Ascension
Acts
1:1-11
5/14/26
As we have seen in the recent Gospel
lessons from John, Jesus had told the disciples that he would be leaving. He had said that he would be returning to the
Father who had sent him. But in our text today, we do not receive any
indication that the disciples were actually expecting this.
Instead, Luke describes a time in
which the disciples rejoiced in the continuing presence of the risen Lord. We
are reminded that the disciples were not convinced that Jesus had risen from
the dead because of only one experience. Instead, the Lord appeared to them in
different places, and to different groups of people, over the course of forty
days. Luke tells us, “He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by
many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom
of God.”
On the night of Maundy Thursday,
Christ had told them that he would depart and send to them the Spirit. Our Lord
continued to say that he would do this as we learn in our text that while
staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but
to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me;
for John baptized with water, but you will be
baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Luke tells us of how these forty
days were a time when Jesus was with the disciples, and was teaching them about
the kingdom of God. And so the disciples asked: “Lord, will you at this
time restore the kingdom to Israel?” The disciples had come to understand
that Jesus was the Christ – the fulfillment of all of God’s promises to Israel
in the Old Testament. He had brought God’ end time salvation by his death on
the cross and resurrection from the dead. And so as they thought about God’s
saving action for Israel, it was natural that they wondered if Jesus was about
to restore the kingdom to Israel.
But God had intended Israel to be a
light for the nations. He had worked through Israel to bring salvation to all.
And now, the work of bringing that salvation to the world was about to begin.
He answered, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father
has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the
Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
We learn in our Gospel lesson that
Jesus led them out of Jerusalem as far as Bethany on the Mt of Olives opposite
the city. Then as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud
took him out of their sight. The disciples were watching Jesus as he ascended.
As they did so two men stood by them in white robes who said, “Men of
Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up
from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into
heaven.”
Today we celebrate the Feast of the
Ascension of Our Lord. On the one hand, it probably seems counterintuitive to
celebrate the fact that the Lord Jesus has withdrawn his visible presence from
us. But we learn in the Gospel lesson that this was not the response of the
disciples. Instead Luke tells us, “And they worshiped him
and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were
continually in the temple blessing God.” They rejoiced, and in the years
to come the reason for that joy was amplified by what the Holy Spirit revealed
to and through them.
Paul told the Philippians that the
Son of God willingly humbled himself in order to carry out the Father’s will
and save us. He said, “though he was in the form of God, did not count
equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by
taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
And
being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the
point of death, even death on a cross.”
In the incarnation the Son of God
took on the role of a servant. As the One who is true God and true man Jesus
had the almighty power of God – the power that had created the world. But he
did not use this power to serve himself. Instead, he used it to serve others.
And in the ultimate act of service he allowed himself on to be arrested on
Maundy Thursday, tortured, and crucified on Good Friday.
As Jesus hung on the cross, it
appeared that he had been rejected by God. But instead, it was God directing
his wrath against our sin. Paul told the Corinthians, “For our sake he made him
to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God.”
On Easter God raised Jesus from the
dead. True God and true man before the
crucifixion, Jesus was raised as the One who is still true God and true man.
The Father vindicated the Son and demonstrated that he was indeed the Christ.
Paul went on to tell the Philippians, “Therefore God has highly
exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth
and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
God highly exalted Jesus. But this
exaltation was more than just the resurrection. In the ascension of Jesus we
see the Father exalting Christ. The most quoted verse in the New Testament is
Psalm 110:1 which states: “The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right
hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’” We learn that in
the ascension, Christ was seated at God’s right hand.
This “right hand” is not a place, but instead an expression of how
Christ now exercises all might and power. He who humbled himself to serve us
now reigns over all things. Peter tells
us that Christ
“has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels,
authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.” In Ephesians the apostle
Paul referred to the “working of his great might that he worked in
Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right
hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and
power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only
in this age but also in the one to come.”
And remember, the Lord now does this as the One who is still
true God and true man. Christ exercises all power and authority according
to his human nature as well. The ascension is the exaltation of the incarnate
One.
This has important meaning for us. Man was created in God’s image
for fellowship with God. But in Adam’s sin we lost the image of God and no
longer enjoy this direct experience. Jesus Christ is the second Adam. In his
ascension and exaltation Christ has taken redeemed humanity into heaven – into
God’s presence. Because he has, we know that we too will dwell with God.
Though the Son of God, Jesus was made like us in order to save us.
Now as the One who has saved us by his death and resurrection, Christ is the
one who intercedes for us. Paul told the Romans, “Christ Jesus is the one who
died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of
God, who indeed is interceding for us.” He speaks on our behalf because he
was made like us in all ways, except for sin.
He has redeemed us and now as the risen Lord he speaks on our behalf
that we are the forgiven children of God.
The ascended Lord reigns now. No longer is he at work only at one
place. Instead through his Spirit whom
he has sent, he works through the proclamation of this Gospel in all places at
once. And we now experience the fact that Christ exercises all power according
to his human as well as his divine nature. This happens in the celebration of
the Sacrament of the Altar. The One who is true God and true man still comes
into our midst in his body and blood.
He will be present in a few moments as he gives us the very price he paid for the forgiveness of our sins. As we prepare to receive him we will sing in the Sanctus, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” These words confess that Christ comes to us in the Sacrament. Yet every experience of the Lord coming in the Sacrament points us to the event the angels describe this morning: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
The ascended Lord will return in
glory. He will return as the One who is still true God and true man. And when
he does he will raise our bodies and transform them to be like his own. He will
renew creation and make it very good once again. Just as Christ has now taken
humanity into God’s presence, so we will live in body and soul with our triune
God forever.
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