In Jesus Holy Name May 22, 2022
Text: Acts 1:9-11 Redeemer Lutheran
“Acts 1: Where Did Jesus Go?”
Why did Jesus return to heaven? Why did He leave earth? These are the questions to be answered today as we continue our study of Acts 1.
• Jesus remained with the disciples for 40 days, appearing both in Galilee and Jerusalem? In those 40 days Jesus proved Himself to be a resurrected human being. Not a ghost. Not a delusion. Not a figment of their imagination, but a real, living person who had pierced the veil of death and come out of the grave victorious. (Leonard Sweet, Jesus A Theography p. 267)
• As Jesus ascends into the clouds, out of sight, the disciples might be asking: Is this the new normal? “Where was Jesus going? Why did He leave?” When will he appear again?
• Just outside the walls of Jerusalem the disciples see Jesus ascend to heaven. They are caught staring into the heavens
• They are told by two angels, this “same Jesus will return”.
• But when? There is no answer…. Just a promise. He will return.
1) The work and ministry of Jesus on earth was completed at the cross. God accepted His sacrificial death as a substitute for humanity’s sins. After He fulfilled all the promises of God in the Old Testament it was time to prepare the disciples to continue proclaiming the good news of salvation. They were to wait in Jerusalem for the arrival of the Holy Spirit, who would replace His physical presence. His disciples will be prepared and equipped to continue His ministry.
God’s eternal plan from the beginning of creation, when Adam and Eve chose to follow the advice of Satan, and disobey God, was to retore peace and harmony with Himself. Jesus became the “sacrificial Lamb of God” to take upon Himself all our broken commandments. His death on the cross removed God’s wrath against our sin. The resurrection of Jesus from the grave defeated Satan’s grip of death on the human race, and by faith in Jesus guarantees eternal life to all who place their
trust in Him. (Hebrews 2:14)
Paul writes; “God was pleased to have all of His fulness dwell in (Jesus) and through (Jesus) reconcile to Himself all things on earth or in heaven by making peace through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. He did this to present you holy in His sight without blemish and free from accusation…” (Colossians 1:19-21)
Where did Jesus go? Jesus returns to heaven to accept His rightful place at the “right hand” of the Father, the Creator of the Universe. Upon His arrival he will be crowned “King of kings and Lord of lords.” It will be His coronation.
Jesus, by His death on the cross, and His resurrection from death and the grave is the victorious Lamb. He will now rule God’s heavenly hosts, next to God the Father and by the Father’s authority. Jesus will exercise His supreme authority and power through the Holy Spirit for God’s people on earth, until the end of human history. (Commentary, Revelation Louis Brighton p. 136-138)
Jesus knew this. On the night of the Passover, the disciples heard Jesus pray these words: (read John 17:1-5)
We Americans do not crown kings and queens but we love to watch the English Royal family celebrate weddings and coronations. The Queen of England’s Coronation first happened in 1953, in grand style.
On February 6th this year Her Majesty The Queen, became the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years of service to the people of the United Kingdom, and the Commonwealth. The Queen’s Birthday Parade will be held on Thursday June 2, 2022 starting at 11am. The world will watch the grand parade and celebration. It will be led by the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards, and more than 1200 officers and soldiers. It will be a magnificent display of military pageantry, The Gold State Carriage, fromwhich the Queen will wave. There will be hundreds of Army musicians and around 240 horses. The queen will be there waiving to her subjects.
The Platinum Jubilee will include the latest digital technology to evoke the excitement and majesty of her journey when she was crowned Queen 70 years ago. The glory of her coronation will be revisited. The crowds will watch the celebration and share Jubilee lunches through out England.
This coming Thursday, on the Church Calendar is “Ascension Day”. In years past every church had an extra service on Ascension Thursday. Today, Ascension goes unnoticed by most church members. It is the celebration of the arrival of Jesus in heaven at the throne of His Father. When Jesus enters heaven, the kingship of God became real as Jesus reclaims His rightful power and glory He had at the beginning of creation.
(Article by Andrew Kuyvenhoven The Coronation of Jesus Reformed Worship)
The pageantry and glory His coronation in heaven will be on display. (Revelation 5:1,6-14) You can read Revelation 5 and 19:1-5 to read words so that our human eye to visualize the power and glory that crowns Jesus, King of kings and Lord of lords. (this will be the topic in our bible class)
The Father's will is going to be done on earth as it is in heaven through the work of the Holy Spirit. The kingdom of God, the preaching of the good news, the announcement of the forgiveness of sins, will continue through the disciples.
Now for the 2nd question. (Why did Jesus leave earth) The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 4:8-11 “When Jesus Christ ascended into heaven He gave gifts to His disciples, some to be evangelists, some pastors, some teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service,” so that God’s people will reach maturity in the knowledge of faith in Jesus, and the church will be built up in its’ battle against the forces of evil.
Jesus was very clear to His disciples. “Unless I go away, the Counselor, the Holy Spirit,(can not come…) The Holy Spirit whom my Father will send in my name will teach you all things. “He will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:23-26) His point: The same Holy Spirit that created Jesus in the womb of Mary, the same Holy Spirit that empowered Jesus to heal people and raise them from the dead, will be the same Holy Spirit that will dwell in the disciples after He ascends to the right hand of God the Father and Creator of the Universe.
John 16:6-11 (Read) The Gifts of the Holy Spirit are announced in Romans 12 and I Corinthians 12.
The Holy Spirit will enable the disciples to speak in different languages on the day of Pentecost. On that day the Holy Spirit (true to the promise of Jesus) convicted the hearts of 3000 people of their sin. They repented and were baptized.
In the days to come, the Holy Spirit will enable Peter and John, to heal a man, lame from birth, who was on the temple steps begging for money. This man was brought to the temple everyday for day for 40 years. I can guarantee you that this man was also on the steps of the temple when Jesus visited the temple…but Jesus never healed him. Why?
It was so that these two disciples, Peter and John might demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit. The result: The man jumped up, ran around in the temple, praising God. It caused, as you can imagine, an uproar. Everyone wanted to know why. Peter and John had to explain about the death, resurrection of Jesus. It is by faith in this Jesus whom you crucified that this man has been completely healed. The disciples had learned to listen to the voice of Jesus through the Holy Spirit. This is our task as well.
A youth group leader took his kids to a ski resort, where he saw two people skiing down the slopes one behind the other. They were so close it was almost as if they were tied together. When he go closer, he heard the one in front saying in staccato fashion, “Left” “Right.” “Straight”, “Right”, “Left”. Much to the astonishment of the youth leader the 2nd skier has a sign on his chest that read: “Blind skier.” Even though the 2nd skier could not see, he knew his instructors voice, and ignored all other voices. On the steps of the temple the disciples heard the voice of Jesus telling them to heal the lame man.
(Leonard Sweet “Jesus Speaks” p. XIII)
The book of Acts is a transition for the disciples in the 1st century and for us today. In these first 40 days Jesus was preparing the disciples to no longer depend on His physical presence, but now they must learn to listen to the same voice that Jesus had listened to all through His ministry, the voice of the Holy Spirit. These 40 days, and the days to come were like “training wheels” on a bicycle. They would learn to listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit without the physical presence of Jesus, because He has ascended into heaven.
He humbled himself by leaving the palaces of heaven to be born in a stable in Bethlehem. He veiled his glory and lived a life of humiliation. During His trail we saw the King of Kings to be treated so rudely by those he came to save. When He hung on the cross, onlookers jeered as His life ebbed away? They laughed at His pain and cried, “If you are the Son of God, save yourself” (Mark 15:29-30). The ascension means that Jesus has been vindicated in all that He came to do and His days of humiliation are over forever.
The ascension proves that Christ finished the work He came to do. While He was on the earth, He spoke often of “the work” of the Father (John 4:34; 9:4; 17:4). His work came to a climax when He hung on the cross, bearing the sins of the world. The Bible says that when Jesus died, He became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). When He died, God poured out His wrath on Jesus even though Jesus was perfect and pure and wholly innocent.
Jesus was the sinless substitute, He took the punishment we deserved so that God now sees my life, your life, blameless, without sin. Just before He died, Christ shouted out, “It is finished” (John 19:30), which literally means “paid in full.” The work was done, the debt was paid. You and I can never be charged with the guilt of our broken commandments because Jesus paid it all. The ascension signifies that the Father has accepted the work of his Son that is why Luke tells this story.
