Jesus: Ascended and Seated

Thursday was the church holiday marking the Ascension of Jesus. And we celebrate it tonight as well. At first glance, the Ascension is just a fitting ending to the story of Jesus’ ministry on Earth. In one sense it’s a milestone in the church calendar. We’ve finished working through the Gospel narratives, beginning all the way back in Advent. While I’m here talking about the church calendar, I might as well talk a bit about how we’re approaching Scripture here at New Creation. We’re working through a lectionary, a cycle of chosen readings that follow the life of Jesus from his incarnation at Advent, his birth at Christmas, his baptism and further revelation at Epiphany, his 40 days being tempted at Lent, the events surrounding his death during Holy Week, to his resurrection in the season of Easter, leading to the Ascension today, and going on to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and the building up of the church in the season After Pentecost, before moving back into Advent again. It’s not the only way to work with Scripture. And it’s perfectly acceptable for us to depart from the lectionary from time to time, to focus our study on a particular book of the Bible. It’s possible that that could happen at some point. But overwhelmingly, we can say we are looking at the same passages as the rest of the 100 million Christians who make up the Anglican Communion as well as many other churches in other denominations, every week. And there’s some good that comes from that. There is a connection to other believers in Jesus around the world every week, a connection that comes from syncing up on the Gospel narrative and learning about new aspects of who Jesus is, and loving him for who he is, together. Again, it’s not the only faithful way to do church. It’s not the only faithful way to read the Bible. But it is helpful and it is faithful, it’s meaningful, it’s humble, and the unity it brings with other Christians makes it beautiful. So we’re here with tens of millions of other Christians around the world looking at the Ascension of Jesus, here in Lynden, WA. Thanks be to God!

The ascension of Jesus into heaven is an incredible moment in the life of the church. It’s incredible as an historical event that took place on earth. And it’s a profound moment that changed heaven and still has a massive ongoing effect in our own lives today. Let’s start by looking at Luke’s account. This is the very end of the book of Luke. Jesus’ last actions and words in his earthly ministry.

44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.

Jesus himself opens up the Scriptures, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms and connects the dots from the Old Testament to what happened at the events of his death and resurrection. When he does this, he gives the basis for what they need to do. I bring this up because it’s worth noting that the risen Jesus still cares about what’s in the Bible. And we should too. He could easily say, “Cast those old scrolls into the fire and listen to me. I’m the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms now.” But he doesn’t. The written words of Scripture, in their particular phrasing, in the original languages, rightly matter to Jesus. The history of Israel and God’s relationship to Israel matters to Jesus. They matter for so many reasons. Read Psalm 119 sometime, the longest book of the Bile, and look at the many things about Scripture we can cherish. But mainly, Scripture matters because it points people to Jesus. And he is their creator, redeemer, friend, and most importantly for this context, Jesus is their salvation. He is sending his disciples out to bring Jesus’ work of salvation to the world. And the Scriptures are going to help his disciples point people to salvation, to Him. The disciples will have their eye witness accounts, but they will also have the Scriptures. Their personal truth is not enough. They need big-T Truth with them. And that isn’t all they’ll get or need for their mission. Look at verse 49.

49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Once Jesus ascends, the Holy Spirit can come. We’ll talk about this a bit more next week. Let’s move to Verse 50 for now:

50 And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. 51 While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.

It’s beautiful to me that the moment of his ascension is contained inside a moment of blessing. Jesus blesses the people with hands raised and is lifted up into heaven. We’ll talk about that a bit more in a second. Verse 52:

52 And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple blessing God.

The disciples of Jesus, had the truth about Jesus in the Scriptures. They saw him being raised up into heaven. They had instructions about where to go. They were told that the Father was going to give them divine power. And they knew that their longterm mission was to bear witness to Jesus and bring the news of salvation to the nations. They had so many needs met in the moment of the Ascension. All their needs for purpose and identity were met. They were blessed. And the one who blessed them was taken up into heaven as he was blessing them. Do you think that blessing was effective? This was an amazing moment of rich blessing. But the blessing of that moment doesn’t compare to the blessings that are able to be given once Jesus has left. Because after Jesus goes to the Father more and greater blessings can be given. One of those is again, at Pentecost, at the arrival of the Holy Spirit. But before that, this week, we see another way the triune God provides for his people. We can see it in the psalm for today, which is where we’ll spend the rest of our time.

Psalm 110 is the most quoted Old Testament passage in the New Testament. And if we look there for a moment, we can get a picture of the moment when Jesus arrives in heaven. Here David says:

1 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” 2 The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies! 3 Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours. 4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

God the Father provides for his people through the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, but also here at the ascension. We see that Jesus takes his rightful seat at the Father’s right hand. Have you ever taken a moment to imagine what that event could look like? This is not some presidential inauguration. This is the ground of all being, the Person of the Godhead sent on mission into the world, returning triumphant to take his rightful place in the throne room of heaven. The power and the love in that place would be overwhelming to witness. There’s not another event like it. There is  lot of language in Psalm 110 that is meant to show the power of David’s Lord. He has a mighty scepter. He rules in the midst of enemies. The people belong to him and offer themselves freely in service all day, wearing holy garments. He is strong and young in form. 

There are two things here that I want to hone in on.  Let’s start with the strange sounding one: The Father swears Jesus in as a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The book of Hebrews gives us more data on the implications of this. Let’s break up this sentence even smaller. The Father has sworn, will not change his mind, to do something that lasts forever. He makes Jesus a priest after the order of Melchizedek. So Jesus is a part of a priesthood that is not levitical, it’s not the same as what you see through most of the Old Testament. It’s a priesthood that’s more mysterious, one that is only ever revealed to Abraham. The point is that there is a new priesthood that Jesus is a part of that’s different from the temporary Levitical priesthood. There’s a change in priesthood, moving forward. And God has sworn and won’t change his mind. This change is permanent. So if Jesus is part of a new priesthood, what does that mean for us? Well, it means first that Jesus is a priest. He’s an advocate, for you, to the Father. At Pentecost we see another Advocate come to the church, but for now, we can know that Jesus is using his position, seated at the right hand of the Father, to advocate for you. He sees you in your struggles and your imperfection and your sin, and he advocates to the Father, bless them, don’t destroy. And he points to his own work on the Cross. He points to the sacrifice he made of his own life for your sin and refers the Father to how pleasing that sacrifice is to the Father. And we can do that too. We can point to Jesus’ sacrifice and claim it for our own righteousness. When we meet the Lord face to face, we won’t be able to point to our feeding the homeless or hugging our kids, or ministry of any kind. But we can point to Jesus and his work and say, my righteousness is there. And God will be well pleased. But we don’t have to advocate for ourselves. Jesus is doing that for us continually in God’s presence. And just as we know his blessing was effective as he was being drawn up into heaven, we know his advocacy for us to the Father is effective. But while he goes to the Father to serve as a priest forever, he is also seated at the right hand of the Father as Judge of the whole world.

Look at is Ps. 110:5:

5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.

He will make his enemies his footstool and will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. A day is coming when Jesus comes to destroy his enemies. We might think that’s not very Christlike. But if Jesus does it, it’s more Christlike than anything else. That said, HE is the one who can judge and destroy. That’s not our job. But he will do it. The push for justice in politics has been fraught. Both sides rightly ask, who’s justice? Who’s Justice is actual justice. And the answer is the Sunday School answer: Jesus. If we want real justice, we want Jesus’s justice, and we want Jesus to be the one who delivers that justice. And he will. Jesus will take out his enemies. He will shatter kings. And when he does, it will be objectively right and just. The one who knows your worst thoughts, your worst actions, your worst attitudes is coming to judge the world, to judge kings. Who wins between Jesus and Xi Jinping, Putin, or Trump? The kings who don’t have Jesus’s sacrifice to point to, to trust in, will be shattered. And those who do will be saved. When something seems unfair or just wrong in the political sphere, or in your personal life, with your family, or in yourself, it’s a reminder that judgment is coming. Justice is coming. Jesus is coming. What’s unfair will be made fair. And when that happens, when Jesus comes back as judge, you want him to also have been your priest and your sacrifice. You need the covering of his blood poured out for you, of his body broken for you. You do not want Jesus to come and judge the world without having accepted his offer of grace. Forget about the wrong side of history, don’t be on the wrong side of Jesus. He will straighten it all out. Even you. He came with love to offer you a way to escape the coming judgment and to live in his love forever. So receive him today. And let us make sure others know about this great salvation and help fulfill Jesus’ desire that many might be saved.