Sermon: Ascension
Text: Luke 24:49-53, Acts 1:1-11
Occasion: Sunday after Ascension
Who: Mark Woolsey
Where: Arbor House
When: Sunday, May 23, 2004
Where: TI, morning prayer
When: Friday, May 13, 2005
Where: Providence REC
When: Sunday, May 15, 2005
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Recently we celebrated one of the great feast days, that is, holy days of the church. Christ rose victorious over all His foes and ours, assuring us a place in heaven. He defeated sin & the devil so thoroughly that He publically humiliated them. This celebrated event is argueably the reason that Christ came to earth. Yet I am not talking about the Resurrection or Easter day. I am talking about something even greater. All that was in anticipation of this. This is in some sense the zenith of His ministry, the high point and culmination of all His work on earth. All that’s recorded in the gospels, His teaching, miracles, suffering, death, and resurrection are simply preparation, a means to an end, that lead to this great accomplishment. As a matter of fact, this celebration was actually two days ago; but since I was not with you then I’ve chosen it as our central focus of worship today. What is this great feast day that occurred on Thursday and that we are remembering today? It is Christ’s ascension.
Unfortunately this is a forgotten day in the church. We like to focus on the fun and sentimental, like Christmas, or the great victory that was publically won on our behalf and that guarenteed the forgiveness of our sins and our entrance into heaven, namely Easter. But these are primarily days for us. Christ didn’t come as an infant because He needed to experience life on earth. He made earth and knew exactly what it was like here. Likewise, He had no need in Himself to suffer and die for sins. He did that for us. We are continually turning everything inside out and upside down. We want to be the center of attention, the focus of God’s action. But we are not. God did not send Christ to die for you because He needed you; your redemption and forgiveness are simply a means to an end. And that end is the glory of Christ. The ascension means that Christ was raised up as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This is His taking the throne that He battled for so diligently while on earth. He saved us not for ourselves, but to show His great power and glory and to honor Himself. This ascension is His coronation, an end of all His efforts.
As an example of what this day means, consider the presidential election in which we are in the midst and compare that with Christ’s work while He was on earth. There’s a great battle going on right now for our votes. The candidates are fighting each other, armies of volunteers are canvassing people, and speeches are being given, all to win the great victory on that special Tuesday in November. When the battle is over and the victor is declared, will he simply do a victory dance and go home? Is that the end? No, it’s not even the beginning. The presidential aspirant’s desire is not simply to win in November, but to rule in January. Although we see it as anticlimactic, the inauguration is the goal which he seeks. He wants our vote not simply for our well-being, but for this ultimate aim. Stopping at the Resurrection is like winning in November and then forgetting to actually be president. In this sense the ascension, Christ’s coronation, was the great goal of His Incarnation and Resurrection. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and this is His Father’s public display of this fact.
As beautiful as Mark and Luke portray it, King David gives us an even more glorious glimpse of what happened. Listen to Ps 24. It’s first six verses reads:
The earth is the Lord’s, and all it’s fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters. Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face.
Before I read the last four verses, let me comment here. Who is the Psalmist talking about, who has clean hands and a pure heart? Look inside your hearts and tell me how pure they are. I’ll tell you what Human has such clean hands that He can boast before God: Jesus Christ. This psalm is about Him. Now listen to the remaining verses:
List up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory.
In His crowning as ruler of the universe, He assures us of His control over every event, every motion in the cosmos. He rules down to the remotest detail. Nothing is outside His control. Everything, good and bad, are directed from His throne. And for His people, it is always for our ultimate good. That is why Paul can say in Romans 8:28:
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
You see, in this presidential election year, we will have many promises made to us. Promises of prosperity, jobs, protection against terrorism and crime, etc. Yet no matter how sincere the promisers, they cannot guarantee the result. That’s why the more astute ones couch what they say in "I plan to...", or "I will endevor...". It’s much harder to pin them down to simply, "I will do this or that". That’s the difference that Christ’s exaltation brings. He can say, "All power has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ... and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Mat 28:18,20). That’s why He can say, "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.". Only a fool or the Omnipotent Potentate could make a promise like this.
But all of this does not begin to exhaust the meaning of the ascension. Look closely at another ascension text, Eph 4:7, which quotes Ps 68:18:
But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says: "When he ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men."
All that held us captive has been captured by Christ and publicly humiliated. Listen to what that great reformer, Martin Luther, said about these verses:
What captivity and being captive mean to the world are easy to understand. A public magistrate throws a person into prison, or the executioner ties up a person in order to lead him out and hang him on the gallows or cut off his head. But before God captivity means that sin has ensnared us, that death, hell, and the devil have taken us captive, and we are under their dominion. It is of this great and extraordinary captivity that David is speaking here when he says, The King in heaven, Christ, has dealt with this captivity, has taken sin captive, expunged death, and destroyed hell. Sin, death, devil, and hell had taken us captive; but Christ has in turn taken them captive. He has seized and taken captive those that had taken us captive. This is his kingdom and office in heaven: He takes my captivity captive, intercepts my hangman, interdicts my sins, exterminates my death, damns my hell. (Complete Sermons of Martin Luther, vol 6, p119).
And for whom does he do this? Who of us has clean hands and pure heart? Who of us has lived a life to merit God’s favor? None. Or perhaps you think He will be merciful because He simply loves us all? No - our sins must be judged and then their just penalty exacted, either upon Jesus on the cross, or by us in everlasting hell. How can God ever forgive any of our sins and lead captivity captive? Through our faith. As St Paul tells us in Romans 3:28:
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified (that is, declared innocent) by faith apart from the deeds of the law.
As we prepare for the Eucharist, Holy Communion, let us trust not in our works, how well we did this week or last. Our deeds don’t measure up to God’s requirements of righteousness. Instead, let’s look to Christ who was crucified for our sins. Let us believe Him and thus eat His body that died on the tree, and drink His blood that spilled there. From this we gather the faith that enables us to see that all captivity was taken captive. Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
This is the word of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Soli Deo Gloria.
