SOUNDING OUT: The Ascension of Jesus Christ is recorded in Acts
chapter one..
Acts 1:1,2a:
The former treatise [referring to the Gospel of Luke]
have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both
to do and teach, 2 Until the day in which
he was taken up…
That of course refers
to the day of the Ascension. If you check the Gospel
of Luke out you will see just that. Luke closes with
the Apostles returning to Jerusalem after Christ’s
ascension.
Acts 1:2b,3:
… after that he through the Holy Ghost had given
commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: 3 To whom also he shewed
himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs,
being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things
pertaining to the kingdom of God:
He didn’t speak
with them concerning the great mystery of God, because
it had not yet been revealed. Jesus spoke regarding
the kingdom of God that was revealed to him in the scriptures.
I often wondered why Jesus waited around 40 days before
ascending. Why didn’t he just take off right away.
After all the sooner he left, the sooner Pentecost would
come. However, I realized that God is seldom in as big
a hurry as I am. I guess when you have been around forever
and will continue for just as long, time sort of takes
on another perspective.
This forty-day period was no accident. I wasn’t
just a convenience or a formality required to fill in
the time between Passover and Pentecost. Remember that
when God first had those events established in the Old
Testament He already knew what would be coming in Acts
chapter one.
Jesus had endured the Devil’s temptation
for 40 days in the wilderness before beginning his public
ministry, and now in the post-resurrection period Jesus
triumphantly paraded his victory over the Devil and
all his works. (Remember Colossians 2:15?) During this
time, the conqueror of death displayed his victory and
supremacy over the adversary and his kingdom before
his faithful followers so that they might share in the
joy of his victory.
Those 40 days of his appearing after the resurrection
were of immense value to the believers for they established
the reality of his lordship. The many eyewitnesses could
and would testify to what they had seen and heard. Not
only are they documented in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
John, but even Paul in I Corinthians 15 notes many of
the post-resurrection appearances to show how important
and central the resurrection is to believers today.
A single sighting of the risen Christ may have been
open to question, but the repeated encounters that the
disciples had with him would remove the doubts of the
most sceptical among them and assure them of his power
and authority. A power and authority that he has given
unto us.
Acts 1:4-6:
And, being assembled [or salted] together with them,
commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem,
but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith
he, ye have heard of me. 5 For John truly baptized
with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost
not many days hence. 6 When they therefore were
come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt
thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
They were aware of the
prophecies of the restoration of the kingdom to Israel.
They knew many of the events of the Book of Revelation
period because they were written in the Old Testament.
They were curious and interested, and like me, often
a bit impatient. All Jesus could tell them was, don’t
get all hepped about that, because God has something
more astounding and more important for you to sink your
heart and soul into. Soon the secret which God had kept
from the foundation of the world would be made known.
They were going to be equipped and enabled with a power
never before unleashed upon the world. They would know
authority and victory that was unparalleled in all human
history to that time. They were to become sons of God
with all power. Sons of God by birth... by incorruptible
seed. They were about to receive eternal life and the
guarantee of victory over death.
Acts 1:7-12:
And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the
times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his
own power. 8 But ye shall receive power,
after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you [He had promised
it and spoken of it in John 14 and 16 and Luke 24 among
other places.]: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both
in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and
unto the uttermost part of the earth. 9 And when he had spoken
these things [After having said everything that needed
to be said.], while they beheld, he was taken up [That’s
the ascension.]; and a cloud received him out of their
sight. 10 And while they looked
stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two
men stood by them in white apparel [These were the two
archangels, Gabriel and Michael making an important
and significant appearance on this very noteworthy day.]; 11 Which also said, Ye men
of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this
same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,
shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go
into heaven. [Jesus left from the earth and will in
like manner return to the earth. His coming in power
and glory was not unknown in the Old testament. What
was unknown was the gathering together of the Church
of the body of Christ. The angels are not speaking here
of the first part of the parousia, the gathering together
of the Body of Christ, they are speaking about the second
part of the parousia when Christ returns to the earth
to set up his kingdom.] 12 Then returned they unto
Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from
Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey.
The Ascension is beyond
the scope of human experience. It is difficult to fathom
what really occurred. It takes us into the realm of
the supernatural. It happened very simply and quickly
while Jesus and his followers were gathered on the slopes
of Olivet. After Jesus had delivered his farewell message
to the disciples his body began to rise supernaturally,
and a cloud bore him out of their sight. What a fitting
end to his earthly ministry! Remember, however, that
it came with a promise to return. All the great events
and noteable things in the life and ministry of Jesus
Christ actually happened. They are real and substantial
and make a difference in our lives today. His return
is still future, but one of these days just as surely
as he left he will return again.
Just as some people deny the resurrection, some
would deny a literal Ascension because it’s considered
unscientific and highly unlikely. After all, where did
he go and by what means did he get there? Don’t
you know the law of gravity? I thought about it when
I flew out of O’Hara last Monday. This plane ways
tons and tons, and yet we ascended to 35,000 feet. But
that’s different. When the power of the jet engines
are turned on, the laws of aerodynamics prove that there
is a force which can overcome gravity. Well, in the
resurrection body of Christ higher laws were also in
operation. Just as death and the grave could not hold
him when his Father raised him from the dead in a glorified
body, so the Earth could not hold him when the time
came for him to return to his Father. It says Jesus
was “taken up into heaven” that’s
passive voice. God acted, and Jesus received the action.
(Luke 24:51 and Acts 1:9). Folks it literally happened.
The resurrection of Jesus signalled the ending
of a chapter in his earthly life. Things would never
be the same again. It was also necessary that there
should be a clear-cut event to bring the next chapter
to a close. Yes Jesus was making a series of appearances
to his followers, but they couldn’t go on forever.
Forty days was enough to furnish “many infallible
proofs.” The Ascension was the day dividing when
the Jesus who walked the earth would become the Christ
seated at the right hand of God.
The disciples who witnessed the Ascension saw
it as an ending, it was the close of a chapter of their
lives. It was the day when their faith in a flesh and
blood person, depending on a physical presence, was
ended. Now they were linked to someone who was independent
of space and time, and they were new creations in him.
II Corinthians
5:14-17:
For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus
judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15 And that he died for
all, that they which live should not henceforth live
unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and
rose again. 16 Wherefore henceforth
know we no man after the flesh: yea,
though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now
henceforth know we him no more. 17 Therefore if any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed
away; behold, all things are become new.
But the ending of the
earthly chapter also meant a new beginning. The disciples
did not leave Mount Olivet broken-hearted. The angels
encouraged them to get moving, and they returned to
Jerusalem to await the Promise of the Father, the power
of the holy spirit, of which Jesus told them. The Ascension
was the completion of a cycle that began at Jesus’
birth. Jesus had clearly taught them, “I came
forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again,
I leave the world, and go to the Father.” (John
16:28). Their dearest friend was now seated at the right
hand of God. The Resurrection and the Ascension can’t
be separated. They form two parts of one continuous
movement resulting in Jesus Christ being seated at the
right hand of God.
