“Jesus
Ascends to Come, Not to Leave”
Acts
1:1–11; Mark 16:14–20
Alleluia! Christ is ascended! [He is ascended indeed! Alleluia!]
That sounded weird, didn’t it?
Christ is born! That we get. Christ is risen! Yes, alleluia!
But Christ is ascended? It just doesn’t seem to be on the same
level as those first two. For how many come to church on Christmas? How many on
Easter? How many on Ascension? It’s not even close. It just doesn’t seem as
important, does it? So why bother? Why celebrate Jesus’ leaving? Yes,
maybe that’s it. At Christmas, Jesus comes to us. At Easter, Jesus rises from
the dead and comes back to us. But at Ascension, Jesus is
leaving . . . or so it seems. And why celebrate that?
Well, the disciples did. We heard at the end of the Gospel that
after Jesus ascended, they returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
Notice that. And notice that it wasn’t just any joy, but great joy.
Or as the Greek literally says: mega joy! The kind of
joy we have at Christmas and Easter . . .
So there must be something to this ascension after all. Something
worth celebrating. But what is it? And why are we so confused about it?
Well, I think the confusion comes from the fact that while the
ascension of Jesus seems like a leaving, it is really another coming.
A coming like at Christmas and Easter. And if we can learn to think of it that
way, we won’t be so confused about it and its meaning, we will know the
disciples’ joy, and we will understand that this day is really worth
celebrating.
So how is Jesus’ ascension really a coming to us?
Well, take note of how the ascension is described for us in the
reading from Acts. It says there that when [Jesus] had said these
things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of
their sight. It is important that those words do not say
that Jesus is gone - only that He is now out of their sight. And He
is out of their sight because of a cloud. And clouds in the Bible usually
aren’t rain clouds, but presence-of-God-clouds. A cloud leads the people of Israel
through the wilderness. A cloud fills the tabernacle when God comes to speak
with Moses. A cloud descends upon the Mount of Transfiguration when the voice
of God speaks. And now, a cloud hides Jesus from the sight of the disciples at
His ascension.
Coincidence? Not a chance! Rather, Jesus is ascending into the
presence of God, to the right-hand of the Father - which is not a place, but a
power. Jesus ascends to the right-hand
of the Father to now do His power; to do His work in all
the world. That as both God and man, He now come to all
men in all places, in all times, and come with His
forgiveness, with His life, and with His salvation in every pulpit, every font,
every altar. For these are the places where He promised to be; where He has
promised to come to us today.
Now, that can be a little confusing, because we usually think of
God - and Jesus is God - as being omnipresent; or, present everywhere. So why
do we need Him to come to us in pulpits, fonts, and altars? Or in other words,
in His Word and Sacraments?
Well, think of it this way. Water is every everywhere. It is in
the air, which we’ve especially felt these past few days with the high humidity
- that’s water in the air. Water is in the clouds. Water is underground. But
all that water does us no good because we cannot drink it. To be of benefit to
us, water has to come to us in a place, and in a way in
which we can get it - in a well or from a faucet. Then we can drink it. Then we
can wash in it. Then it gives us life. And without it, we die.
So it is with Jesus. He is indeed omnipresent as God, but so that
He might come to us as the God-man, with His gifts, He ascends, so that He might
now come to all people, of all times and places, in ways that we can receive
Him. And so it is through preaching and the Sacraments that Jesus now gushes
out and where you can now see Him, hear Him, and touch Him. Where you can drink
deeply of His gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation. Where you receive His
life.
That’s also why when Jesus ascends, He commissions His disciples
to go and do these things - to preach and give the Sacraments. Their mouths and
hands would be the faucets through which Jesus now comes to
us. In America, in Europe, in Africa, in Australia, in the Middle East, in
Asia, in any and every place, all at the same time! Thus fulfilling His promise
to be with us always (Mt 28:20) - not like the water in the air, but
as the water we drink. The living water that gives us everlasting life!
That is the first way that Jesus ascends in order to come to us.
The second is that Jesus ascends in order that the Holy Spirit now
be sent and also come to us. That would happen ten days after
His ascension, at Pentecost. As if Jesus coming to us with His gifts weren’t
enough, He also sends to us His Spirit to be with us always. But this is not
really two separate comings, but one and the same coming. For where Jesus is,
there is the Spirit; and where the Spirit is, there is Jesus. It’s not as if we
can receive Jesus apart from the Spirit, or the Spirit apart from Jesus - the
Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus. And Jesus never only gives you part of Himself,
but always ALL of Himself. In His Christmas coming, His Easter coming, and now
His Ascension coming, Jesus gives you all He is and all He has. That you may be
His own. That He may sanctify you and keep you until He comes again for you -
either when you die, or when He comes again in glory.
So this really is a day of great joy - mega joy!
For this, too, is a day of Jesus’ coming. Which I think Luke wants us to
understand in his own unique way. For in describing Jesus’ ascension, he writes
that [Jesus] led [the disciples] as far as Bethany, and lifting up
his hands he blessed them. And then He ascends. But it never says He
put His hands down. He never finishes blessing. His hands are extended the
whole time . . . and they still are. For now ascended, Jesus is still extending
His hands and still blessing, still giving, still feeding, still washing, still
forgiving. And He isn’t going to stop. He isn’t done. Which is good, because
you still need Him.
So for you He ascends, so that for you He may come. Even now. With
forgiveness for your sin, with strength for your
weakness, with faith for your fear, with life for your death. No matter who you
are or where you are. Even now He comes with His grace, until He comes on the
last day in His glory.
So do not be confused, and do not be deceived. Just as the angels
brought the good news of Jesus’ birth, and the angels announced the good news
of Jesus’ resurrection, so too the angels proclaim the joyous news of Jesus’
ascension. So rejoice with the disciples, with mega joy this
day. Sing the great hymns of the ascension. And cry out with joy: Alleluia!
Christ is ascended! [He is ascended indeed! Alleluia!]
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
