This last Thursday was Ascension Day, the feast day when the church celebrates Jesus ascending into heaven 40 days after His resurrection victory on Easter Sunday. The image of the disciples watching Jesus ascend into the cloud reminds me that when I was just a young boy, I used to daydream of being able to fly. I don’t mean like Superman, I mean more like being able to float up in the air like a balloon, and then maybe fly like a bird. The idea of being able to rise up and see people, my home, my school, and church from the sky, unfettered and free without the obstruction of view like in an airplane sounded like wonderful fun. Maybe you have had this same sort of dream or maybe the idea of floating up into the sky makes you feel a little queasy, nevertheless, the reality is that, as believers in Jesus Christ, we have the promise that as Jesus has ascended on high, we too shall ascend into heaven. When He returns on the last day, He will descend in the same way that He ascended and we shall be lifted up (ascending) and shall meet Him in the sky. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17)

In the Gospel of St. Luke, and the book of Acts, the first chapter, we have the Evangelist St. Luke writing details about the Ascension Day. We are told that Jesus was looking at His disciples and blessing them, after having spoken with them, and He was lifted up. The disciples watched Him being lifted up bodily, and He went up, up, until a cloud came and surrounded Him, and He disappeared from their visible sight. This was no magic act; He didn’t disappear only to reappear out of some closet door. When He went into that cloud He in an instant was transferred into His heavenly glory. Unlike my boyhood dream of floating into the air for my own fun and amusement, when Jesus ascended into heaven, He did it not for Himself, or for fun, but for the sake of the Church and as a sign to the disciples of the hope and promise of His second coming. Jesus had spoken to the disciples about having to leave them, that by His returning to His Father all things would be accomplished in order to establish His heavenly reign, that it was necessary for Him to go and prepare a place for them, that by His leaving them, He could actually be with them all the more by His Spirit. This is exactly what Jesus has ascended to do; He has gone to prepare a place for His Church; He has gone to establish His Kingdom, to send forth His Holy Spirit, and be with us in a greater way until His final return.

In the Gospels, Jesus spoke about the kingdom of heaven saying “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…” and then He would go on to describe it. In a few of His parables, He stated that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a master, or a prince, who would go to a far-away land for a purpose. In these parables, the prince and master would always come back. Jesus is the fulfillment of the one who had to leave for a time and then come back at the proper time. The time in-between His leaving and His coming back is the time that we are living in now, and all those parables talked about how important that in-between time is, and how it is not time to be wasted, it is a time in which His subjects are to be productive, and bearing fruit, or investing the treasure of God’s Word through preaching and teaching, so that the Church may grow and expand by His grace in the message of salvation in Jesus Christ’s name. The time after Trinity Sunday is all about learning and growing to use that time well.

We speak about Jesus Christ fulfilling three offices; prophet, priest, and king. During His earthly ministry Jesus fulfilled the office of prophet in His preaching and teaching. Through His death on the cross He made the sacrifice to pay for all sins, so that through His death and resurrection, He fulfilled His high-priestly role, being both priest and sacrifice. Now in His Ascension, He has gone to claim His Kingship which continues the work of all three offices. Psalm 100, and Daniel ch. 7, declare that the Messiah would establish His kingdom forever, as He would arise and sit at the right hand of God the Father. In the book of Hebrews we are told that He is a priest forever after the order of King Melchizadek. In Ephesians we hear, “He raised him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places”, we confess in the creed that “He sits on the right hand of the Father.” This sitting at the right hand of God is not an actual physical location, but a term referring to the fact that now Jesus is ruling over heaven and earth in His state of exultation and is blessing the Church through His Word and Sacraments. In His earthly life, Jesus as true God and true Man, lived within a state of humiliation until His death on the cross. Before His death, He could not move from point A to point B in the blink of an eye; the reason for this is that He had to, in His human flesh, be humiliated, and for the most part be bound by natural law, to suffer for our sins, and then die on the cross. By His rising again from the dead, He entered into His state of glory, His state of exultation as we call it, where His divine nature now is able to communicate divine powers to His human. By His ascending into heaven, His physical, human body has now received all the power and benefit of His divine nature, so that Jesus can be physically present everywhere He promises to be, so that Jesus can be present in the Lord’s Supper in Yucaipa, CA, at the same time His body is truly present in, with, and under the bread and wine at a divine service in Japan, or Africa as He has promised. Jesus is no longer bound by time and space, so that He can be ruling in heaven, and yet present and comforting each and every one of us here on earth, right now.

Because of His state of exultation, He continues his offices of prophet, priest and king. As King, He rules over all creation and promises to return to judge both the living and the dead; as Priest, He is continually praying to His Father, and taking the prayers that believers pray in His name and interceding on their behalf; and His sacrifice on the cross continues to be effective for the forgiveness of sins. In His office of Prophet, the Word of Jesus Christ has lost no power in His Ascension, but has gained power, because, as Jesus promised, 10 days after His Ascension on Pentecost, He sent forth His Holy Spirit so that, through His Church, He continues the preaching and teaching office in His earthly ministry.

After witnessing the Ascension of Jesus while He blessed them and upon hearing the angelic message that He would return in the same way, the disciples came down that hill with great joy worshipping the Lord. You too may be filled with that same joy as we worship the Lord. Unlike the world which looks out for itself and scoffs at the mercies of God, looking for fulfillment in empty pursuits which are all vanity, we have a permanent hope in Jesus Christ. The eternal benefits of His life, death, resurrection and ascension are yours through faith. He has sent forth His Holy Spirit to you to establish you in His Church through the waters of baptism. You are freed from the bonds of your sin and forgiven for Jesus’ sake in your hearing of Christ crucified for your sins. He comes to you this day as He continues to proclaim: repentance, joy, hope, and a purpose into your heart and life and to all believers, even as He preached almost 2,000 years ago. You have been redeemed in His name, and you are given the Spirit of Wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of your Savior Jesus Christ.

In the doctrine of Jesus’ Ascension into heaven, we as believers in Christ have these assurances:
1: Jesus Christ has fulfilled all things, through His death, resurrection, and ascension, therefore we no longer fear the condemnation of the law, but have a victory in Christ.
2: We know that through Jesus’ Ascension, He is actually with us even more now than when He was with His disciples during His earthly ministry, because of that state of exultation; He is not bound by space or time, but He comes to us in a more real sense; He comes to us spiritually in His Word, and spiritually and physically in His special presence in the Lord’s Supper. We are able to pray to Him so that no matter where we are, whether we speak it out loud or quietly in our minds, Jesus hears our prayers, and intercedes to the Father for us.

The third assurance is that, because Jesus has ascended, He promises to come again, to deliver us, and bring us to the home in heaven He has prepared for all believers in Him. He continues to reign over us and bless us with earthly joys while also being our consolation and strength during our earthly sorrows ever pointing us to the cross, empty tomb and Ascension reminding us of the greatest joy that is yet to come. So He continues to come to us and strengthen us by His Spirit in Word and Sacrament and through it prepares us to redeem the time and serve Him in joy, in our vocations, as we tell others about His love, and all that He has accomplished for us.

Today though we may not exchange gifts like on Christmas, nor do we gather together for a special family dinner, as on Easter, Ascension Day is a great and wonderful day of joy for us believers in Jesus Christ. We know that the Ascension of Jesus Christ is that which points to our own heavenly ascension for His mercy’s sake. Death shall not hold us, the grave is but a resting place, for when He comes again, we too shall arise from death to life in His Glory. On Christ’s Ascension we are now built, through faith in Jesus Christ. As we celebrate the Lord’s Supper in just a few moments, remember that we are already celebrating the eternal life which has been given you and through faith in Jesus Christ who has accomplished all things for you and all believers. May God keep us ever in that great joy and hope in Jesus’ name.
AMEN.

Pr. Aaron Kangas