Our Lord’s ascension is a continuing celebration of His incarnation. It celebrates that Jesus, true God of true God, became man. Jesus became man to save us from our sins. But it was more than that: He also came to raise us up in Himself, all so we could share in God’s divine nature, as 2 Peter 1:4 tells us. That’s at the core of Jesus’ ascension. He does more than save us FROM sin, death, and hell; He saves us FOR an eternal participation in His divine life.
And so, today, we ponder this verse from our Gospel reading: “After the Lord Jesus had spoken to the Apostles, he was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.” For Jesus’ ascension makes an eternal life of body and soul into reality.
When you hear, “sat down” what comes to mind? Do you picture Jesus sitting in heaven, waiting for His Father to give Him the word that the time has come for Him to return in glory? What is Jesus doing as He sits at the right hand of the Father?
First, we need to clear up what being at God’s right hand means. Having the English language shape our thought patterns, it predisposes us to think in certain ways. Think of the “The Kingdom of God” or “The Kingdom of Heaven.” We’re first inclined to think that “The Kingdom of God” refers to the land area, the real estate, of that kingdom. But the Kingdom of God isn’t a place. “The Kingdom of God” refers, not to some location, but to God’s rule and reign. The Kingdom of God means that God is ruling as king.
The right hand of God is similar to that. That expression is not about heavenly geography; it’s much is bigger than that! Hear this psalm about the right hand of God: “The right hand of the Lord is held high. The right hand of the Lord displays strength” (Psalm 118:16).
In Scripture, the right hand of the Lord is not a place, but a power! It refers to God’s almighty power. And so when we confess that Jesus is sitting at the Father’s right hand, we confess that He has all power. We confess that Jesus rules and governs over all creation, even though it’s corrupted and messed up because of our fall into sin!
Listen to how Paul described it in our epistle reading:
God exerted that power when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms. He is far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And God has put everything under Christ’s feet and made Him the head of everything for the good of the church. Now the church is his body, the fullness of the one who fills everything in every way. [Ephesians 1:20-23]
Jesus now sits at the right hand of the Father. That means the human nature that Jesus assumed in His incarnation, which He offered to God to ransom and release us from sin and death’s power, that human nature is now exalted and has all power in heaven and on earth. The One who died on the cross now rules over all!
So, when you or I complain about the various turns taking place in our lives, we’re, in truth, complaining about how our crucified-and-risen Lord sees fit to govern. That puts a different perspective on life, doesn’t it? Our complaining becomes a sin. It’s grumbling against Jesus that we don’t like how He’s ruling over His creation. It’s not fully believing that He is ruling over all for our eternal benefit.
Think about life in the early New-Testament Church. It didn’t take long for persecution to break out, where many Christians were killed for their faith. Yet, even as the persecutions raged and people died for the faith, they didn’t forget who was even taking the sinful actions of men and using that for our eternal benefit.
Consider Polycarp. As a young man, Polycarp studied under the Apostle John when John was an old man. Later, when Polycarp was old, he was burned at the stake for being a Christian. Here’s a description of Polycarp’s martyrdom:
The day of blessed Polycarp’s martyrdom was the second day of the first part of the month of Xanithicus, seven days before the kalends of March. It was on a great Sabbath, about two in the afternoon. He was arrested by Herod, when Phillip of Tralles was high priest, and Statius Quadratus was proconsul, but while our Lord Jesus Christ was reigning as King forever. To Him be glory, honor, majesty, and the eternal throne from generation to generation. Amen. [Martyrdom of Polycarp, chapter 21]
But our Lord Jesus does more than rule everything for the well-being of His holy Church! He is also interceding for us before the Father. The book of Hebrews puts it this way: “Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. That is why he can fully save those who come to God through him, because he always lives and intercedes for them” (Hebrews 7:24-25).
Jesus intercedes for you. He’s the go-between between you and God the Father. When you sin, Jesus says to His Father, “Father, don’t look at the sin. Instead, look on my scars that show that I have answered for that sin.” Jesus stands in the breach between heaven and earth. Jesus didn’t stop being our mediator when He died. He continues to be our mediator. And by His unending intercession, He fully saves us.
And yet there’s even more. Since the “right hand of God” describes, not a location but a power, our Lord’s ascension didn’t remove Him from us. In truth, it’s the opposite. Oh, Jesus’ visible presence is removed–but He is not removed from us. The promise that Jesus spoke to the Church’s first pastors, His Apostles, still stands: “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
But how is He with us? One of the errors you may make when reading Scripture is that when we read “you” in the Bible, you may assume that God is directly referring to you. But that may or may not be true. To read and understand Scripture properly, we must know who the speaker is (or who the speakers are) and to whom a particular “you” references. The “you” may not refer to every one of God’s people but someone or some group in particular.
For instance: In Matthew 28 and Mark 16, when Jesus gave His Great Apostolic Commission, He was giving it to His Apostles, the Eleven, the Church’s first pastors. Jesus was promising that when they (the Apostles and the pastors who would follow them) would preach, teach, and baptize, He would be with them. Jesus spoke such words to give them courage for the time when others would oppose them, slander them, or kill them for preaching, teaching, and administering the Sacraments.
So, where are you in the Great Apostolic Commission? You are on the receiving end. You are the one being taught and baptized. You are the one receiving the Word and Sacrament from those whom Jesus commissioned to do that. For you, the Great Apostolic Commission means that Jesus is always with you in Word and Sacrament.
Leo the Great, a staunch defender of the faith in the 5th century, understood that well. He preached to his parish about what Jesus’ ascension means. He preached, “Our Redeemer’s visible presence has [now] passed into the sacraments” (Sermo 2 de Ascensione 1-4: PL 54,397).
So, even today, Jesus is still with us. But He’s not just with us mentally so we can think about him. He not just with us emotionally, so we can feel him near us. And He’s not just with us just spiritually, because He is omnipresent. For us, Jesus’ presence is real and true. That’s why we can speak the words of Joseph when we come to worship in the Divine Service: “Surely the Lord is in this place… This is none other than the house of God” (Genesis 28:16-17).
When you come to Lord’s Supper, you receive Jesus’ body and blood for the forgiveness of your sin. But you receive more than that. You also receive the body and blood of Jesus who is, right now, sitting at the right hand of the Father, ruling over all creation. That’s why the Apostle Paul said that even now, on this side of heaven, “God has raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 2:6).
Now, I probably need to say this. The Great Apostolic Commission is about Jesus for you, not Jesus in you or with you. But that doesn’t mean that, as a Christian, Jesus also isn’t in you, for Jesus’ presence becomes real in you because Jesus comes to you in Word and Sacrament. The Jesus for you becomes the Jesus in you.
Consider these passages. The Apostle Paul told the Ephesian Christians: “I pray that … God may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, that Christ may live in your hearts through faith” (Ephesians 3:16-17). And Paul writing to the Christians in Colossae said: “God wanted to make the glorious riches of this mystery known among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you” (Colossians 1:27).
So, why does Christ’s ascension matter? Here’s why: Because Jesus ascended, He now rules over everything for the well-being of His Church. He is interceding for you before God the Father, ensuring that you receive the fullness of the salvation that He has won for you. And Jesus now comes to you in His word and Sacraments. Since Jesus rules every circumstance, His peace can displace your complaining. Because He intercedes for you to God the Father, His joy can drive away your anxieties.
In the end, the ascension is about Jesus preceding us into eternity. Just as we will rise from the dead because Jesus rose from the dead, so also will we ascend into God’s eternal presence because of Jesus. Heaven is now open for you, because Jesus has ascended and opened the way. For where He has gone, you too will follow. Amen.
