THE ASCENSION
2 Kings 2:1-12
Acts 1:1-11
May 24, 2009
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The four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) all end differently. And yet, they all end with the same message – it is your job to go and minister to the world. Matthew ends with Jesus and the eleven Apostles on a mountain in Galilee. Jesus’ last words tell the Apostles to make disciples of the entire world, baptize them, and then teach them obedience to Christ. Mark ends on the night of the resurrection with Jesus appearing to the eleven Apostles in the upper room in Jerusalem. He tells them to go throughout the world preaching the good news, and baptizing anyone who wants to be saved.
Luke ends with Jesus and the Apostles in Jerusalem. He teaches them a Bible study that proves the crucifixion and resurrection were always there in prophecy. Through that Bible study he explains that they are to be his witnesses throughout the entire world, teaching with the power of the Holy Spirit. John ends by the Sea of Galilee. Jesus reinstates Peter as a full Apostle, and charges him to “feed my sheep”, which is his way of saying its your responsibility to take care of the hundreds of disciples and prepare them to be witnesses. All four Gospels have this in common as well. Jesus makes it clear that if he doesn’t go away, the plan for worldwide ministry will never happen.
The way Jesus chooses to leave is called ‘The Ascension’. Luke, the physician, is the only one who ever tells us about the Ascension. The pericope of Jesus rising up into the heavens appears at the end of the Gospel of Luke, and also at the beginning of the book of Acts. Luke wrote both of those books, so he is our sole source for information on Jesus’ heavenly ascent.
Luke starts the book of Acts by telling the reader that after the resurrection Jesus appeared in the flesh to lots of people as convincing proof that he was alive. There is quite a bit of evidence for Luke’s claim. Matthew says that Jesus appeared to the women at the tomb, and to the eleven Apostles in Galilee (28:9-10; 28:16-17). Mark says Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene (16:9-11). Luke tells us about Jesus appearing to Clopas and Peter on the road to Emmaus (24:13-32). John tells us about Jesus appearing to the eleven Apostles in Jerusalem (20:19-31). And, the Apostle Paul says that Jesus appeared to, “Peter, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, he appeared also to me” (1 Corinthians 15:5-8).
So, we know Luke is telling the truth when he says there were lots of witnesses to the resurrected Christ. The problem is that some people still don’t get it. Luke says that during one of these visits some of the Apostles asked Jesus, “Now, now that you’ve proven yourself to be immortal (so the Romans can’t hurt you) – now will you establish Israel as the premier nation in the world (Acts 1:6)?” Do you have any idea how disappointing that question must have been to Jesus? He has been telling them over and over, preach the good news about salvation from sin, teach the world how Christianity works, and baptize those who want to be saved. And, its just not sinking in.
Luke tells us that from the time of the Resurrection, until the Ascension, Jesus kept preaching about the Kingdom of God. The Lord’s Prayer tells us that the Kingdom of God is accomplished when God’s will is done on earth exactly the way it is done in heaven. He even gives us examples; God’s name will be treated as holy, we will not be greedy, we will forgive one another, and we will resist sin. None of that has anything to do with military power. But, it does require the participation of the majority of the world’s population.
For the Kingdom of God to be realized everyone has to buy into the plan. The forty days after the Resurrection make it clear that as long as Jesus walks among us, we will keep finding excuses to put off our part in bringing about the Kingdom. We will leave all of the heavy lifting to Jesus as long as he’s here. As you read the four Gospels and Acts you realize that Jesus was not continually with the Apostles. He came and went. He made appearances. And, as the forty days progressed, the appearances became less and less frequent. He was slowly weaning them off of his physical presence. Now, it won’t work for Jesus to just slowly fade away. If that happens the Apostles still won’t fully commit to ministry, because Jesus might be back next week. No. It requires a significant event that draws a line in the sand and says, “This is it. The ball is now in your court. No more relying solely on me. Get off your behinds and start spreading the Gospel!” That event is the Ascension.
Luke tells us that Jesus took the Apostles out of the city of Jerusalem, over the Mount of Olives (past the Garden of Gethsemane) to the city of Bethany. Bethany was where John the Baptist had been baptizing back at the beginning of this odyssey (John 1:28). Bethany is where the Holy Spirit had descended from heaven and anointed Jesus for ministry after his baptism. This is poetic. Jesus lets his earthly ministry start and end in the same place.
He raises his hands and gives a blessing and a benediction to the Apostles (Luke 24:5-53). As he is in mid-sentence, still speaking, he rises up and disappears. In his Gospel, Luke makes it sound like Jesus simply goes higher and higher until he gets lost in the clouds and is too small to see. However, in Acts Luke implies that the sky opens up and the Apostles can actually see Jesus enter into heaven.
Don’t you wish you could see what they saw? We have so little information about heaven – it would have been nice if the eleven Apostles had written a little about what they saw that day. What we do know comes from small scraps of information pieced together. It is my understanding that the instant you die your soul appears in heaven (Luke 23:43). We are conscious that we have died, and we are aware of where we are. At this time we do not have physical bodies the way we see them right now (2 Corinthians 5:8). And yet, we must have some kind of a physical appearance. The Bible tells us that the souls of the martyrs are gathered under the throne of God, crying out for justice. They are given white robes to wear and told to rest awhile longer (Revelation 6:9-11). There’s no point in getting a robe if you don’t have a body to put it on. We know that when Jesus returns to the earth the second time we will all get amazing new physical bodies (1 John 3:2). These new bodies will never wear out and never get sick. I don’t know how old these bodies will appear, but I know that we will be able to recognize one another from our appearance.
It is impossible to say where heaven is. Because Jesus rises up we want to say that heaven is above the earth. In the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, the man in hell has to look up to see heaven – so we describe heaven as above the earth and hell as below (Luke 16:20-31). But, I’m not sure those descriptions were meant to be taken literally. Remember, the Bible was written by men he did not know there was a North or South America. They were unaware of Antarctica or Australia. They had repeatedly been taught that the world was flat. So, if heaven isn’t here where we are, it must either be above us or below us.
I think today most people would agree that heaven isn’t in a geographic location. It’s beyond our present reality. Heaven is a real place, but it’s not somewhere we can travel to or from. It requires God himself orchestrating a supernatural event, such as a vision, for us to get a glimpse of heaven.
If heaven isn’t really above us, then why did Jesus rise up? That’s because we have a preconceived notion of up as good, and down as bad. Look at our language. Things are looking up! We’ve really hit a peak! He’s on a downhill slide. They’ve reached an all time low. She does high quality work! It is the same in all cultures – up is good, down is bad. Jesus had to rise up and away so the Apostles could not mistake the message. He has gone away to somewhere good. Jesus is alive and living in heaven.
I would love to know all of the details about heaven. But, I believe Jesus has deliberately given us only a glimpse of heaven for the same reason he had to leave us. We are too easily sidetracked from our mission and our responsibility. Remember, Jesus preached about bringing forth the Kingdom of God here on earth. If I’m spending all of my time concentrating on heaven I’m not preaching the Good News, I’m not baptizing those who would be saved, and I’m not teaching obedience to Christ. (Which is what all four Gospels tell me to do!)
Jesus’ last words repeatedly told the Apostles to become his witnesses to the world. In court, a witness must tell his own story; he can’t testify for someone else. My responsibility is to tell the world what Jesus has done for me, and what he can do for you. I am compelled to share my story because I serve a living Savior. Jesus went to heaven alive, not dead. If I believe he really is alive, sitting at the right hand of God the Father, then I better do what I’m told. And, so should you.
None of the Gospels end the same way. But, they all end with the same message. It is your job to go and minister to the world. That message wasn’t just for the eleven surviving Apostles. It was for everyone who places their faith in Jesus for salvation. Jesus appeared after his Resurrection with many convincing proofs. He left this earth in the presence of reliable witnesses. He left so that we would stop talking and start doing. Jesus is coming back again. Are you doing what you’ve been told to do?
Kenneth L. Barker & John R. Kohlenberger III, Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary, Volume 2: the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, ), 381.
George C. Fuller, “The Life of Jesus After the Ascension: Acts 1:8-11,” Westminster Theological Journal 56:2 (Fall 1994), 391-398.
Daniel R. Lockwood, “Until We Meet Again: does the Bible teach that we will recognize our loved ones in heaven?” Christianity Today 51:10 (October 2007), 98.