The Ascension of Jesus Christ the Son of God
Luke 24:50-53
“When [Jesus] had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, He lifted up His hands and blessed them. While He was blessing them, He left them and was taken up into heaven.
“Then they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.”
Acts 1:1-11
“In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day He was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen.
“After His suffering, He presented Himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
“On one occasion, while He was eating with them, He gave them this command: ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My Father promised, which you have heard Me speak about.’
“‘For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
“Then they gathered around Him and asked Him, ‘Lord, are You at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’
“He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority.
“‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’
“After He said this, He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”
Luke 24:51
“While [Jesus] was blessing them, He left them and was taken up into heaven.”
Acts 1:9
“After [Jesus] said this, He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight.”
This has been quite a journey!
- Recount the miracles surrounding the birth of Jesus
- When Jesus is taken to the temple to be presented to the Lord both the prophets Simeon and Anna prophesied that He was the Anointed One of Israel
- Jesus gives the first glimpse of Who He really is at the age of 12 when He stays behind in the temple (His Father’s House) discussing the Scriptures with the elders
- God the Father recognizes Jesus as His Son at His baptism and the Holy Spirit descends to Him in the form of a dove
- Over the next three years Jesus:
Preaches and teaches
Heals the sick
Gives sight to the blind
Makes the lame to walk
Opens the ears of the deaf
Enables the mute to speak
Casts out demons
Feeds giant crowds with a few loaves and fishes
Confronts false teachers
Walks on water
Calms storms
Knows the thoughts of people around Him
Raises the dead
Fulfills many Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah
Betrayed by one of His disciples
Tried by a mock court
Beaten until He is unrecognizable
Crucified on a Roman cross until dead
A spear is shoved into His side to make sure that He is dead
He is partially embalmed and placed in a tomb
A heavy stone is placed in front of the tomb and a guard is posted
Three days later Jesus rises from the dead
Over the next 40 days He appears to many different disciples in various places
He promises that He will send the Holy Spirit to be with them
Then …
Jesus Ascends into Heaven (or did He?)
The 13th-century Peter of Vaux de Cernay claimed that the earthly Jesus Christ had a relationship with Mary Magdalene, who was His concubine.
Early Mormon leaders Jedediah Grant and Orson Hyde stated it was part of their religious belief that Jesus Christ was not only married but he was polygamous, quoting the 2nd-century Greek philosopher Celsus: "The grand reason why the gentiles and philosophers of his school persecuted Jesus Christ was because he had so many wives. There were Elizabeth and Mary and a host of others that followed him".
The French 19th century socialist politician, Louis Martin, in his 1886 book Les Evangiles sans Dieu (The Gospels Without God) described the historical Jesus as a turned atheist, who had married Mary Magdalene, and that both had travelled to the South of France, where they had a son.
The 2008 “documentary” Bloodline by Bruce Burgess, a filmmaker with an interest in paranormal claims, expands Jesus’ supposed marital activities.
Wow! So, what are we to do with this? Is the Bible true? Is one of these other accounts true?
(Perhaps a better question would be why don't any of these other accounts match with each other???)
Even from a modern person who claims to be a Christian we hear from his own lips that, ”the books of Luke and Matthew were embellished.”
I wonder if Peter of Vaux de Cernay who clamed that Mary Magdalene was Jesus’ concubine would have died defending this opinion?
I wonder if Grand and Hyde who claimed Jesus had so many wives that it got Him into trouble would die defending this belief?
I wonder if Louis Martin who wrote The Gospels without God would die defending his writings?
I wonder if O’Reilly who says that the Bible is embellished would die to defend His version of the life of Jesus?
The Bible repeatedly confirms the ascension of Jesus ...
Hebrews 4:14-16
“Therefore, since we have a Great High Priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.”
Stephen, the first Christian martyr said this to a hostile crowd of Jewish religious leaders when defending the Messiah, Jesus Christ …
Acts 7:51-60
“You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you! Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute!
“They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One - the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.”
“The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God,
“he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand. And he told them, ‘Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!’
“Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.
“As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ He fell to his knees, shouting, ‘Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!’ And with that, he died.”
Stephen, the first martyr believed! Stephen died for his belief in the life, death, resurrection, ascension and deity of Jesus!
What is one thing defense lawyers always try to do to witnesses for the prosecution? They try to poke holes in the testimony of the witnesses. If they can show that the witness is either wrong or lying about any one detail of their testimony then they can convince the jury that the rest of the testimony is invalid or inaccurate as well.
Now, I don’t want to make any comparisons between the devil and lawyers but the devil does seem to have the same objective when it comes to the Bible.
In John chapter 8 verse 44 Jesus is speaking to some of the Jewish leaders and in essence He is speaking to those who try to invalidate the testimony of the Bible when He says:
“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.
“When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
When it comes to the ascension of Jesus to Heaven either it is true or it is not.
If it is not then we are a group of deceived individuals living in a false hope.
If it is true, and the whole Bible is true, then we hold in our hands the hope of the world; the only path to salvation.
Now, since we believe that the Bible is true, what does the ascension of Jesus to heaven mean for us?
We have a defender in heaven!
1 Timothy 2:5-6
“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all people - this has now been witnessed to at the proper time.”
1 John 2:1
“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.”
Doesn’t that bring hope to you? Not that we can have a license to sin because we have been delivered from slavery to sin and have become slaves to God, but, if we do sin and confess that sin, we have an Advocate with the Father. And that Advocate is there right now because He ascended into Heaven forty days after His resurrection from the dead!
What a wonderful feeling of comfort and security! God the Son defending His sons and daughters before the Father when the evil one accuses us!
It doesn’t get any better than that!
What else does the ascension of Jesus into heaven mean for us?
He’s coming back for us!!!
Acts 1:9-11
“After [Jesus] said this, He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”
We don’t know exactly when this is going to happen. We don’t know exactly how this is going to happen. We don’t know exactly what it will look like, but, we know this, since God’s Word is true we can depend on it happening.
The Holy Spirit does give us a glimpse of how it will happen …
1 Thessalonians 4:15-18
“According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
“For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
“After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
That’s exciting, don’t you think?
We have hope and our hope is in the risen, ascended and someday returning Jesus, the one and only Son of the Living God!
The world may be saying, “It’s a fable. There is no hope.”
The Holy Spirit, speaking through His Holy Word and speaking into the hearts of the sons and daughters of God is saying, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.”
In Revelation 1:17b-18 - Jesus says …
“Do not be afraid. I Am the First and the Last. I Am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I Am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”
You know the old saying, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
Well, we are living in a fallen sinful world where sin and the devil are causing carnage and destruction all around us and from this perspective this great salvation in the risen and ascended Jesus just seems too good to be true.
But it contrary to this world’s opinion, it is true. You can bet your soul on it!
What benefits we have as believers:
A risen and ascended Savior
A mediator and advocate before the Father
A King who is coming back for us some day
"Hail the Day that Sees Him Rise" by Charles Wesley
Hail the day that sees Him rise - To His throne beyond the skies
Christ the Lamb for sinners given - Enters now the highest heaven
There for Him high triumph waits - Lift your heads eternal gates
He has conquered death and sin - Take the King of glory in
See the heaven its Lord receives - Yet He loves the earth He leaves
Though returning to His throne - Still He calls mankind His own
Still for us He intercedes - His prevailing death He pleads
Near Himself prepares our place - He the first fruits of our race
Lord though parted from our sight - Far beyond the starry height
Lift our hearts that we may rise - One with You beyond the skies
There with You we shall remain - Share the glory of Your reign
There Your face unclouded view - Find our heaven of heavens in You
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Do you find what you believe to be the heaven of heavens in Jesus?
Conclusion and invitation (if prompted by the Holy Spirit)
Benediction:
Ephesians 6:24
“May God's grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with undying love. Amen.”
