If you are a sports fan you love the game. You follow your team through the season, whether baseball or football, through the hard fought wins and crushing defeats. The excitement increase should your team make the playoffs. Each game now carries greater importance. In fact, in football loose and your season is over. But should your team go all the way and win to become the champion then there is unbridled celebration.
In order to facilitate that celebration the winning city will host a ‘ticker-tape’ parade. There, thousands of fans assemble to cheer their victors and revel in the triumph. That celebration alone is a fitting end to the entire season.
As we come to the conclusion of Luke’s gospel we find it ending with the Ascension of Christ into heaven. We also find Luke’s second book, Acts, opening with the Ascension of Christ. Yet, of all the aspects of Christ’s life, his birth, life, death and resurrection, the ascension gets little attention. This is unfortunate because it is something of the ‘Ticker-tape’ parade in God’s plan and yet few show up to applaud.
So today I want us to take a little closer look at the ascension and hopefully better appreciate it so that we can applaud and celebrate.
Ending his gospel, Luke’s account is brief. He gives us no time factor and starts simply by saying;
“When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted his hands and blessed them.”
Some feel that it was the same day as the resurrection, but this cannot be accurate. It is in the opening of the Book of Acts that Luke provides details. Luke recounts there that Jesus;
“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.”
So for forty days Jesus had been providing “convincing proofs” that he was alive. The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Cor.15:3-8;
“3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas,[b] and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”
Jesus had instructed the disciples to go and remain in Jerusalem until he sent them the gift from his Father, which we know would be the Holy Spirit ten days later on Pentecost. In Acts 1:8 Jesus said;
“ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Again, we see his last words directing his followers to be witnesses to Him “to the ends of the earth.” The word “witnesses” is martys where we get the word, martyr, one who witnesses by his death. The fact is, except for the Apostle John, it seems all the Apostles were martyred for Christ.
As he said these things he blessed them. It was the custom of the culture to pronounce a blessing, a benediction upon those you were leaving. But as Hendricksen points out;
“This act of blessing is more than mere well-wishing. It is an effective impartation of welfare, peace and power.”
We are not told just what words he used, but he blessed them. As he did so we read;
“He left them and was taken up into heaven.”
Additionally, Acts adds;
“After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “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’s gospel ends;
“Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.”
At the magnificent event that took place before their eyes the disciples reacted appropriately - they worshiped him. This is the only real response to be given before the King of glory! They had accepted that Jesus was the divine Son of God and worshipped His deity.
To worship and honor they added obedience. They “returned” to Jerusalem as Christ instructed. This is the only appropriate action after worshiping and acknowledging Jesus as Lord. It is false worship and divided allegiance not obey the very one you pay homage to as king. They returned “with great joy.” One might think they would be sad with Jesus leaving them. But, by now Christ’s instructions were taking root in fertile hearts of faith and they trusted His word and looked forward to the Father’s gift.
What was the primary job of the Holy Spirit? Jn.16:14 tells us;
“He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.”
Those first words, “he will glorify me” is the chief aim of the Holy Spirit in all the work of regeneration, convicting, gifting and preserving. In answer to the question, “Couldn’t the Holy Spirit have come in full power while Christ was still on earth, John Piper responds;
“Here’s my answer: he could not have come in full, Christ-exalting, gospel-applying, new-covenant-fulfilling, deepest sin-convicting, Satan-defeating power while Jesus was on the earth. No. The reason he couldn’t is because every one of those hyphenated expressions, every one of those expressions of power, is based upon the death, resurrection, ascension, and rule of Jesus Christ. Those had to be done before the Holy Spirit could glorify them.”
The Spirit needed to wait for the final exaltation of Christ to glory before He could testify to that fact.
John wrote in Jn.7:38-39;
“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”[a] 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.”
And in Jn.16:7-8 Jesus said;
“But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”
The disciples understood this and they rushed to return to Jerusalem with great joy to await the gift. But now they were no longer cowering behind locked doors as they were immediately after his death. Now they were emboldened and in the Temple praising God. We sometimes hear that on Pentecost the disciples were huddled in fear behind locked doors but that was not the case. They had for ten days been going continually to the Temple praising God openly. In Acts 2:1 it simply states;
“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.”
Only after Christ’s ascension would the Holy Spirit be poured out in full power to fulfill his role as God The Spirit.
Which takes us back to the Ascension. Michael Horton observes that we typically “treat the ascension as little more than a dazzling exclamation point for the resurrection rather than as a ew event in its own right.”
The Ascension is the vital, necessary last step in God’s grand design for Christ which also has tremendous benefits for believers.
1. The Ascension is Christ’s return to glory and fulfillment of prophecy. In Mark 12:36 Jesus said;
“David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared:
“‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies
under your feet.”
The Ascension involves Christ “sitting at the right hand of God.” The older term was “session,” as when we say “Congress is in session” meaning they are seated and ready to work. Christ Ascended to be seated on the throne of glory in fulfillment of prophecy.
2. The Ascension establishes Christ’s reign as King over all things. Listen to Eph.1:20-21 and what The Father did;
“he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.”
Because Christ had finished the work of redemption, being obedient even unto death, dying for the sins of His people, and being raised for their justification, Paul states in Phil.2;
“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
That is total and complete rule over everything in heaven and on earth.
3. In the Ascension Christ distributes the spoils and gifts of victory.
In a Roman victory parade the general would ride on a white horse or in a special chariot in the parade. As the parade weaved its way to the Emperor, either women or sometimes the general himself, would toss, not only flowers, but coins or jewels into the cheering crowd. There would also be a line of prisoners of war chained and following the chariot. We see this imagery used in Eph.4:8;
“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says:
“When he ascended on high,
he took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.”
In His inaugural procession it reads;
“he took many captives.”
The KJV renders it;
“He took captivity captive.”
There are two meanings here. The first, and most obvious, is that these captives are Christ’s enemies, sin, death, the grave and the devil. By his death he overcame the power of sin; by his resurrection he conquered death and the grave; and by his Ascension proved that He alone rules and has bound Satan. The Romans would lead the defeated prisoners chained behind the General for public humiliation as stated in Col.2:15;
“And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
But there is another very important aspect of this. We find it in 2 Cor.2:14;
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.”
Here we see that WE ARE THE CAPTIVES that Christ lead in triumphal procession! Remember back in Lk.11:21-22 when Jesus said;
““When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. 22 But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.”
Satan was that strong man that keep us bound. But the “someone stronger” is Christ, who rescues us from Satan’s bondage. As one author notes;
“When a king would take his victory parade through Jerusalem and up Mount Zion, he would display his soldiers freed from foreign armies in triumphal procession (2 Co 2:14). These soldiers were recaptured captives. The king would announce their freedom publically. Christ takes all His people with Him without exception.”
This is what Christ does for us.
“First, He overcomes them by grace, and then He leads them “captive” into His blessed and glorious captivity, and leads them to say, “We were in captivity to Satan’s malice once; the old serpent held us fast once, but now we are in captivity to the Lord Jesus Christ, to His love, to His sway, to His sovereignty;”
The purpose of believers being lead in the triumphal procession of Christ is not public humiliation but rather public admiration as we spread or display the “aroma of the knowledge of Christ.” Christ proudly exhibits his children in the procession. In the Roman procession the General’s sons would either ride with him in his chariot or on a horse directly behind sharing the applause of the people.
As believers we share with Christ that, “applause,” as adopted children. In Eph.2:6 we read of this benefit;
“ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus”
As Christ ascended to his throne to be crowned King of glory, believers are seated with Him! The final step for the believer is to be “like Him” and we too will be glorified and joint heirs with Christ!
Rom.8:30, that great, golden chain of salvation, reads;
“And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”
To be glorified is the ultimate goal for the believer for only the glorified can be like our glorified King! Our faith in Christ has united us to Christ in such an inseparable way that Scripture repeated identifies us with Christ, buried with Him in baptism, raised to live and justification in his resurrection, and finally, ascended with Him to be seated with Him in our glorification. Oh the incomparable benefits that our ours in Christ!
Then finally, In his victory procession, Christ lavishly bestows gifts upon His people. As in that video, either flowers or coins were tossed about, so Christ in His procession dispensed gifts.
First and foremost, when Christ Ascended He sent the Holy Spirit, the promised gift of the Father. The Spirit of Christ would now do the His sanctifying work in us, making us more like Christ as we yield to His leading.
But Christ also scattered among us these gifts;
…11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.…”
These gifts were given so that the gospel truth can be continually taught and proclaimed so that the body of Christ might be strengthened. Notice these gifts were for “all” for the entire ‘community’ of believers so that we all reach unity in the faith and maturity in Christ. The church is built up and edified as each person uses their gifts and calling for the betterment of the community of believers which is the body of Christ.
As we end this series on Luke’s gospel, I trust you have not missed the profound and amazing benefits that we have in Christ in His Ascension. When we read of it, let us join with the blessed multitude in glory in joyous celebration who continually praise and applaud the Lamb upon the throne. As in 1 Pet.3;22;
“who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.”
And let us join them as they; “… lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power,”
Amen and Amen!
