1 THE ASCENDED LORD Acts 1:1-11; 1 Peter 3:22; Hebrews 4:14-16; 7:22-8:1 Lars Wilhelmsson As we follow Jesus on His way to the cross, we see His matchless character. All the way Jesus anticipated and moved toward that final hour. But that hour was not the end after all. The resurrection that followed brought the triumph of His sacrificial death. Yet even that is not the end. For there is still the event beyond the resurrection. The event that brought glory to His victory. Very little is written or preached about this event. It is one of the neglected themes of Scripture. Too many people think of the ministry of Jesus in terms of what He did and taught during those 3 1/2 years on earth. But forty days after His resurrection, Jesus ascended into the presence of God the Father as His disciples watched (Ac 1:1-11). For many centuries this event was celebrated. It was one of the principal festivals of Christendom called "The Feast of the Ascension of our Lord." Its origins go back 1600 years to the statement in the Apostle's Creed (A. D. 390): "I believe... in Jesus Christ... He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God, the Father Almighty..." But today the significance of this historic event has been virtually lost. Coming as it does 40 days after Easter, Ascension Day has never had the fortune of falling on a Sunday, but is forever doomed to a weekday (usually Thursday). And we have treated it as such. It has been neglected in the shuffle of other important holy days. Yet the exaltation of the crucified Christ includes both His resurrection and His ascension. Three passages describe the ascension event historically (Mk 16:19-20; Lk 24:50-51; Ac 1:9-11; 1 Ti 3:16) with numerous other Scriptures referring to this historical fact. It is thus treated as an event of great significance. SIGNIFICANCE End of Earthly Mission Jesus departing physically and visibly from the earth and being immediately received into heaven marked the end of His first coming and thus earthly mission as He accomplished all He came to do (Jn 17:4).
Commencement of Heavenly Ministry Just as the ascension ends Jesus' earthly ministry it commences His heavenly ministry. Jesus' ascension made His ministry in heaven possible. The ascension was the act by which our Lord entered into heaven His original home as God the Word (Jn 1:1-3; 17:1). As He entered heaven He carried His humanity with Him. He who took the human into partnership with the divine has now retained that human nature in this exalted state. After the resurrection the disciples recognized their Lord by the marks of identity physically and accepted the transfigured state which was now His. The ascension is therefore a necessary complement of His resurrection. Heavenly Reign The ministry of our Lord is now that of the reigning victorious Christ. His ministry is a continuing ministry. It is a ministry from the throne of God. Since the union of humanity and divinity is permanent Christ reigns in glory in His glorified Manhood (Heb 10:12-13). The Lordship of Christ is a crucial teaching of the New Testament. The writings of the New Testament emphasize this over and over again. "Jesus is Lord" is the cry of all the saints, whether in worship or in the hours of persecution when they refused to deny Him. Because Jesus has completed the work He came to do, He has returned to the glory from which He came and He reigns as the sovereign Lord. Christ exercises His supreme authority in His ascended state over the church and over the universe: "... Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand with angels, authorities and powers in submission to Him" (1 Pe 3:21-22). "I pray also that you may know... His incomparably great power for us who believe. He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be Head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way" (Eph 1:18-23). Christ has a supernatural ministry in heaven which transcends the earthly. During His life time Jesus was limited by space and time. Now in the ascended state, He is unlimited unlimited in His exercise of power and influence. Descent and Universal Ministry of the Holy Spirit The ascension opened the way for the descent and universal ministry of the Holy Spirit:
3 "Exalted to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear" (Ac 2:33). The last phrase "poured out what you now see and hear" is a reference to Pentecost as the Holy Spirit comes in His full manifestation. In the Person and work of the Holy Spirit, who is a spirit only, and not body and spirit as Christ now is, Jesus as God (the God-Man) is present everywhere on earth (Mt 28:20; Jn 3:13). Jesus points out to His disciples that it is good that He goes away: "Now I am going to Him who sent Me, yet none of you asks Me, 'Where are you going?' Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief you the truth, It is for you good that I am going. But I tell away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. When He comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin, because men do not believe in Me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see Me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.... I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to Me by taking from what is Mine and making it known to you." (Jn. 16:5-14) Building the Church: Releasing the People to Minister & Giving Spiritual Gifts The ascension of Christ paved the way for Christ to build the church on earth through His people: "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ Himself?..." (1 Co 6:15). "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it" (12:27). "But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: 'When He ascended on high, He led captives in His train and gave gifts to men.' (What does 'He ascended' mean except that He also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very One who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)
It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." (Eph 4:11-13) Encouraging His Witnesses As the exalted High Priest in heaven, Jesus provides encouragement to His witnesses: "But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Look, he said, I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God" (Ac 7:55-56). Preparing a Place for His Followers One of Jesus' reasons for going back to His Father was to prepare a place for His followers: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me. In My Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going" (Jn 14:1-4). The reference to "My Father's house" with "rooms" or "dwelling places" implies permanence. This is where the disciples of Jesus throughout human history will live forever. Interceeding for His People Jesus went back to His Father so He could also intercede for His people: "Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them" (Heb 7:25). Jesus is the perfect High Priest forever; so He is able to save completely and for all time as His people will never be without a priestly representative (Jn 17). When no one else is praying for us, Jesus is. Advocate on Behalf of His People As our High Priest Jesus speaks to the Father in our defense, as our Advocate:
"My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 Jn 2:1-2). He who died and offered the sacrifice as High Priest has entered within the Holy of Holies there to appear before God on our behalf. The Greek word that we translate "Advocate" refers to someone who speaks in court on behalf of a defendant ("counsel for the defense"). In God's court the Defender must be, and is, sinless. In fact, the Defender is the very One who is "the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and for the sins of the whole world, as He became sin for us (1 Pe 3:18). 5 Thus the ascension has not made God distant, but has made Him for all time approachable. The High Priest is there, a genuine representative of the human race, opening the door for man in Him to come to God (Heb 2:18; 4:14-16; 7:24-26; 8:1-2; 9:11-14,24; 10:19-22). The ascension consequently speaks both of Christ's majesty and conquering power and of His tender and understanding sympathy, and in Christian thought unites these two qualities (Rev. 5:5-6). Becomes Our Coming King The ascension was necessary to make it possible for Jesus to become our Coming King: "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am" (Jn 14:3). Without Jesus' going away, He would not be able to come back. His going made His coming possible. The ascension is the pledge and guarantee that one day the servant shall be as His Master, and we shall stand before the Lord in perfection: "But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 Jn 3:2). One of the things that characterized the disciples after the ascension was a spirit of anticipation. They looked at the future in a different way. Those two men dressed in white said to them, "Men of Galilee, why are you standing here looking up into the sky. This very Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back in just the same way as you have seen Him go."
In the account of the ascension in the very last verses of Luke's Gospel, we read that after Jesus had departed from them, the disciples returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And why not? They knew that He was coming back. They knew that He had not forsaken them. And, thus, they had tremendous joy. It was the joy of anticipation. The same is true for us if we recognize the comforting and exciting truth that because Jesus ascended He is coming again as Coming King to gather His people for the glories of spending eternity with Him in heaven.