purpose that Jesus blessed them with.
Now, I think we understand their purpose. Witnessing to the ends of the earth means proclaiming the Gospel, planting churches, and making disciples, but what about their power? What did this Holy Spirit power look like when it came upon them?
We might first think of miracles. The disciples preached the Gospel in languages they had never learned on the day of Pentecost. Throughout the book of Acts, they healed the sick and even raised the dead.
But this Holy Spirit power that they were blessed with most often manifested itself in terms of courage.
When they were threatened, they still proclaimed the Gospel courageously.
When they were actually persecuted, they still proclaimed the Gospel courageously.
When they had to travel to a new place and tell a new people about Jesus, they did so courageously.
This wasn’t courage that came natural.
It was supernatural courage that Jesus blessed them with when they were blessed with the power of the Holy Spirit.
[ILLUS] During his years as premier of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev denounced many of the policies and atrocities of Joseph Stalin, the Soviet Union’s murderous dictator. Once, as he publically criticized Stalin in a public meeting, Khrushchev was interrupted by a shout from a heckler in the audience, “You were one of Stalin’s colleagues. Why didn’t you stop him?”
“Who said that?” roared Khrushchev.
An agonizing silence followed as nobody in the room dared move a muscle.
Then Khrushchev replied quietly, “Now you know why.”
When threats come, it hard to find the courage to speak up.
[APP] The message of Christ is always being threatened in this world, and left to our own strength we would not have the courage to keep speaking up.
But as it is, we have that courage through the Holy Spirit because we too have been blessed with the same power and purpose as these disciples who witnessed the ascension of Jesus.
We too are to be His witnesses.
We too are empowered by His Holy Spirit.
When the world says be quiet, we say, “I can’t. I was blessed for this.”
When the world threatens you with violence, you say, “Even so, I was blessed for this.”
We have been blessed with purpose and power to be a blessing to others as we proclaim the message of salvation.
Are you living in your purpose and power?
Are you living in your blessing?
Are you courageously telling others about Jesus?
[TS] …
VERSE 51 - He left them.
VERSE 51 - He left them.
51 While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven.
[ILLUS] Most of you know that we recently purchased a used minivan. It has been our preferred vehicle since we drove it off the lot.
When we had the Jeep Compass, we all preferred to ride in the Toyota 4Runner. But now that we have this Honda Odyssey, everyone in our family prefers to ride in it.
I guess they like the air conditioning that works really well.
I guess they like the smooth ride.
I guess they like the radio that doesn’t buzz as you listen to it.
But did you know that God has a preferred ride as well?
He likes to travel by cloud.
[EXP] In Exodus 13:21 it says…
21 The Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.
In Leviticus 16:2, God says…
2 The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, or he will die; for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.
Psalm 97:2 says…
2 Clouds and thick darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
But the OT Testament reference to God traveling by cloud that we should think about in relation to the ascension of Jesus is Daniel 7:13-14…
13 “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. 14 “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.
Jesus, God the Son, came before the Ancient of Days, God the Father, with the clouds of heaven to be given the Kingdom that will not pass away—the Kingdom of Heaven.
And then in Acts 1:9, as He was carried up into Heaven, we see that He once traveled by cloud…
9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
This was the cloud of glory, the cloud of God’s presence, the cloud that testified to the divinity of Jesus.
[ILLUS] Sometimes people say, “Why didn’t Jesus just say, ‘I am God,’?” But if we have ears to hear and eyes to see, we understand that Jesus did more than just it, He proved it by things He did.
For example, Jesus proved that He had the authority to forgive sins by healing a man who couldn’t walk. Jesus claimed to be God (and proved it) because only God can forgive sins.
Another example is Jesus walking on water. In Job 9:8 says that God is He…
8 Who alone stretches out the heavens And tramples down the waves of the sea;
In the Gospels, we see Jesus walking on the water, once again proving that He is God.
And a final example (in a very limited list of examples) is this one we see in the ascension of Jesus. If God appears in a cloud and travels by cloud, and Jesus ascends to Heaven in a cloud, then what can it mean, except that He is God?
[APP] Now this dovetails nicely with v. 52 where we read that they worshipped Him.
[TS] (on to v. 52)
VERSE 52 - They worshipped Him.
VERSE 52 - They worshipped Him.
52 And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
[EXP] Not to long ago in Sunday School we read about Peter meeting a centurion named Cornelius. The meeting between the two men had been directed by the Holy Spirit, but when Cornelius finally met Peter, he fell at Peter’s feet and worshipped him (Acts 10:25).
Immediately Peter raised him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am just a man,” (Acts 10:26).
Likewise, a little later in Acts 14, Paul and Barnabas are thought to be gods and the people begin to worship them. But in Acts 14:15, Paul says…
15 and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.
In Revelation 22:8-9, John writes…
8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. 9 But he said to me, “Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God.”
The point of all these passages are the same—only God is to be worshipped.
When Peter was worshipped, he put a stop to it because he is not God.
When Paul and Barnabas were worshipped, they put a stop to it because they are not God.
When the angel was worshipped by John, he put a stop to it because he is not God.
But notice here in Luke 22:52 that Jesus does not put a stop to it when the disciples worship Him. It just simply says that they worshipped Him and then returned to Jerusalem.
Only God is to be worshipped.
Jesus accepts this act of worship because He is God the Son.
When Jesus was a child, He was worshipped.
Matthew 2:2 and 2:11 say…
2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
These wisemen are no rebuked for worshipping Jesus because Jesus is God.
Jesus was worshipped during His public ministry.
In John 9, Jesus healed a man who had been blind from birth. The Pharisees didn’t like it so they put the healed man out of the synagogue. Jesus found him later and asked him…
35 Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.” 38 And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him.
And as was the case every time Jesus was worshipped, He never told the worshipper to stop.
He was God.
He deserved to be worshipped.
He demands to be worshipped now.
[APP] What is worship? It the declaration of Jesus’s worth. Worship sounds like Revelation 5:9…
9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
Worship also sounds like Revelation 5:12…
12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”
What does worship sound like in your life? How do you declare the worth of Jesus?
Worship might sound like a song.
It might sound like a prayer.
It always looks like obedience.
No matter what shape it takes, Jesus is God.
Worship Him.
[TS] …
VERSE 53 - They praised God.
VERSE 53 - They praised God.
53 and were continually in the temple praising God.
[EXP] Here Luke fast forward past Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit to tell us what He also tells us in Acts 2:46-47…
46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Luke’s gospel ends where it began—with God’s people in the temple praising and blessing God “for He has visited and redeemed His people” (Luke 1:68).
This visitation has come in Jesus of Nazareth.
This redemption has come through the birth, life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.
This is reason enough for all eternity to praise God.
[TS] …
Conclusion
Conclusion
God the Father has sent God the Son to pay the price for your sins.
If you believe, God the Son has blessed you with power and purpose.
Jesus is God the Son, so worship Him and praise God.
[PRAYER]