Jesus' Ascension into Heaven

Thursday marked a special day in the Church calendar. On Thursday, Christians all over the world remembered Christ’s ascension into heaven. Some people say that Ascension Day is the most important day to remember, that it is more important, even, than Christmas!

Why? What’s so great about it? How many of you heard about it?

As we read from scripture, it’s the day Jesus went back to the Father. He went up into heaven. Our passage describes Jesus ascending and a cloud hid him from their sight. If you’re like me, you read the word cloud and you picture the big fluffy cumulus clouds passing in front of Jesus, hiding him from view. However, if you recall your Old Testament descriptions of God, you’ll realise that the cloud refers to God’s presence: as in the cloud that led the Israelites out of Egypt, the cloud that came between the Israelites and the Egyptians, the cloud that filled the temple. In this case, Luke wants us to know that Jesus is with His Father, not that he’s somewhere in outer space. He’s returned to His Father’s presence.

But why? Why did he have to return to heaven? Why didn’t he simply stay on earth, continue his ministry, and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is alive? This morning, we’ll consider three reasons why Jesus had to return to heaven. And incidentally, every reason benefits us.

Christ ascended into heaven and he sits at God’s right hand. That’s what we confess whenever we recite the Apostle’s Creed. So what’s he doing? He’s not just sitting around! Sitting refers to power; Christ has the father’s power. He’s the right hand man, just as Joseph was de-facto ruler over Egypt. Pharaoh was king, but Joseph managed all the day-to-day running of the kingdom.

That’s Jesus, all power and authority in heaven and on earth is his. He rules the world with grace and peace. He runs it perfectly. He sits at his Father’s right hand as our great high priest. You’ll recall that in the Old Testament, God instituted a religious system. He ordained some people to be priests; in fact, he chose one of the 12 tribes of Israel to be priests, the Levites.

Their role was to represent the people before God. They brought all the sacrifices, tithes and offerings before God. Above all the priests was the high priest who could only enter the most holy place, the holy of holies, once per year. He had to go through a tough purification ceremony, so that he could be clean enough to enter. Even so, they tied a rope around his waist just in case they forgot something, and being unclean, was struck dead. As no one else could enter; all they had to do was pull out his body.

Jesus is the perfect High Priest who is in heaven, in the holy of holies, the real one, not the man-made, temporary one. He stands before the father and he pleads our case. He is our advocate. He is constantly calling for patience, love and grace. He is continually offering his life, his perfectly lived life, as a substitution of our imperfect one. He’s awesome! He’s there right now, pleading for me, for you, every day, tirelessly!

He’s standing there, pleading for Sloane’s case! Eventually, she will sin. Eventually, she will struggle! Even now, though she looks perfect, she is corrupted by sin, born into slavery to sin. But Christ has set her free! Christ stands before the Father and reminds him of the work Jesus did on the cross for her. Scottie and Cheri, as you raise Sloane and Savannah, remind them that Jesus is in heaven, he’s their great high priest, who pleads their case for them continually!

Second, his ascent into heaven is our guarantee—all that put their trust in him will also be with him. This is something we can take to the bank. It is a guarantee of deposit. Have you ever signed up to win a trip, or a prize? You see the headline, “Everyone guaranteed a winner.” Then in the fine print, it says, “Winners must pay...”

This is a priceless guarantee. It is like an engagement ring. The ring is proof, a guarantee that a wedding will follow. Have I ever described a 1st century Jewish wedding proposal? No? It’s like this...

So, benefit 1 is Christ our advocate, pleading our cause before the Father, as someone who knows, who has lived life as we live it. Second benefit is that Christ’s return to heaven is a guarantee that he will return, to take us to the place he’s prepared for us. This too is something we need to teach our children. Sometimes we can get caught up in religiosity. We can “do” church, go to church, do churchy things.” But the point of all of the churchy things is to remind us that Jesus really, physically ascended and that’s proof that he will return, and we will be with him! We can teach our children, that the loved ones who died are with Jesus right now! Jesus offers the promise, all we must do is trust it and accept it.

Third, Christ had to return to heaven so that he could send the Holy Spirit, a further guarantee. The Holy Spirit moves into our hearts, we become the temple of God, or, if you will, God’s dwelling place. And the Holy Spirit transforms our hearts and our minds so that we no longer think of, or put as the goal of our lives, the stuff of this world. Rather, our attention, our focus is on heaven, where Christ is.

You see, what happens is the Holy Spirit begins a lifelong process of changes. Guys who are married know what this is like. Wives are very much like the Holy Spirit, changing pigs into slobs and eventually into respectable enough people that they can bring out in public!

Seriously, though, what the Holy Spirit does is he changes our aspect, our point of view. Naturally, we do this, we look down, at ourselves, our desires, our wants, our needs. The Holy Spirit lifts up our heads, we see other people, their desires, their wants, their needs. And he lifts our heads up higher so that we see, God, Christ, and his desires become our desires, and we find total satisfaction in him, all our needs, desires and wants are met, right then, right there. And we begin to meet the needs of others, becoming better employers and employees, better husbands, better wives, better parents, better children, better friends.

Scottie and Cheri, all parents, everyone here, very young and very old, the Holy Spirit is in you. He’s at work in you! He is transforming you. Sloane, as a child of believing parents, is holy, God has set her apart as his own child. You are set apart, and now the Holy Spirit lives in you!

Christ’s ascension is so important! It is as important as Christmas and Easter. Be sure to remember and reflect on the benefits we receive from Christ’s return to heaven. No matter what sin you’ve committed, Christ pleads your cause perfectly, and offers himself in your place, having already taken the punishment. Remember that as surely as he is there, so surely he will return to take you to be with him. Remember that the Holy Spirit is in you. He is working in you to live, really live! Amen.