Today, 24th May, is Ascension Day; the day on the Christian calendar when we celebrate the ascension of Jesus back into heaven 40 days after Easter. The ascension is the event that marks the end of Christ’s incarnation on Earth and his return to heaven. Here are a few thoughts.
In Luke 24:51 we read, “While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.” And in Acts 1:9 we are told, “He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.”
Let me start by saying that we shouldn’t become too fixated on the “up” part of the ascension. It doesn’t mean that heaven is literally up there somewhere above the clouds, physically in orbit around the Earth or somewhere beyond the orbit of our neighbouring planets. The Cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, was the first man to orbit the Earth in 1961. When he landed safely back on Earth, he famously said to the media, “I have been into space, and I did not see God.”
It’s quite a naïve view isn’t? Of course he didn’t see God! Heaven is not yet a place that is physically visible to us. It will become visible to us at the end of history, when Christ returns and heaven and earth are reunited according to the wonderful vision of Revelation 21 and 22.
So let’s not get too hung up about the “up” part. That is just a convenient symbol for Christ’s resumption of his elevated, glorious status. It’s much more important for us to talk about the significance of the ascension rather than its direction.
The ascension of Jesus is incredibly important, because it did three things:
𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗹𝘆, it placed Jesus on the throne of heaven. He now sits at the Father’s right hand – not that God is a physical being with physical arms and legs because the Bible says that God is Spirit (Jn 4:24). This is simply a reference that Jesus has ultimate authority now; that he is the King over all Creation and the rightful ruler of all mankind.
Philippians 2:9-11 tells us, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗹𝘆, the ascension of Jesus enables him to intercede for us. What is Jesus currently doing as he sits on the throne of heaven? Is he playing Tetris or Angry Birds or Wordle while he waits for his second coming? No. The Bible says he is interceding for us, continually, to the Father.
Hebrews 7:25 says, “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”
The ascended Jesus is our perpetual advocate, the bridge between mankind and God the Father. He is the eternal God-man, who represents us to the Father and the Father to us. And it is through our relationship with Jesus that we are justified in God’s presence and can have a restored relationship with him.
Our prayers to God ascend to the Father through Jesus. They are brought to the Father by Jesus, and that is why we pray “in Jesus name”. It’s not a magical incantation, like “abra cadabra”, it’s a recognition of an actual spiritual truth. It declares that our access to the Father is only through Jesus who now intercedes for us in the Father’s presence as a direct result of his ascension.
𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗱𝗹𝘆, the ascension restored Jesus to his former heavenly glory. This is a really important point and one that is not well understood. In order to come to Earth and be born a human being, Jesus had to temporarily “empty himself” of his heavenly glory. Philippians 2 tells us this:
“He emptied himself, taking the very nature of a servant.” (Phil 2:7).
Of course, Jesus didn’t empty himself of his divinity, let’s be clear about that, but he did leave behind his heavenly glory. But it was only a temporary emptying, because at his ascension, Jesus resumed that glory. He took it up again. This is why, shortly before his ascension, Jesus prayed:
“And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” (John 17:5).
Jesus is referring to the glory he gave up, in order to come to Earth. So, the ascension is the reversal of the “emptying” that Christ underwent when he became a human being. It is his resumption of heavenly glory. And that resumed heavenly glory is truly awesome to behold. A couple of people in the New Testament were given a glimpse of the ascended, heavenly glory of Jesus.
One was Saul on the Damascus Road, and he was blinded by it. Another was John the Apostle, to whom Jesus appeared in his prison cell on the island of Patmos. Jesus appeared to him as a glowing heavenly being, and the power and glory that emanated from him was so great that John actually fainted.
In Rev 1:17, John says, “When I saw him, I fell down at his feet as though dead.”
This was the first century phrase for fainting. Bear in mind, please, that John never once fainted in Jesus’ physical presence while he was on Earth. But the glory of the ascended Jesus literally caused him to faint in fear. And Jesus had to reach out and touch him and revive him, and say, “Do not be afraid.” (Rev 1:17)
So what’s my point here? My point is that the ascension of Jesus back into Heaven and the resumption of his former glory requires us to have a much bigger picture of Jesus. And I think this is the point that many Christians fail to grasp. They have a very limited concept of Jesus. They tend to still think of him as he was on Earth. But the truth is, he is now much more than the bearded, sandal-footed rabbi who once walked the hills of Galilee. He is (and always was!) the awesome, ascended Lord of the universe who is now exists in unimaginable glory, who is worshipped by a myriad of angels and before whom all mankind will one day bow in absolute awe.
How big is your concept of Jesus? Enlarge your thinking.