Do You Consider The Ascension Of Our Lord An Afterthought?
Good Morning Friends,
If you look in a church calendar you might see a notation that today is “Ascension Day”, but then it might not be at all because “Ascension Day” is one of the neglected events of the Christian church year. One begins to wonder if people are uncomfortable with it. That would be sad because in ignoring the celebration, the opportunity to reflected on the message of the Ascension is lost. Maybe we do not like goodbyes or maybe we really do not want to acknowledge Christ as King or have trouble believe that Jesus defies gravity. But, if we gloss over its truth or worse deny it, we rob ourselves of an important doctrine, for without the Ascension, the work of Christ would be incomplete. Do You Consider The Ascension Of Our Lord An Afterthought?
Scripture: “A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me.” Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying to us, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” They said, “What does he mean by this ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’? Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy.
John 16:16-20 (NRSV)
I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.” (When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.
Ephesians 4:1-13 (NRSV)
And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.
Mark 16:15-20 (NRSV)
When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
Acts 1:9 (NRSV)
Message: The Ascension is largely overshadowed by the Incarnation and Resurrection. Christmas and Easter are the ways our cultures celebrate, but Ascension Day goes by without a trace, barely recognized…yet it is no minor episode, it is the Coronation Day for Jesus and the promise of Jesus fulfilled that He would go and prepare a place for us. Without the Ascension the Resurrection is incomplete, and the Work of the Holy Spirit in the start of the Church is impeded, and the Second Coming’s judgement is impossible to comprehend. Though often overlooked, the ascension completes Jesus’s earthly mission and signifies his rule as heavenly king. It occurs forty days after the Resurrection and marks the completion of the Father’s mission assigned to Jesus. It is important because the Ascension marks the shift in Jesus’ role and the role of the disciples. For now, Christ has all authority and arbitrates with all sympathy as our mediator from heaven even as the gift of the Holy Spirit begins to empower the evangelistic actions of the disciples that Jesus emphasized just before he went up and they went out. The ascension of Jesus has similar implications for our lives. The Ascension grounds us in the coming of Jesus’ spiritual presence, even as we begin to grasp that we in time we will no longer be confined to the limitations of this life and may from time to time get glimpse of the new life we are to lead. Here it becomes clearer that the sacred and the secular can no longer be separated…the Holy of Holies has been opened. Things have forever changed. This message shares one of the most important truth in scriptures. Friends, we know He rose but we also know which way He went during His departure and we know the direction in which we have been pointed until his return. The gospel writer Luke is renowned as a careful historian. When he recorded the birth of Jesus he rooted the event in its historical setting within the Roman Empire. He continues that same preciseness at the end of our Lord’s earthly ministry by recalling the place of the Ascension – at Bethany…the closest place Jesus had to an earthly home. Luke dates the event – 40 days after the resurrection. He emphases the presence of eyewitnesses. Friends, the Ascension was a real event of history. It is time we started believing it.
Pray we realize that Jesus reigns now. Pray we acknowledge him as the Son of God and the King of Creation but also a man showing us the way. Pray we appreciate that he kept his Word. Pray we follow in the route and Way he has provided for us. Pray in our goodbyes we never look back. Pray His Kingdom is established in our hearts. Pray we live boldly and confidently and strategically knowing that our labors in the Lord Jesus are not in vain. Pray that we take heart that because Jesus has endured great suffering and is not indifferent to our struggles. Pray we realize that we have hope of a glorious future because Jesus rules even now. Pray that though Jesus’ throne is in heaven we still find him in our hearts now. Pray we believe that Jesus came from above and will be coming back for us.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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