Ascension Day—falling on May 21st this year—is not usually remembered here in Oz. We remember the birth of Jesus at Christmas and His death and resurrection on Good Friday and Easter Sunday respectively. His ascension forty days later though, generally passes us by unnoticed. That is not the case in some European countries where Ascension Day is a public Holiday just like Christmas and Easter.
So why do we not remember and celebrate the Ascension of Jesus the way we do Christmas and Easter? And does it really matter? In fact, was the ascension of the Lord Jesus all that important anyway? Wasn’t it just a case of His earthly mission being accomplished and so it was time to return to heaven?
It seems to me that this is part of our problem. We tend to think of the ascension of Jesus as merely a sign that He had finished what He had come to do. His saving work was completed so He merely went back home—so to speak.
However, tied in with that is also another question. When you think of Jesus after His ascension into heaven, do you tend to think of Him in His divinity or in His humanity? I’ve sometimes picked up the tendency on the part of some to think of it this way: at Christmas Jesus took on a human nature from the virgin Mary so that during His earthly life He was both Son of God and Son of Man. But then He died and when He rose again it was as the glorious Son of God. Somehow our Lord’s humanity no longer features much in our thinking about Jesus in heaven.
Well, nothing could be further from the truth. Let me give you a few clues from Scripture to help you put the ascension of Jesus into perspective.
First of all it’s important for us to believe that at the ascension a real human being ascended into heaven. There is a human being sitting at the Father’s right hand, ruling in power. Sure, He is also God… But He is there as the God-Man. At the ascension He did not leave His humanity behind on earth. Colossians 2:9 points out that right now the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells in a human body.
But that raises another question: why is it so important for us to think of Jesus right now as still being fully human? For two reasons. The first is tied in with our own assurance of being in glory with Christ when this life is over. How do we know that we will spend all of eternity with Jesus in glory—and then not just as disembodied spirits but rather in glorified resurrected bodies? Well, we know that, because God has promised it and so we simply believe it. Sure! But there is another reason why you can have certainty about your eternal destiny. The Bible teaches that you as a believer are united with Christ. The Bible speaks of us as being “in Christ”. That means that we are so inseparably one with Him that if He is in glory, in a glorified human body then we too will one day be there in our glorified human bodies. The Heidelberg Catechism puts it this way: “We have our own flesh in heaven—a guarantee that Christ our head will take us, His members, to Himself in heaven.”
A second reason why the ongoing humanity of Jesus is important is because Jesus became our great High Priest. The Old Testament priests did especially two things: they offered atoning sacrifices for the people and then after that they prayed for the people. Well, Jesus brought the great sacrifice to which all the Old Testament sacrifices pointed. But the Bible also tells us three times that Jesus is in heaven to pray for His people (Rom 8:34, Heb.7:25, 1John 2:1). What an encouragement that is: Jesus is praying for you. And He’s doing that as one who is fully human, who knows exactly how hard it is to live righteous and holy lives. The one who is praying for you is not just a divine being who once was human but who somehow left His humanity behind on earth. No, He prays for us as our Brother in the flesh who understands our struggles.
There is another clue in Scripture as to why the ascension of Jesus is so important. We ought to think of the ascension of Jesus not just as Him returning home because His saving work was completed. Instead we ought to think of it more in terms of a coronation ceremony. He entered heaven to sit in the place of honour and power at His Father’s right hand. He is there as King of kings and Lord of lords. The apostle Paul picks up on this in Ephesians 4:7f. He points out that Jesus ascended in order to give gifts to His church. From heaven He sent the Holy Spirit to indwell believers and to bless His people. Paul quotes from Psalm 68 which is a majestic hymn about God’s great power and glory. And Jesus ascended as the climax of His exaltation to claim that power and glory that He won by His death and resurrection. Think of the ascension of Jesus as His enthronement.
You may say, “Well, that’s all a nice bit of intricate theology that you can talk about for an hour at a Bible study.” But, no, it’s much more than that. The ascension of Jesus as a coronation ceremony to crown Him as King of kings means that when I struggle to make sense of the corona virus pandemic I can draw comfort from the fact that Jesus is on the throne of the universe. When I read about murder and mayhem in the city streets I can be encouraged that life is not chaotic but that it is guided by the hand of Him who holds the sceptre of the universe
It’s a pity that we can’t meet this Thursday evening to celebrate the ascension of Jesus but please don’t let that stop you from thanking Him for His ascension. He ascended to bring wonderful blessings into our lives.
John Westendorp