Sermon – Luke 24:50-53 - He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Sermon – Luke 24:50-53 - He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

Easter 2

April 7, 2013

Today we are continuing with our look at the Apostles Creed. This statement of the church's belief is an important training tool for new initiates into the faith. And from time to time we need a refresher to remember what it means. This is especially true when false teachings begin to creep into the church. At these times we need the Apostles Creed to pull us back into orthodox faith. So far we have looked at what the creed says about God the Father and Jesus the Son. Last week we talked about Jesus' resurrection. Today we will focus on his ascension. But first, let's pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Luke 24:50-53 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 worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

Jesus' ascension is not something we talk about often. We talk about his resurrection every year at Easter. But Jesus' ascension is something we rarely get to. One reason for this is that the Bible tells us that Jesus ascended to heaven about forty days after the resurrection. And since the resurrection was on a Sunday that would put ascension on the Thursday before Pentecost. Since it falls on a Thursday we usually skip over it as we follow the church calendar. But the Apostles Creed shows that it's importance is right next to the resurrection. So we have to take a look at it.

The New Testament is filled with references to the ascension. This comes from Jesus himself, who in the Gospel of John, tells his followers frequently that he is going away, will come back and will send the Holy Spirit to be with them while he is gone. In the Gospel of John the resurrection and ascension our treated as a single event of Jesus Christ being exalted, lifted up. The Gospel of Matthew does not speak of the ascension, but in the Great Commission, when Jesus told his disciples to “make disciple of all nations”, it was presumed that Jesus was just about to leave them. The only accounts of the ascension itself come to us from Luke, his Gospel and his Book of Acts. In the Gospel of Luke the ascension of Jesus is the end point of Jesus' ministry on earth. In Luke's sequel, the Book of Acts, the ascension marks the beginning of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. So ascension marks a transition, a change from the ministry of Jesus on earth to the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

In the second century some false teachings began to enter the church. There was a belief, called Gnosticism, which said that spiritual was good, but physical was bad. A gifted biblical scholar named Origin brought some of this thinking into the church. Origin said that Jesus' spirit ascended to heaven while his body remained on earth to decay. The church said that this was wrong. Just as Jesus' body was resurrected from the dead so too did his resurrected body ascend to heaven. Jesus is sitting today at the right hand of God in the body that was crucified, buried and resurrected.

Origin's ideas about the ascension of Jesus were refuted by a second century theologian named Irenaus. Irenaus pointed out that men and women were originally created by God in God's image. But then this image of God in us was permanently defaced by the disobedience of Adam. Through Adam sin came into the world. So if sin came into the world through a man so too is a man necessary to remove it. The man who came to earth to remove the stain of sin and reveal the image of God was Jesus Christ. In his bodily resurrection and ascension he reversed the action of Adam and restored the image of God in us. So Jesus had to be a physical man in his ascension to achieve the result of removing the stain of sin put there by another physical man, Adam.

When Jesus ascended he went somewhere, a place called heaven. For some this is a place up there somewhere. For others it is a time in the future, after we die. Jesus had a lot to say about heaven, but we don't have the time right now to go through all of that. Let's just leave it by saying that in the ascension of Jesus heaven and earth came together. The ascension in the intersection of heaven and earth.

One day all believers will get to heaven. And when we do we will find that it is not a fearful place. Rather, when we get there we will find Jesus, in his resurrected body, in charge. He has taken possession of it. Jesus is in control of heaven. And he will be speaking into God's ear, interceding on our behalf.

In heaven Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God. In ancient times, when kings went into battle they carried their shields in their left hand and swords in their right. They could easily defend themselves from any threat from the left. But they were vulnerable to attacks from the right. So the king would put his best warrior at his right hand. This warrior would protect the king from any threat from the right. This practice was continued in the king's court where he would put his most trusted advisor as his right hand. The person on the right would exert power at the will of the king. To say that Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God indicates that Jesus uses God's power to achieve God's will. So we have seen that Jesus, in his physical body, has ascended into heaven where he now exercises all authority and power from the right hand of God.

So what does this mean for us? What difference could it make to us that the physical Jesus of Nazareth of 2000 years ago is still alive and sitting in heaven? Well, that has something to do with the table that has been prepared before you.

On the last night before Jesus' death he gave thanks, broke some bread and said, “this is my body.” Later he poured out some wine and said, “This is my blood.” So when we come to this table are we eating Jesus' body and drinking his blood? Is this cannibalism? For those outside of the faith it sure sounds that way. But for us in the church we know something else is going on. For centuries the church has tried to explain how Jesus is present in communion. There are some who say that the bread and wine on the table somehow change into Jesus' body and blood even if we don't perceive it that way. Others have said that Jesus is spiritually with us, or that Jesus is present with us in our memories. John Calvin gave what I think is the best explanation of what happens in communion, and he explained it using Jesus' ascension as his guide.

According to Calvin, when Jesus held the broken bread and the cup and said, “this is my body and this is my blood” he was referring not to the bread and wine but to himself, the one holding the elements. Jesus meant, literally, that when you eat this bread and drink from this cup you will see him, in his resurrected, flesh and blood, body. Now where is Jesus' flesh and blood body right now? It is in heaven sitting at the right hand of God. How can we see Jesus' body? The only way, according to Calvin, is if we too are in heaven. This table is the intersection of heaven and earth. This is not our table. It is the Lord's table. This is not our supper. This is the Lord's supper. And whenever we come around this table we ascend into heaven before Jesus who is sitting at the right hand of God and at the head of the table. This is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to lift you hearts to heaven when you eat and drink around this table. Thats why we say, “Lift up you hearts. We lift them up to the Lord.” All this means that whenever we come to this table and encounter our risen Lord, we are eating at the great feast in heaven with all the redeemed sinners and our Lord Jesus Christ.

So what should our response be to all this? When we ascend to heaven for a dinner party with our Lord Jesus what should we then do? Jesus told us what to do just before he ascended to heaven. Here is what he said.

Acts 1:8-9 ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." ⁹ After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

Jesus wants us to be witnesses. We have been empowered as witnesses. We are to tell the people we know and people we may meet that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and now lives in heaven at the right hand of God. And we can be with him because the church, through it's sacraments, is the intersection of heaven and earth.

So Jesus ascended to heaven in a human, resurrected body to rule heaven and earth as God's right hand man. We are invited to join him at a great feast which occurs right here in the middle of worship. We will gather around this table, the Lord's table. And the Holy Spirit will lift us up into the presence of our resurrected Lord Jesus. We have arrived at the intersection of heaven and earth. Give thanks and praise. Let us pray.

Lord Jesus Christ we thank you and praise you for lifting us up into your presence at this table. We praise you for the promise of our own resurrection and eternal life. We wait for your coming again into this world to restore it. This we pray in your glorious name. Amen.