The Ascension of Our Lord
Mark 16:19
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Mark 16:19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ our Lord… One of the main reasons that we have been gathered together here this evening is that we may not allow the Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord to lose its place in the Church Year calendar. In addition, we have gathered in order that this wonderful Feast day may not lose its place of high importance in the lives of God’s people.
Even though there is a small turnout tonight, we still celebrate with abandon the Ascension of our Lord, for it reminds us again of exactly what it means that our Lord ascended into heaven. Truly we have reason to celebrate.
As we heard in both the Epistle and the Gospel for tonight, our Lord Jesus had gathered His disciples on a hillside just before He was to leave them and return to His Father. Of course, the disciples had heard Jesus say on many occasions that He had to leave them, for if He did not, then Jesus would not send the Helper, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth and point them directly to Jesus. So when we see the disciples standing with mouths hanging open as Jesus was taken up from them, we have to wonder whether they truly remembered what Jesus had said, or understood what was happening.
The picture of the disciples in this text is a lot like us; it’s like looking into a mirror. We often seem dumbfounded at the things our Lord says and does. Sure, we see Him heal the sick in the Scriptures, but sometimes we do not believe He can do that for us. We hear Him teach that “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12), and yet we want to leave the door open for those who trust in themselves or some other figure besides Jesus for salvation. We hear Him say, “Come unto Me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28), but all too often we insist that we know what is best for our lives instead of seeking and obeying God’s will.
The sinful human nature is a strange creature, for it always tends to seek its own way, it always seeks its own solutions, it always seeks its own paths to heaven. It insists on having at least a share – however small – in working out its own salvation. But as long as we continue to insist on having our faith and salvation in any way on our own terms, we will never realize the blessings God has for us.
Frankly, there is absolutely nothing we can do – even if we wanted to – in order to gain salvation for ourselves or please God in any way. For salvation is not at all about you or me; it is all about Christ and His life, His death, and His resurrection for the forgiveness of sins and the delivery of the benefits of His forgiveness in His Word and sacraments.
Christ has lived the perfect life you are required to live in your place. Christ has suffered the full-bore punishment of all your sins in your place. Christ has died the death your sins deserved for you and in your place. Christ has been raised from the dead on the Third Day thereby defeating even death itself for you and in your place. He has taken all your sinfulness to Himself; it has been crucified with Him on the cross, and now you live in His forgiveness and grace. You are the glad recipient of Christ’s work, and you are the object of His love.
And all of this comes together on the day of Christ’s ascension into heaven, 40 days after He rose from the dead. Looking to Acts 1:11, we see further benefits of Christ’s Ascension for us. The angel said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” And in the book of Revelation, John wrote that when Christ returns, “every eye will see Him” (Rev. 1:7). So, the Ascension of our Lord teaches us in no uncertain terms that Christ will return, and when He does it will be visible, for all the world to see. No one will mistake the second and final coming of the Lord. It will be divinely obvious.
Christ will return; you have His word on it. But what is it that He will He return to do? Well, it is not what many today falsely teach, and what is purported to be the truth in the “Left Behind” books and movie and other such erroneous sources. For there the teaching is that Christ will come to take out of this world only the Christians and leave all the others behind to suffer until Christ returns yet a third time. This could not be farther from the truth, for the Scriptures know only of two comings of Christ.
No, Jesus Himself tells you what His return means in John 14. In verses two and three He says, “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” (Jn 14:2-3). Your soul is calmed and strengthened at Christ’s Ascension because you are assured that He is, even now, preparing a place for each of you in heaven where He is. And since He is preparing that place, He will come back in order to take you to be with Him.
What a beautiful thing the Ascension of Christ is, especially at the death of a Christian. What Christ says indeed happens, and we take great comfort in His Word of truth. When the soul of a Christian leaves the body, there is no doubt that Christ receives that soul to Himself; He Himself has come for it, and He ushers that loved one from this life on to eternal life and health in heaven – WITH HIM.
In St. Matthew’s account of Christ’s Ascension Jesus gathered His disciples and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me” (Mt 28:18). By virtue of His ascension Christ has been given all authority and power by God the Father. There is no one or no thing greater than Christ. This lends all the more credence to what Jesus said in John 14; since He indeed is God and since He has said He is coming back for us, we know that it is true beyond a shadow of a doubt, and we can look forward to it with great anticipation and certainty.
But not only that, we see in Scripture that Christ’s Ascension is both TO a specific place, and it is FOR another benefit for us. In the Gospel for tonight St. Mark says that “[Christ] was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.” Christ has Ascended TO the right hand of God, the position of power and authority; it is reserved only for Him. That is why Jesus chided James and John for wanting to be seated at Jesus’ right and left in His coming kingdom, for those positions were only the Father’s to give, and they were NOT for James and John to jockey for. We also confess Christ at God’s right hand in the words of the Creed when we say, “And sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.”
The other benefit of Christ’s ascension is demonstrated by St. Paul in Romans 8:34 where he writes, “Who is He that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” Christ is interceding for you; Christ is praying FOR YOU! What a comfort it is to know that one of the things your Savior does for you is to pray for you. And we know His prayer is heard, for His Father’s ear is turned to Him. They are one.
So Christ ascended to His Father 40 days after the Resurrection. Because Christ ascended, He Himself tells us that He will come back to take us to be with Him, to the place He has prepared for us. Christ has all power and all authority given to Him by God the Father, and from God’s right hand – the position of power and authority – He rules all things for our good and prays for us.
Even though we do not have Christ walking and talking among us as did His disciples, we have Him among us in a still more wonderful, amazing, and miraculous way. For He is with us and He comes to us through His Word, and especially tonight in His Supper. Here is where He delivers to you what He went to the cross to accomplish – true, real, and lasting forgiveness, life, and salvation.
This is Christ – who lived, died, rose, and ascended into heaven, and who IS coming again. And in this meal He continues to strengthen your faith until your heavenly mansion is fully prepared and He calls you home.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
