Transition, Ascension, Reaction May 12, 2024
Gracious God, open our minds to understanding, teach our hearts to love, and strengthen our wills to carry out the mission of your Word. Amen.
On the Christian Church calendar today marks Ascension Sunday, the day when we commemorate the return of Jesus to his Father and his rightful place in heaven. Yet despite the importance of this event, the attention paid to it falls far behind our celebrations of Christmas, Easter and even the Day of Pentecost, the day when the Holy Spirit descended upon those first believers in Jerusalem.
But I think that the ascension of Jesus deserves a lot more attention than it receives for it marks the end of the story of his mission here on earth and also is the beginning of the story of our Christian Church, which will go on until Christ comes again. And for this reason, we shouldn’t view Jesus’ ascension as simply the final act of his time here on earth, rather we should look on it as the culmination of Jesus’ first advent, or coming. All that he had accomplished for us during his time here on earth came to a head with his return to his Father, and our Father, in heaven.
With that in mind I’d like to take a closer look at the events just prior to, during and after the Ascension to highlight their importance to us and our Christian faith. And to do so I’m going to put them into three categories, being transition, ascension, and reaction.
Let’s start with the transition.
The Transition
The transition was that period between the resurrection of Jesus and his ascension. It was during that period of almost seven weeks after that Sunday when he arose from the grave that he made appearances before his followers and taught them about the kingdom of God. Here’s how the Apostle Luke, in the Book of Acts, describes that time, “After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.” (Acts 1:3)
In other words, Jesus didn’t simply rise from the dead and go directly to heaven. He could have, and there would have been plenty of good reasons for him to do so, after all, the work of redemption was completed. On the night of the Last Supper, Jesus prayed this to his Father, “I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.” (John 17:4-5) Jesus had completed his mission here on earth and through his death on the cross had atoned for the sins of all mankind, so what else is there for him to do? He has made a full atonement, and he has been raised in triumph over death; therefore, why not just go directly to the Father?
Well, he didn’t because Jesus is a friend and Saviour to all. He took the time over those forty days to move amongst his followers, answering their questions, helping to banish their fears, and teaching them all they needed to know about the kingdom of heaven. And Luke, in his Gospel, also says, “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” (Luke 24:25), so Jesus was preparing them for his departure and the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. It was a mark of his grace and kindness that he stayed around to offer the encouragement that his followers so desperately needed.
And for a couple of his disciples, it was particularly compassionate for Jesus to stay for those forty days. Remember the story of Thomas, who said that he would not believe until he put his hands on the wound marks on the body of Jesus? Well Jesus gave Thomas the chance to address his doubts, to meet his Saviour, to place his doubting hands into the nail prints on his body and have his questions answered and his fears dispelled.
Then we have Peter, who, on the night before the Crucifixion denied knowing Jesus three times. After doing so Matthew’s Gospel tells us, “…At that moment the cock crowed. Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.” (Matthew 26:74-75)
Also during those forty days after the resurrection, one of the appearances of Jesus to the disciples took place on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Peter, and some of the others, in their despair and confusion, went back to doing what they knew best, fishing. Jesus appeared on the shore and called to them. They went to him and shared a breakfast of fish and bread. This is what took place next, “Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” A second time he said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:15-17) Jesus forgave Peter, whom he had called the rock on which he would build his church and told him to begin the work which he had commanded him to do, which was to spread the Good News of the Gospel to all mankind.
And don’t you think Mary, the mother of Jesus, was glad for that time of transition before the ascension of Jesus? For she had stood with others at the foot of the cross and witnessed that sorry spectacle, the brutality that was meted out upon her son. How glad she must have been to see Jesus again and witness his triumph over death. She could now rest easy knowing that the story of her son’s life didn’t end with a suffering Christ, it didn’t end with a crucified Christ, nor did it even end with a resurrected Christ, but it ends with an ascended Christ. He is Lord and he is King.
The Ascension
That’s the first word: transition. The second word is ascension.
Of all the New Testament authors Luke is the only one who describes the Ascension of Jesus, and he does so in both his Gospel and in the Book of Acts, which he wrote. Each has slightly different details but together they give us a lot of information on this important event.
Luke’s Gospel tells us this about the ascension of Jesus, “Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.”, while in the Book of Acts, Luke describes it in this manner, “When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
The common thread in both of these descriptions of the event is that Jesus was taken up to heaven by God, one says, “he was carried up to heaven” while the other says, “he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” So, it’s important for us to understand that Jesus fulfilled the will of the Father completely, he had accomplished the work of atonement and had risen in triumph. His work here on earth was done and it was God who took him to up to heaven, Jesus didn’t do it on his own. It was the will of the Father, who on the Day of Transfiguration had said this to Peter, John, and James, “This is my beloved Son: hear him.” (Matthew 17:5) Such was the love of the Father for his Son. Jesus was going back to his Father and to glory.
But before Jesus departed, he gave his disciples a final blessing, Luke writes, “Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them.” And it’s quite likely that this blessing was much the same as the one God gave to Moses when he spoke to him in the Sinai desert during the forty years the Israelites spent wandering there. God said, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
In the culture of the Middle East at that time it was customary for someone of stature and significance not simply to walk out the door and walk away but to extend blessing upon those who were under his care. So, it was certainly very meaningful to the disciples that their final view of their beloved master, Jesus, is a picture of him with his hands raised in blessing upon them.
What a gracious Saviour we have, that he loves to lift his hands up in blessing upon his own saying, “I bless you with my love and with my life and with my power and with my will.” Jesus loves to bless us. Jesus is far more willing to bless us then we are to even take the time to ask him to bless us. He loves to do so.
Now the responsibility of teaching and of proclaiming the kingdom of God, is going to fall to his followers as they’re empowered by the Holy Spirit. It’s now over to them to take the news of repentance and faith to all the nations. And this continues on with us today, Jesus continues to bless us and we, in turn, are called on by him to spread the Good News of salvation to all the world.
The Reaction
Finally, the word reaction. We’ve had transition, ascension, and now we have the reaction. We’ve already seen the reaction of the disciples when Jesus was arrested by the Roman guard, Mark tells us, “All of them deserted him and fled.” (Mark 14:50) Then when Mary Magdalene and the women reported to the disciples that the tomb of Jesus was empty, Luke writes, “But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them” (Luke 24:11) And finally, when Jesus appeared before them in that upper room where they had hidden in fear of the authorities, Luke tells us, “They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost.” (Luke 24:37) They, like us, were human and it took Jesus’ time after resurrection to instruct and guide them.
But what was their reaction to his departure? First of all, they worshipped him. Luke says, “While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him.” So, the reaction of the disciples to the ascension of Jesus was one of worship. It wasn’t fear or disbelief, it was worship. And that’s what we’re called on to do, to love and worship the Lord our God with all our hearts and with all our souls and with all our might.
Luke said that the disciples then, “returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.” And that’s why we come here every week, to love and worship God and to praise him. Christ is all our worship, he is all our joy, and he is all our praise. And we are accepted in him. The Father accepts all his worship and joy and obedience and praise on our behalf and in light of his gracious work within us. We begin our week here by giving glory and praise to God and when we depart, we abide by these final words of Jesus to his disciples on the Day of Ascension, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19)
Let us Pray:
Heavenly Father, enable us by your Word and Spirit to lift our eyes and look up, because we have the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour. May that make a difference in the way we go about the routine of our lives, and may we always remember everything he did during his time on earth that changed our lives forever. For his name’s sake, we pray. Amen.