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Luke 24:44-53

⁴⁴ Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶ and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, ⁴⁷ and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

⁵⁰ And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. ⁵¹ While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. ⁵² And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, ⁵³ and were continually in the temple blessing God.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

I vividly remember many times as a child packing up the car to leave after a visit to my grandparents. We would say our goodbyes, wave as we pulled out of the driveway, and hit the road. I would only last about half an hour before my quivering lips would turn into total waterworks. I would burst into tears because I missed my grandparents so much. I’m sure the Steve Green album my parents would play in the car added to my volatile emotional state. Anyway… I’d cry for however long as my parents reassured me that, no matter what, we see my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins again because we all believed in Jesus and Christians can only be parted for a brief time.

In Romeo & Juliet, when Juliet says goodnight to Romeo, she has the famous line, “Parting is such sweet sorrow.” The line basically means that there is sorrow that the lovely Juliet has to be parted from her beloved Romeo, but there is a sweetness to saying goodbye because it makes them think about the next time they will see each other.

Time to get to the point of all this: Thursday marked forty days after Jesus’ resurrection which means that was the anniversary of Christ’s ascension into heaven where He is seated “on (or ‘at’) the right hand of God the Father Almighty.” I’ve said it many times, but Jesus’ ascension is a big deal. Now, everything that Jesus did is significant, but the ascension is right up there in importance with His birth, death, and resurrection.

In our Gospel text, the disciples don’t seem to think that Jesus’ ascension meant they should have any sorrow because Jesus has departed. Instead, they have joy.

In our Epistle text from Acts [1:1-11], Luke tells us that the disciples stood in wonder and awe and amazement as they watched Jesus ascend and get taken from their sight by the cloud. There they are staring up into heaven – and I’ve always imagined they are so filled with wonder that at least one of them is drooling – they are gaping at the skies until the angel appears to them and says, “Why are you standing around 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.”

In this text, Luke tells us that after Jesus ascended, the disciples worshiped Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy – great joy – and were continually in the Temple blessing God. When Jesus left the disciples, they had joy because Jesus had opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. They knew what Jesus’ ascension meant. So, let’s get to it, what does Jesus ascension mean?

The disciples knew that Jesus had ascended to the Father’s right hand. The first thing to know about this is that the Father’s right hand is not a place. Instead, it is an office. We often use the phrase “right hand man.” It doesn’t mean that that person is always standing at someone’s right hand; it means that the authority of one person is given to another.

When Jesus sits down at God the Father’s right hand, it means that He takes an office and all the functions of that office. All the things that belong to God belong to Jesus – all rule, authority, and power. It means that Jesus is everywhere, all-powerful, all-knowing. Now because He is God, Jesus, the Son of God, had all of those things all along. But when Jesus took on flesh, He didn’t use those attributes until His ascension. The ascension is how Jesus can promise, “Behold I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Mt. 28:20). You see, Jesus still has His body, and if He had remained on earth, we here in East Grand Forks couldn’t know if Jesus was with us if He was down in Melbourne Australia. But because Jesus is at the Father’s right hand, we can know that He is with us.

The Bible continually mentions this. In fact, there are some pastors and theologians who say that Jesus’ ascension is mentioned more in the Epistles than Jesus’ resurrection. I haven’t counted, but it would be an interesting study.

Think back, just for a minute, how the book of Acts begins (you heard it earlier). Luke the Evangelist wrote the Gospel of Luke to a guy named Theophilus. And Luke starts the book of Acts saying, “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach” (Act. 1:1) and the whole book of Acts is the record of how Jesus continues to serve, rule, grow, and reign over His Church.

The same Jesus who right now sits on the throne of the universe is the One who suffered, bled, died, and rose again for you. The Jesus who loves you in this way is the One who governs and rules over all things.

Dear Christians, while it appears that this world is full of chaos, sickness, pandemic, death, discord, and strife, the Scriptures continually testify to you that Jesus is still on the throne. He is in charge, and He promises that He works all things together for good for you who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Ro. 8:28) because He is at the Father’s right hand.

But again, we have a problem recognizing this because the devil is always trying to make us by forget that Jesus has ascended and is in charge. For example, we look around and see the world falling apart. Those who have been elected to rule are foolish, wicked, confused, dangerous, or incompetent. We see the church being persecuted and threatened all over the world. We see how people are hardly able to even speak to each other because of differing views on certain topics. We see all of this and try to wrap our heads around it and make sense of it all. We see things falling apart in our state and community with unemployment and businesses having to close their doors for the final time. We see people getting sick and dying. We see hurt, accidents, terrorism. We see people leaving the church and abandoning their faith.

Then, the devil comes and sticks our nose in all of that and says, “How can you think that Jesus is on the throne and in charge?” And we start to think that Jesus has abandoned us, that He has left us as orphans, and that we have to fend for ourselves. You see this happen in the church when people think that it is our job to spread the Gospel and grow the church because Jesus isn’t doing anything about it. That is wrong! God has not called us to be the ones to figure out how to grow the church. God has reserved that work for Himself. Yes, we are to be lights in this dark world. Yes, we are to be witnesses. Yes, we are to proclaim the Gospel by our words and actions. But we are partners with God in that. God has reserved the work of the growth of His Church to Himself. Jesus says that upon the rock of our confession that He is the Christ He will build His church and the gates of hell will never overcome it (Mt. 16:18).

With all of that in mind, I would encourage you over the next couple of days to read the book of Revelation. Do it in one sitting (it should take you less than an hour). And as you read Revelation, remember that Jesus is ascended, read it through that lens.

In a lot of ways, the book of Revelation is a commentary on Jesus’ ascension. John will write about seals and trumpets and bowls. He will see the frightful spiritual realities of this world. He will see famines, war, pestilence, and all sorts of terrible things happening. And as all of these things unfold, you start to think that the devil is in charge and running the show. But then, John gives us a glimpse of what is going on in heaven. And there, we see that Jesus, the Lamb of God who was sacrificed for our sins, is the One who is still sitting on the throne. The church is there with the all angels singing His praises. And just as you begin to get your fill of encouragement, it’s back down to the earth and it looks like things are getting worse. There’s dragons and beasts and rivers turning to blood. And just when it seems like Jesus has been dethroned, it’s back up to heaven and there is the Lamb of God still ruling, still reigning, still in control, still forgiving sins, still serving His Church. And this cycle keeps going until at last, Christ returns and heaven and earth are combined into one with Jesus still on the throne.

Finally, remember how Jesus ascended. He raised His hands in blessing. And Christ’s hands which bear the wounds He endured for your salvation are still lifted up in blessing over you today.

Dear saints, Jesus hasn’t left you because He is angry with you. Jesus is ascended to bless you and hear your prayers and present them before the Father. So, may you have joy that Jesus has ascended to rule and reign. Take heart. Have hope. Be of good courage. Your Jesus who was on the cross for you is now at the right hand of God for you, and He will stay there until He comes back for you.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.