Christ has ascended into heaven.
This is kind of a big deal.
Holy Scripture teaches us that Jesus rose from the dead and appeared, over the course of 40 days, to his apostles and to many others, to prove he was alive. He walked with them, talked with them, even ate with them, to prove he was bodily risen from the dead, and was no ghost.
40 days, of course, is that special biblical number which indicates a time of testing or proving, like the 40 days he spent in the wilderness being tempted by the devil at the beginning of his public ministry. Now, at the end of his time walking this earth, he again proves and demonstrates his victory over sin and death.
But there’s more.
Christ began his saving work for us with his incarnation, as he was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary, and was made man. At that time, he set aside his divine power and majesty, choosing not to exercise it by and large, to enter our human world, our human experience, even our human nature. He took on flesh. He was made man.
And we call this phase of his work, in theology, his “state of humiliation”. From his incarnation, his conception, to his death and burial, Jesus does not generally exercise what is his by divine right. He sets it aside, with rare exceptions.
At times, we do get a peek at his glory, say, at the Transfiguration, or in his miracles. But for the most part he submits to the limitations common to all humans – location in space and time, along with all the suffering of human life – poverty, scorn, exhaustion, pain, hunger, thirst, etc. He submitted to it all. He humbled himself, to take our place, to walk our walk, as one of us. As the representative of all of us.
And then, of course, he went to the cross. The ultimate humility. Submitting to an unjust death in order to justify us all. Humbling himself in obedience to death, even death on a cross, to make atonement for sin, to bear the brunt of God’s wrath, and to shoulder on himself the punishment we so richly deserve.
But all of his humiliation for us was not the end of the story. He would not remain in the grave. Death doesn’t have the last word. Christ rose on the third day and from then on... things were different.
No longer does he limit himself as before. No longer is he bound by time and space. For only a little while does he visibly walk among us, talk and eat and such. He begins taking back, exercising more and more his divine power and majesty and glory. Until finally we get to this day, his ascension. When he fully reclaims his throne. When he leaves behind earthly humility for heavenly glory. When he takes his rightful place at the right hand of the Father, and begins his reign over all things.
If his baptism was his ordination, his ascension is his coronation. It is the finishing of his course, from heaven, to earth, to death, to life, and to heaven again. But as with everything Christ does, he does it not for himself, but for you. He ascends into heaven for you.
At first you might not think so. At first you might be like those disciples, standing there mouths wide open in amazement, trying to make sense of it all. Well the angels smack that out of them but quick, and so also for us. This is no time to stand around wondering. Nor is it a time to be filled with grief as he departs from our sight. Indeed, the disciples returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
One way to see Christ’s ascension being for us is this: that we, in a sense, ascend with him. For one, he takes our human nature with him, in his person, and is enthroned. That means this: A man is seated at the right hand of the Father! True God, yes, but also true man, in the person of Christ. He elevates our human nature in himself, and now, “one of us” is also in charge of all things! Thanks be to God!
Furthermore, Christ is our forerunner. Where he goes, we go. To death, yes. To life again, yes, for us, too, when we rise at the resurrection. But he also goes before us to reign in heaven, of which he promises us a share. He who is faithful unto death will receive the crown of life.
Christ’s ascension, visibly, is a sign to his disciples, and us. He didn’t just randomly disappear. We would be left wondering. But he goes, intentionally, specifically, to show us, and to comfort us. He’s reigning in heaven, that is to say, over all things, for us. He is the kindest friend we’ve ever had, but also the most powerful, most wise, most good. A benevolent monarch if there ever was one, and he, our king, rules all things for us.
He rules even over the powers of this world. As Luther said, “even the devil is God’s devil”. That is, nothing happens without his permission. And while we don’t blame him for evil, we can find comfort that the evil he allows, he will also both limit and bring to a close. For he works through all things for the good of those who love him. And the worst that this world can through at us, the sufferings of this age, are not worth comparing with the glory that is yet to be revealed. We have confidence, faith, hope and trust in Christ because he has ascended to his throne and rules over all, for our good.
That’s what it means, as we say in the creed, that he “sits at the right hand of the Father”. It’s not a physical place, it’s not even literally in the heavens. But it’s a status. A state of exaltation to the highest place, the name over every name, the authority that he shares with the Father.
The Ascension is also a comfort to us, a blessing to us, in that Jesus goes in order to “fill all in all”, as St. Paul puts it in Ephesians1. Rather than locked up far away in a place called heaven, Christ’s ascension signifies he now fully exercises his divine omnipresence – and what a comfort that is. Christ who is for you, is everywhere, for you.
But he is particularly located, for you, in the bread and wine of his Holy Sacrament. Unlike the false teachings of the Reformed, who want to limit Christ’s power to be truly present in the meal, we regard his ascension as part and parcel of his divine prerogative to be just where he promises to be – in the bread and wine – for you.
And finally, though we could certainly say much more, Christ’s ascension also comports with his promise to send the Holy Spirit. Yes, the Spirit has always been active in the church, through the word. But now, that Holy Spirit will empower the preaching of the Gospel to the ends of the earth, and even, dear Christians in Keller, Texas, to you. And so by “going away” Christ has come ever closer to us, in word, in sacrament, and by his Spirit.
Thanks be to God for the glorious exaltation and ascension of Christ to the very throne of heaven, the right hand of the Father. Thanks be to God that he reigns and rules for you and me, fills all things for our good, and will come again, just as he departed, on the last, glorious, victorious day when he makes all things new, and puts even death under his feet forever.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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