Today marks the fortieth day after Easter, the day our Lord ascended to His throne in Heaven. I suspect that we are not nearly as excited about today as we ought to be. Granted, we will be celebrating the ascension this coming Lord’s Day, but today marks an amazing moment in God’s saving work and in the history of the world.
Not to state the obvious, but when you stop and think about it, we have been moving to this day since Advent and Christmastide. Our liturgical year begins anticipating the coming of the Savior, and then rejoices in the God who came in the flesh of man to deliver the world from sin. We behold Jesus’ manifestation in Epiphany; mediate on His engagement in holy war through suffering, which culminates on the cross, in the Lenten season; and then resoundingly declare His victory over death and the grave at Easter. And this victory celebration, lasting more than one Sunday, finds its climax in the risen King’s ascension to His throne.
Jesus ascended to the glory from which He came signifying that He accomplished the will of His heavenly Father; that God’s plan of salvation was successful; and that the “earthly” phase of Jesus’ work was complete. This is reason for celebration. Although we might think it would have been better for Jesus to stay on the earth, Jesus himself says otherwise. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you (John 16:7). Jesus is speaking of the giving of the Holy Spirit, evidence that the ascension has taken place. Quoting Psalm 68, Paul declares in Ephesians 4: When he ascended on high…he gave gifts to men. Our heavenly King has lavished upon the church what she needs to grow to maturity, to serve Him, to continue the kingdom work on earth, and chief among those gifts is the Holy Spirit. This is hardly a small thing! Hardly a meager gift! If Jesus had not ascended then He could only be in one place at a time, but the coming of the Holy Spirit dramatically changed that dynamic. As Laurence Hull Stookey notes, “the ascension is an affirmation that the Risen One is now bound by neither time nor space. Jesus of Nazareth dwelt some thirty years in a very small territory to the east of the Mediterranean. But through the power of the resurrection Christ is revealed as being present at all times and in all places. That presence is effected by the power of the Holy Spirit, which is nothing less than Christ filling all things.” So we celebrate the ascension, and eagerly anticipate Pentecost.
Finally, we need to realize that this world has been put back on course and the curse of sin undone. Paul declares that Jesus is the firstborn from the dead that in all things He may have the preeminence. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross (Col. 1:18-20). Jesus’ ascension has made a way for man to enter into God’s presence, even as we ascend each Lord’s Day to the very throne room where Jesus now sits. Further, Jesus’ ascension foreshadows the future to come. The promise of the new heavens and the new earth is sure because there is already resurrected dust of the earth in heaven. The old creation has been exalted and transformed, joined to the new creation begun in Christ Himself, culminating in the perfect joining of heaven and earth at the last. Therefore, in the ascension of Christ, we not only find assurance for the redemption of our souls, but also encouragement for the kingdom work that is our calling. We are joined to Christ. He is victorious. He has given us the Spirit, therefore our labors are not in vain.