Rejoicing In Jesus’ Ascension
Acts 1:1-11
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 1:9-11 9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ our Lord… You might think that the disciples would have been sad and sorrowful when Jesus ascended and was taken out of their sight. By all appearances, He was gone; He went away. And yet St. Luke records (24:52-53) that after the ascension of our Lord, the disciples “returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God.” Why would that be? And why is the Ascension a cause of rejoicing also for us? That is what we will be considering this evening.
When Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, it was not as if our Lord was separated from us in some confined physical space above the clouds somewhere called “heaven.” Remember, heaven is the unseen realm where God is, an eternal and infinite realm which is not limited to space and time. We know from Scripture that God is present everywhere, and therefore, so is His “right hand.” So, when we confess that Jesus ascended bodily to the right hand of the Father, we are not saying that He left us, but rather that He has entered into that unseen glory of His heavenly Father, as both true God and now also as true man. St. Paul writes in Ephesians 4:10 that Jesus “ascended far above all the heavens that He might fill all things.” The ascension of our Lord, therefore, emphasizes not Jesus’ absence but rather His presence, especially for the church and in the church.
This glorified presence of Christ began even before the Ascension, at Easter. By the power of His bodily resurrection, Jesus was already exalted to heavenly majesty and filled all things. Consider His resurrection appearances. The disciples were gathered together with the doors locked, but suddenly Jesus came and stood among them. He had been there all along, but now He revealed Himself to them visibly. They were given to touch His hands and side. Or what about His appearance to the Emmaus disciples? Jesus made Himself known to them in the breaking of the bread and then simply vanished from their sight.
Throughout the 40 days between His resurrection and ascension, Jesus came out of His glory to appear to His disciples and to eat, talk, and walk with them. He did this for their benefit to show that He had truly risen from the dead in the flesh. Jesus’ ascension is really no different from the other times after Easter when He removed Himself from their sight. It’s not that He went away; rather, He appeared out of glory, and He returned to glory.
But Jesus’ final parting showed that the disciples shouldn’t expect any more of those appearances until the Last Day. The pillar of cloud that received Jesus, along with the message of the angels, was to convince the disciples that He would no longer be visibly present among them.
This, in part, is what the Ascension is meant to teach us. We will not see Jesus as the disciples did until He comes again in a cloud with power and great glory on the Last Day. This age of the church in which we live is the age not of the eyes but of the ears, of hearing and holding to the Word and preaching of Christ, who is unseen and yet truly present among His people. The glory of Christ is not visible but hidden in His church. Until the second coming, we walk by faith, not by sight, believing these words of Christ, “I am with you always, even to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20).
If we are honest with ourselves, though, we must admit that we struggle to believe this. For we sinners are people of sight. If we can’t see it, experience it, or feel it, it doesn’t seem real or true to us. Out of sight, out of mind with the Lord. There’s so much else that distracts us and catches our eyes in this fallen world. And when we don’t see God, we then act as if He doesn’t see us.
Think about it: we are usually better behaved when we know there are security cameras around or that a cell phone is recording us than we are when the only One who knows and sees is the Lord. Too often we live as if Christ is absent; we live as if He is not a very present help in time of need. Even while we confess that He is seated at the right hand of the Father, we can be tempted to doubt whether or not He really is in control, whether or not He really is the King of all creation. We see the chaos in the world around us, we experience the disorder in our own lives and even in our own bodies, and we wonder, “If Christ is really ruling all things, why is He allowing this to happen?”
Repent of such thinking. Turn away from your own wisdom and from merely what your eyes can see. Trust again in the sure and comforting truth of the Ascension that is spoken into your ears today. If you must go with your eyes, then consider what the last thing was that the disciples saw of Jesus. It is written, “He lifted up His hands and blessed them.” That was the final vision and image of Himself that Jesus gave to His church. Therefore, that is how you also are to picture what our ascended Lord is doing even now, lifting up His hands to bless His people with the gifts He won for you in His death and resurrection.
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All of this was foreshadowed when Old Testament Israel was once doing battle with Amalek in Exodus 17. Moses was seated on a hill overseeing the battle, and when He lifted up His hands, the Israelites prevailed. But when He let down His hands out of weariness, then the Amalekites began to prevail. So Moses’ brother Aaron and another man named Hur held up Moses’ hands all that day, and the Israelites were victorious.
Just as Moses was placed between two men, so our Lord Jesus was crucified between two men with His hands outstretched in blessing and in mercy toward us. When our Lord was lifted up and His hands held high, that is when the greatest victory was won for God’s people. On the battlefield of Golgotha, sin and Satan and death itself were slain as Christ Jesus triumphed over them through the cross. Our Lord did not grow weary but endured all the way until that final cry, “It is finished.”
And now, with two men, two angels standing by, the risen Lord Jesus ascends with hands lifted up in blessing over you. With those hands, He displays and sets before your eyes the wounds by which you are healed. It is as if He is saying to you, “All that I accomplished for you on Good Friday and Easter I now give to you. Forgiveness of sins, everlasting life, and redemption are yours. Receive them all as a free gift. Though you are still in the midst of the battle, look up to Me and see My hands outstretched over you. Know that through Me your victory is certain. At the end of the day, the devil who dogs you, the sin that grabs at you, the disease and the death that frightens you – all of those things will be defeated enemies. Just look to Me and cling to Me. I will work all things, even the evil things, for your good. Nothing in all creation can separate you from My love.”
That is why the disciples were not sad but rejoiced when Jesus ascended. And we also rejoice this day, because all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to our Lord and Redeemer. One of us, our Man, is on the throne, one who is on our side, our true human brother, Jesus. We have a friend in high places. He is there at the Father’s right hand as our advocate.
St. Paul wrote in Romans 8:34, “It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” Jesus is speaking on our behalf with the Father and bringing our prayers before Him. Jesus has won for us the Father’s favor through the shedding of His blood. Since that is so, since Jesus is on our side, who now can bring a charge against us or condemn us? Not even the devil himself! It has all been answered for by Jesus, and His Ascension shows that the Father has accepted the payment Jesus made. God the Father has embraced and honored His Son’s redeeming work and has exalted Him and received Him to His side.
And here is where it gets even better. By receiving Jesus to His side, the Father has also received you to His side. For you are in Christ. You are members of His body. In that sense, then, you have already ascended to heaven. That is how sure your salvation is. It is not just a future thing, it is a present reality. We sang it in the hymn, “He has raised our human nature on the clouds to God’s right hand. There we sit in heavenly places, there with Him in glory stand.” And that hymn is based on the words of Paul in Ephesians 2:5-6, “Even when we were dead in trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ . . . and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Heaven is already yours. You are already there, because Jesus is already there, and you are in Him. Colossians 3:3 puts it this way: “Your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Your eternal well-being is secure in Christ who is at the Father’s right hand.
What else could give you greater confidence and certainty of faith than that? Jesus ascended on high so that this Gospel would be preached to you and to all the nations. He was lifted up so that His voice might resound in all the earth through the preachers whom He has sent.
One of the last instructions Jesus gave His apostles was to preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins in His name. And what is done in Jesus’ name is in truth done by Jesus’ Himself. In the Acts 1, Luke spoke of all the things that Jesus began to do and teach before His ascension. That means that even after His ascension He continues to do and teach. Jesus is still very much with us and among through the ministry of His saving Gospel.
That, finally, is why being at divine service is so important. For this is where the ascended Lord delivers Himself to you in the flesh, in His glorified human nature. People sometimes say, “Well, since God is everywhere, I can worship Him anywhere. Being at church isn’t necessary.” But those who think that way are wrong, they are missing the point. As one early church father once put it, water is everywhere in the air, but if you want a drink to quench your thirst, you need to go to a well or a fountain. In the same way, the Lord who is present everywhere locates Himself and makes Himself accessible for you with His grace in very specific places. The fountain flows from the pulpit and the altar and the baptismal font. Here is where you come into His presence with thanksgiving, for here is the gate of heaven. God’s right hand is extended down into this chancel. Here is the throne of the King of creation who comes to you with His true body and blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. By receiving this holy sacrament, you are made to be partakers of His divine life. Heaven and earth come together here in Jesus who ascended in the flesh to be with you always.
So then, be rid of all your doubts and fears, and believe this Ascension Gospel. Jesus is Lord over all things for the sake of His church, for you. Your salvation is complete and secure in Him. Christ is interceding for you before the throne of the Father. Jesus is present here to bless you with His words and supper. And the Lord, who has begun His good work in you, will bring it to completion in the Day of His return. Let us all, then, join together with the disciples and rejoice in the Ascension of our Lord.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
