Christ’s Ascension (Luke 24:50-53)
Text:
What would it take for us to never want to leave this sanctuary? Obviously, the Christian life is about more than worshiping here, but our desire to worship here says a lot about the kind of Christian life we’re going to live outside of these walls. So what would it take for us to desire to worship here continually? Would it take going through a great trial so that we learn to lean upon God more? Would it take some kind of increased determination on our part to be faithful? No, I think what all of us need is to have a greater understanding of the majesty of Christ!
“Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.” (Luke 24:50-53)
Christ’s ascension took place somewhere on the Mount of Olives. Today the site is packed with churches, shrines, and tourism traps. I think the reason there’s so much activity there, even among those who don’t believe in Christ, is that nobody can deny what a truly amazing event this was.
What an awesome scene! Many religions today claim that spiritually enlightened people can levitate, but none have ever been documented doing so. I’ve attempted levitation myself in the past, and I think I’ve got it down. I’ve got a video clip to demonstrate it.
But levitation itself doesn’t mean anything. What gives this moment meaning is everything that led up to it.
The Messiah, prophesied about countless times in the Old Testament, had been born just as promised. Jesus lived a sinless, righteous life; the life that we all failed to live ourselves. He taught us how to love. He taught us how to pray. He taught us about Himself and how to follow Him. He died for our sin. He took our place and satisfied the wrath of God toward sin. He rose from the dead! For 40 days, he showed himself to his disciples. He opened their eyes to fully understand the Scriptures and how it all pointed to Himself. And now, after all that, Jesus was going to go to be with the Father in Heaven.
But this moment was not merely the next in a series of events. It was truly the culmination of Christ’s amazing life. He was going out with a bang! He lifted up His hands and blessed His disciples. The last thing Jesus did was bless His disciples.
Certainly it should have been the other way around! God doesn’t owe us anything! We owe Him everything. But no, Jesus, out of His love for His people, used His last moments with them in bodily form to bless them.
I would have loved to hear the blessing the Jesus blessed His disciples with. He may have said something like what we find in John 17:6-24 as Jesus prayed for His disciples. And as He was doing that, he started to rise! (v. 51) The text says that this happened while Jesus was still blessing them.
The text also says that Jesus was carried up into Heaven. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about what this means. Angels did not come down to carry Jesus up. No, the glory of Jesus carried Him to Heaven. The earth was no longer His home. He belonged in Heaven! Jesus had done everything He had come to do. Now, it was time to go home.
If you trust in Jesus, the same will happen for you. We don’t deserve Heaven, as Jesus did, but we have been given Heaven by the grace of God because Jesus earned it for us. Only trust Him. Trust in Christ’s work on the cross, and Heaven will be your home.
Notice what happened after Jesus ascended to Heaven (v. 52-53). Have you ever experienced something so amazing that you simply had to stop and praise God? A great example of this is when many people see the ocean for the first time. Or maybe when you a double rainbow, all the way across the sky. That’s where these people were at this moment. They were filled with awe!
The text says that they worshiped Jesus there and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And then they stayed there full of joy. They remained in the temple worshiping God continually. I don’t think it was all because of the ascension. It was because they were changed by Jesus. Their eyes had been opened to all that Jesus had done for them. They were full of such hope, having been blessed by the Son of God. They didn’t even have the Holy Spirit inside them yet, but they wanted to praise God all the time.
We all need to get to that place. We can’t stay here forever. We’ve got to be in the world, being a witness to the world, but it’s the desire that we need to have. How do you get it? See Christ for who He is. Trust in Christ. Truly trust Him. When you do, you’ll have such a joy that you want to praise Him forever! And you will.
Pastor Chris Huff has been with us since July 2009. He and his wife, Abby, have four children. Chris is originally from St. Louis, MO and even though he was raised as a city boy, he has a small town heart. Chris is all over the internet, so you can find him on Facebook, Twitter,… (read more)
