THE ASCENSION ENDS THE MOMENTOUS EASTER PERIOD – EXPLAINING THE ASCENSION
[A]. THE INTRODUCTION FOR OUR MESSAGE TODAY ON THE ASCENSION
The days after the Lord’s resurrection were understandably happy ones for the disciples, probably tinged with uncertainty. They were not sure what was ahead. Would Jesus be staying with them or leaving?
Jesus did not stay constantly with the disciples as He used to do. The incident spoken of here took place at the Sea of Tiberius – {{John 21:14 “This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples after He was raised from the dead.”}} That meeting was a very important one because an issue with Peter had to be dealt with, and the Lord did it openly because Peter had denied the Lord openly. Also the Lord revealed the method of Peter’s death.
It was at the Sea that Peter asked two questions, one about what happens to John and the other is this – {{John 21:20 Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back on His breast at the supper, and said, “LORD, WHO IS THE ONE WHO BETRAYS YOU?”}} It is interesting that even then the disciples did not know who this betrayer was even after Judas had died.
There is a very valid point in that. If it was us who was in the Lord’s position, then our behaviour would have given it away that Judas was the betrayer; something would have slipped. BUT the Lord loved His disciples even though one of them was the son of perdition. Jesus treated all in the fairest way. If only we could do that.
On the resurrection morning Mary Magdelene remained at the tomb in devotion and grief and the Lord appeared to her. This is the NASB translation – {{John 20:17 Jesus said to her, “STOP CLINGING TO ME, FOR I HAVE NOT YET ASCENDED TO THE FATHER, but go to My brethren and say to them, I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”}} Two special notes come from this.
The first was Jesus’ words, “Stop clinging to Me.” The AV has it wrongly translated as “Don’t touch me,” which gives the very opposite meaning to the Greek, and destroys Mary’s sincere devotion, her clinging on to Him not wanting to lose Him. The second, is the mention of ascension (I have not yet ascended). There are many interpretations about what the “not yet ascended to the Father” means, and I won’t add to that here.
When we come to Acts we learn the most about the lead up to the Ascension. This was the time of direct and serious teaching about what lay ahead. {{Acts 1:3 “To these He also presented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God”}} Luke points out that the Lord’s appearances were convincing during those 40 days and He taught about “the kingdom of God”.
[B]. JESUS’ VERY LAST WORDS SPOKEN ON EARTH
The Lord requested the disciples must stay in Jerusalem until the promise takes place. {{Acts 1:4 and gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “WHICH,” HE SAID, “YOU HEARD OF FROM ME,”}} Jesus was speaking about the Holy Spirit and He did tell the disciples about this, those ones hard of hearing. {{John 14:16-18 “and I will ask the Father, and HE WILL GIVE YOU ANOTHER HELPER that He may be with you forever - that is, the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you.”}}
{{ John 16:6-7 “Because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart, but I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, THE HELPER shall not come to you, but if I go I will send Him to you,”}} (The Comforter, the Paraclete, the Advocate, the Holy Spirit).
I think it is a most lamentable thing that some followers of Reformation teaching known as Covenant Theology or Replacement Theology or Supersessionism have written off Israel and followed the Roman Catholic line on this going right back to Augustine. God has not written Israel off and ALL the Old Testament prophecies regarding Israel and the Jews will be fulfilled exactly as the Old Testament teaches. One of these facts that will happen is the setting up of the Millennial kingdom where all is peace and productivity, and where the lion lays down with the ox and a young child can play with a cobra, and Messiah reigns as King over all the earth, and the plowman catches up with the reaper because of huge productivity. {{Amos 9:13-15 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when THE PLOWMAN SHALL OVERTAKE THE REAPER and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.”}}
Now that the Lord’s suffering had ended, they wondered if it was right then, that the Lord would set up that kingdom and asked this – {{Acts 1:6 When they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, IS IT AT THIS TIME YOU ARE RESTORING THE KINGDOM TO ISRAEL?”}} The Lord’s answer was not a denial of the fact, but just that it was not for the disciples to know the timing of it. It will happen!
[C]. THE ASCENSION TO HEAVEN
{{Acts 1:9 “After He had said these things, HE WAS LIFTED UP while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight,”}}
Can you picture that scene. The Lord is speaking but then, when He ended, He rose upwards from the disciples. He disappeared into a cloud so they watched upwards for some time I think. There was obvious bewilderment in the disciples’ minds. Ascension is not a foreign thing in scripture. Enoch ascended and so did Elijah. Where was the Lord going and was He returning?
{{Acts 1:10 “and as they were GAZING INTENTLY INTO THE SKY while He was departing, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them,}}
They were astounded, hence the word “intently”, as they were in great wonder. Jesus had just disappeared. The next thing they knew was the presence of two men standing next to them and dressed in white. I would say that the white was a dazzling white as we have elsewhere in scripture of angels’ dress.
{{Acts 1:11 and they also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, WILL COME IN JUST THE SAME WAY AS YOU HAVE WATCHED HIM GO INTO HEAVEN.”}}
The purpose of these angels was to give assurance to the bewildered disciples and it was said to them that Jesus had gone to heaven and was to come again in the same manner. I want to speak on that aspect and will do it later on. The next verse tells the readers this happened on Olivet.
[D]. NOW FOLLOWING THE ASCENSION
It was at Pentecost, 10 days after the Lord ascended, when Peter spoke this – {{Acts 2:32-34 “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore HAVING BEEN EXALTED TO THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear, for it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand,”}}
Peter is explaining the outpouring of the Spirit that day. There is so much here and so much understanding but I want only to select two parts. Jesus sits at the right hand of God, exalted after His passion that won salvation for all who will believe. There are many references to being at the right hand of the throne in heaven.
The second point I want to make is verse 34 – “sit at My right hand”. When the Lord ascended he sat at the right hand and this is just one of many references – {{Hebrews 8:1 “Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE THRONE OF THE MAJESTY in the heavens,”}}. Jesus sat/sits at the right hand, but once He rose from that position in a remarkable gesture. It is recorded here –
{{Acts 7:55-56 but being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus STANDING at the right hand of God, and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and THE SON OF MAN STANDING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD,”}} When Stephen was being martyred and his eyes were intently looking to heaven he exclaimed with great joy what he saw. Jesus actually had risen and was standing to receive His faithful servant to Himself. I am convinced that when a Christian dies (falls to sleep) he is welcomed by the Lord Jesus personally. How caring is our dear Saviour for His imperfect children.
[E]. PAUL’S TEACHING INVOLVING THE ASCENSION, AND TWO OTHER VERSES
Here is a lengthy passage, every bit of it dependent on the Ascension. {{Ephesians 4:7-13 “To each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.” (Now this expression, “HE ASCENDED,” what does it mean except that He also had DESCENDED into the lower parts of the earth? HE WHO DESCENDED IS HIMSELF ALSO HE WHO ASCENDED far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) and He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service to (in) the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”}}
Paul is most definite here about the importance of the ascension to the doctrines he teaches. The first great fact he expounds is the leading of the captives into heaven. Before the ascension of the Lord there were NO human beings in heaven. The reason for that is that their sins had not been righteously atoned for and the due penalty met. The Old Testament sacrifices covered over sins for a time but they were still “underneath”. Only the blood of Christ would make a sinner acceptable for God’s presence, completely eradicating sin eternally.
The cross did just that. Before the cross all the “righteous ones” were in Paradise, in Abraham’s bosom. Hell was next door and in the story of Lazarus and the rich man (it is NOT a parable!), there was some communication between Paradise and hell. Not my subject for today. Even Jesus went to Paradise – {{Luke 23:42-43 and he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom,” and He said to him, “TRULY I SAY TO YOU, TODAY YOU SHALL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.”}} When Jesus ascended to heaven He took with Him all those held captive in Paradise (captives - not in a bad sense) for they were not fit for heaven at that point in time until the death of Christ.
Just this part here deserves a comment – {{(Now this expression, “HE ASCENDED,” what does it mean except that He also had DESCENDED into the lower parts of the earth? HE WHO DESCENDED IS HIMSELF ALSO HE WHO ASCENDED far above all the heavens}}. The argument Paul is making is that Jesus could not have ascended unless He had first descended and that descent was His death and burial when he went to Paradise. It is also correct to say “down into hell” for hell (sheol) was the grave as we see in this Messianic (speaking of Jesus) prophecy – {{Psalm 16:10 “for You will not abandon my soul to Sheol. Neither will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”}} Hell comprised the two compartments – Paradise and hell. It is all hell now for hell enlarged itself when Paradise was taken.
I guess we can mention this verse here that seems a bit confusing – {{John 3:13 “NO ONE HAS ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN, but He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man.”}} If you want a very thorough dissertation of this verse see what the great Greek scholar F B Meyer wrote in his New Testament Commentary. There are very complex arguments in this verse and I will not begin it. However what the verse would say is that no one from earth had ascended into heaven up until the time the Lord spoke those words. That is consistent with the points we were making about Paradise just earlier. No human being was in heaven until the ascension of the Lord Jesus.
Before we leave this, just one more verse to look at – {{Luke 9:51 “It came about, when the days were approaching FOR HIS ASCENSION, that He resolutely set His face to go to Jerusalem”}}
This is another tricky verse but it is not difficult. It was given in Luke 9, relatively early in the Lord’s ministry but looks towards the Ascension that ended the Lord’s physical time on earth. This is what Bishop Ellicott says in his Commentary for English Readers – [[The noun is peculiar to St. Luke, and is derived from the verb used of the Ascension, in Mark 16:19, 1Timothy 3:16. It can here refer to nothing else, and the passage, as occurring in the midst of a narrative, is remarkable. It is as though St. Luke looked on all that follows as seen in the light of the Ascension. Every word and act was consciously a step forward to that great consummation.]]
[F]. LET US RETURN TO THE MOUNT OF OLIVES FOR THE CONCLUSION
{{Acts 1:11 and they also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? THIS JESUS, WHO HAS BEEN TAKEN UP FROM YOU INTO HEAVEN, WILL COME IN JUST THE SAME WAY AS YOU HAVE WATCHED HIM GO INTO HEAVEN.” Acts 1:12 Then they returned to Jerusalem FROM THE MOUNT CALLED OLIVET which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away,”}}
I know that is a lot of capital letters but it is very important. The two verses clearly teach Jesus is returning, and as He left from Olivet, so He will return to Olivet! There is no allegorising that away, or replacing it with wrong error. Jesus will return to the Mount of Olives when He returns at the Second Coming. He leaves heaven with this verse – {{Revelation 19:11 “I saw heaven opened and behold, a white horse, and HE WHO SAT UPON IT IS CALLED FAITHFUL AND TRUE, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.”}} Jesus comes to the great battle of Armageddon and then He descends to Mt Olivet, to the place from which He left. He said He will return and He shall, very soon.
There is Old Testament confirmation of this also. It is this section where the first verse speaks of the battle of Armageddon, and the second verse tells of His descent to the Mount of Olives – {{Zechariah 14:3 “Then the LORD will go forth and FIGHT AGAINST THOSE NATIONS, AS WHEN HE FIGHTS ON A DAY OF BATTLE.
Zechariah 14:4 And IN THAT DAY HIS FEET WILL STAND ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.”}}
All this will come about but the Church ought not to be looking for the Second Coming. It is at the Second Coming Jesus comes WITH US FROM HEAVEN (Revelation 19). What we need to be looking for is His coming for the Rapture of the Church. That is our great expectation and it carries a reward as well in case you did not know – {{2Timothy 4:8 “In the future there is laid up for me THE CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, BUT ALSO TO ALL WHO HAVE LOVED HIS APPEARING.”}}
The Lord is returning for His precious Bride but in that coming, He does not descend to the earth, just into the heavens. Seven years later He descends to the Mount of Olives.
The ascension of the Lord after that first Easter, was a private simple event with His disciples, BUT with His descent to Olivet in the Second Coming, it will be in glory and great power.
Examine yourselves to see that you really belong to Jesus and He is your Saviour. If you are unsaved, come to Him for sins forgiven and have eternity secured. Without Christ it is a lost eternity.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
