Acts 1:9-11 – How important is the Ascension? What is it? What happened? What does it mean for today? Join us as we explore all these questions and how they impact our lives and our worship..
Also on the Acts Podcast here
Act with Acts 2 – Jesus’s Witnesses
This was probably a bit too intense and packed – so I promised some who were there I would put up some of the quotes etc here….
Acts Sermon 3 – The Ascension
Hagia Sofia – Built in Constantinople. Peter Sarris – Justinian – “For many centuries prior to the Ottoman conquest, the effect of entering this church – beholding the sunlight streaming in through its glass windows, hearing the divine liturgy being chanted in Greek by throngs of priests and the assembled ranks of the faithful, the scents of the incense wafting on the air, its smoke rising majestically to the upper reaches of its vaults and galleries – was deemed one of the most spiritually overpowering experiences a Christian could encounter – a total sensory experience”
Is this how we do it? Adapt this building? Use the music to create a joyful atmosphere? Dress the clergy and elders in such a way that there is a sense of solemnity. Can we create our own experience…we can…but it would inevitably end up being false. Would it not be better to have Jesus with us? Then we could worship him properly?Yes – but this passage shows us something even better.
- What is the ascension? V. 9
The Apostles Creed – on the third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
Jesus Ascended – The Meaning of Christs Continuing Incarnation – Gerrit Scott Dawson.
Chrysostom preached for the two denials go together the denial that God creates anything from nothing, and the denial that he raises up what has been buried.
Bishop Richard Holloway says Jesus is not coming back. And the best way to honour him on his birthday is to look for him not in the skies, but in the streets of our own town.
- When did Jesus Ascend?
Acts 1:3 – 40 days after the resurrection. But Luke 24 The Ascension
50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52 Then they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
How did he ascend?
1 Timothy – 16 Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great:He appeared in a body,was vindicated by the Spirit,was seen by angels,was preached among the nations,was believed on in the world,was taken up in glory.
The Shekinah glory. Into the cloud…. The cloud is often seen as God’s presence – Moses. Or the transfiguration – Luke 9: While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 A voice came from the cloud, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.’
This is not space travel.
Where did he go?
Heaven. But what does that mean? The dome of sky above us? The vast region of stars beyond our world? The realm of God beyond all sense perception? Calvin” what? Do we place Christ midway among the spheres? Or do we build a cottage for him among planets? Heaven, we regard as the magnificent palace God far outstripping all this worlds fabric.”
God is of course everywhere. So, what do we mean when we say that heaven is the place where God is? Moltmann “heaven is the sphere of creation which already totally corresponds to God because it is totally pervaded by his glory”.
What kind of body?
Augustine – “but by a spiritual body is meant one which has been made subject to spirit in such wise that it is adapted to heavenly habitation, all frailty and every earthly blemish having been changed and converted into heavenly purity and stability. But the question as to where and in what manner the Lord’s body is in heaven, is one which would be altogether over curious and superfluous to prosecute. Only we must believe that it is in heaven.”
the dust of earth sits on the throne of heaven.
CS Lewis∫¨ we also in our heart of hearts, tend to slur over the risen manhood of Jesus to conceive him, after death, simply returning into deity, so that the resurrection would be no more than a reversal or undoing of the incarnation.
John Knox in the Scots Confession – the self-same body in which he had been born, lived and died.
Barth – “the son of God maintains our humanity to all eternity. It is a clothing which he does not put off. It is his temple which he does not leave. it is the form which he does not lose.”
The godhead is not stripped of humanity, but adorned with it, CS Lewis he goes to prepare a place for us. This presumably means that he is about to create that all-new nature which will provide the environment or conditions of his glorified humanity and, in him, for ours is the picture of a new human nature, and a new nature in general, being brought into existence……. This is a whole new universe that is the picture – not a making but that of remaking. The old field of space, time, matter, and the senses is to be weeded, dug, and so on for a new crop. We may be tired of that old field: God is not.
- What is Christ doing now?
So how can he still be with us? we don’t worship a dead Saviour or one who is disconnected from us…. Prophet, Priest and King. See Sunday Catechism – the offices of Christ.
Prophet – The Ascension marks a turn in Christs prophetic office it marks the end of a hearing his human voice speak on earth. He is gone yet he still speaks to us through the Holy Spirit.
23 Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
25 ‘All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:23-26)
Priest – Christ’s work continues as priest.
He prays for us – His sacrifice is finished but his work of intercession continues. Hebrews 4: 14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
He communicates himself to us – Calvin in particular worked out his doctrine of the Lord’s Supper on the basis of his doctrine of the Ascension. For though he has taken his flesh away from us, and in the body has ascended into heaven, yet he sits at the right hand of the Father – that is, he reigns in the father’s power and majesty and glory. This kingdom is neither bounded by location in space nor circumscribed by any limits. Thus, Christ is not prevented from exerting his power wherever he pleases in heaven and on earth. He shows his presence in power and strength, is always among his own people, and breathes his life upon them, and lives in them, sustaining them, strengthening, quickening, keeping them from harm, as if he were present in the body. In short, he feeds his people with his own body – the communion of which he bestows upon them by the power of his spirit. In this manner, the body and blood of Christ are shown to us in the sacrament.
His work is not limited because although he is confined by space yet through his spirit, he has power to communicate all his blessings to his people. The holy spirit unites Christ and his church. So, Christ really is here present at his table. It’s a bit like the ultimate Skype call. The ascended Lord is not everywhere but he is everywhere accessible.
In the Lord’s supper he really does feed us from the substance of his own physical body, but he does so spiritually, by the means of his spirit. Again Calvin “my conclusion is that the body of Christ is really, to use the usual word, truly given to us in the supper, so that it may be health giving food for ourselves. I’m adopting the usual terms, I mean that our souls are fed with him; or, what amounts to the same thing, the life-giving power from the flesh of Christ is poured into us by the medium of the Holy Spirit, even though it is a great distance from us, and is not mixed with us.
The priest’s purpose is to bring us into or show us the glory of God. Aaron’s priesthood was glorious – the spectacular ceremonies, clothing and building. They were formed for beauty and glory. But they were only a shadow of the glory that was to come.
All our worship is dependent on the priesthood of Christ. Our worship is simply our communion with Christ in his priesthood.
22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (Hebrew 12:22-24)
Christ’s work continues as king. The priest approached the throne – the prophet came from the throne – but now we have our prophet and priest on the throne. No merely human priest would be on the throne. Any imperfection would destroy them.
His kingdom will come. Ephesians 1:20 – 1 18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
22[1]John 2:17 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
Question of the Week – Where is Jesus?
He is alive.
Not physically present with us just now. He is in heaven. What is heaven? Not up there – but a different universe…multi- verse
What is he doing – speaking as the prophet, praying as the priest, ruling as the king.
He will return.
Christ will return – v. 11 – The Return of the King
Mark 13:26 At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
Philippians 3:20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Conclusion:
To the unbeliever – This Christ calls, pleads, commands…you to come to him
Christ is able to communicate himself to us. We can know Christ. Be in Christ. Be fed by Christ. That’s what transforms our worship – that’s what turns this church, your home in a house of God – where the incarnate, crucified, risen, reigning and returning Christ is present. Think on this – those who have died and gone before us – what are they doing? They are before the throne and serve him day and night. When we worship God, we are doing what they do, and we are nearer to them than at any other point in this earth. Let us come boldly to the King on the throne. Hold fast our profession. Hugh Miller “There is no blessing which he cannot confer and no enemy which he cannot destroy. …. he sits on the throne of majesty and might; and in all the universe there is no power of evil which, from that central seat of influence and glory. He cannot charm or crush into helplessness, and no power of good which he cannot awaken and evoke into your loving interest, and the promotion of your welfare and salvation.”
Lord, upon the heavens and come down…
Where is Jesus Now? – Apologetics 101 .No. 11
Thank you David.
I truly enjoy your podcasts and articles.
I have been in the church you now preach in and it is a beautiful building but as you say it is not the building, Christ can be praised in a paddock. We live on a property/farm and God’s blessings are visible to us each day.
You may consider having one of the church doors open when the church image is shown.
Blessings to you and your family,
Linda