On the church calendar, today is Ascension Day.
If you’re not as familiar with the church calendar, no worries. Basically, it’s a way to structure our entire year around the significant events in the life of Jesus, so we can look more like him. Just like the 4th of July “disciples” us in American values (freedom, fireworks, down with the man, bbq), so the church calendar disciples us in around Jesus’ priorities. Different church traditions will have different emphases, but some of the major framing is the same.
Most of us as Christians are familiar with Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter. And of course, these are incredibly important days in the life of Jesus. His birth, very important. His death, very important, his resurrection from the dead (kinda a big deal). But the ascension is one of those events we’re less familiar with. But I think it’s actually just as important as the other three big ones.
“When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.” -Luke 24:50-53
“After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.” -Acts 1:9
Tim Keller uses the illustration of making an incredible meal, but no one is there to eat it. Or building a beautiful house, but no one ever lives in it. Or rigging explosives to blow a tunnel through a mountain, but no detonator ever ignites them. The Ascension is like that detonator, making Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection an explosive reality for us.
Basically, the ascension affirms Jesus’ authority over all things. “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”- Matthew 28:18.
And then he drops the mic and ascends into another dimension (or something). To a way smaller degree, it’s like calling your shot in basketball or soccer (crossbar challenge). Jesus calls it, and proves it. The ascension affirms, confirms, validates Jesus’ authority over all things. He’s the boss.
But how does the Ascension benefit US? The Heidelberg Catechism (a teaching from the 1500s), puts it like this:
Question 49: How Does Christ's Ascension into Heaven Benefit Us?
A) First, he is our Advocate in heaven before his Father (Rom 8:34; 1 Jn 2:1)
Advocate means helper, counselor, intercessor, or defense attorney. The word literally means “one who is called alongside,” typically for encouragement, exhortation, and strength. Jesus advocacy from heaven involves dishing out all the gifts and blessings that he died to win for his people. Far greater than Oprah’s “you get a car!” Christ generously gives and works for his children. The most powerful person in the universe is FOR you.
B) Second, we have our flesh in heaven as a sure pledge that he, our Head, will also take us, his members, up to himself (Jn 14:2; 17:24; Eph 2:4-6)
“Flesh in heaven” is another way to say: “human in heaven.” Let me tell you a (not so) secret: We have an “inside” man, in heaven (new creation), trail blazing the path for us to follow. Did you know that Christ is still 100% human? He didn’t leave humanity behind at his resurrection or ascension. He didn’t throw off his humanity like you take off muddy clothes: “Finally glad to strip off that horrible humanity.” Not at all.
One Scottish thinker says: “the dust of the earth is on the throne of the majesty on high.” I think he’s right. Heaven is not like that the perfect home you visit, where you’re required to take off your shoes, and you always feel a bit unwelcome, because you’re not like your host. Christ in heaven means humanity is totally welcome there. As advocate, he washes away our sin. As human, he prepares a place for us. Because Jesus rises from the dead, and transcends this present age, so we who are in Christ get to follow.
This is why Jesus is sometimes called the “Firstborn.” This doesn’t mean he was created (he wasn’t), this doesn’t mean he’s the firstborn of Mary, Firstborn, theologically, means he’s the first resurrected, ascended human in heaven. He’s the firstborn of New Creation. 2.0. Upgrade.
* Those who have died before us are not yet physically in heaven. We eagerly wait their resurrection and our own, confident that because Jesus rose, we will too (Although cue someone bringing us Enoch and Elijah. . .fascinating to think about).
C) Third, he sends us his Spirit as a counter-pledge, by whose power we seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God, and not the things that are on earth. (Jn 14:16; Acts 2:33; 2 Cor 1:21, 22; 5:5; Col 3:1-4)
We’ll talk more about the Spirit on Pentecost Sunday, which is ten days from today (May 31, 2020). But the Spirit is the greatest gift that the Son gives us. A pledge of God’s covenant and commitment to us. But I love what the catechism says about how the Spirit helps us: “by whose power to seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”
For more on this, meditate on Colossians 3 (one of my favorite chapters in the Bible), for what it looks like to set our minds on things above, not on things of this earth. That which is transcendent, true, beautiful, lovely, important, and eternal. It’s worth thinking about, are the things that dominate your thinking, and feeling, and doing, our priorates and values and frustrations and fears, do they come from a meditation on things above, or on temporary, transient things?
So friends, on this Ascension Thursday, would you find comfort in the Advocate of heaven, the Human in heaven, as we FIX our minds on things above, where Christ is seated.
-Pastor Tyler
