Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47:1-9; Psalm 93:1-5; Ephesians 1:15-23; Luke 24:44-53.
(A) THE ASCENSION OF JESUS.
Acts 1:1-11.
The Acts of the Apostles is a continuation of the account of The Gospel According to Luke. There is a definite continuity between the two books. Both books are addressed to someone called Theophilus, and in the beginning of Acts the evangelist again explains the purpose of his former treatise. The first few verses of Acts fill in some of the apparent gaps between Easter Sunday and the ascension, which were otherwise lacking at the end of Luke 24.
First of all Luke explains the historical limit of his former work: it contained the beginning of the work and teaching of Jesus until the ascension (Acts 1:1). Therefore this second book is the account of the continuation: it contains what Jesus afterwards said and did by the power of the Holy Spirit in the ministry of His Apostles.
Next Luke gives special mention of the activity of Jesus immediately prior to His ascension (Acts 1:2): He gave specific instructions “through the Holy Spirit” to His chosen Apostles. In Luke 24 He had opened up the Old Testament Scriptures to them in such a way as to show them the things pertaining to Himself. Now in Acts 1 He instructed them to return to Jerusalem and await the empowering of the Holy Spirit, after which they were to begin to fulfil the Great Commission.
Then Luke mentions that there were several appearances of Jesus after His resurrection, “with many infallible proofs” over the course of “forty days”, teaching His disciples of “the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). Luke 24 is written in a style which moves swiftly from the resurrection to the ascension almost as if both events had taken place in a single day, but Luke is perfectly clear in Acts 1 that there was the passage of forty days between.
At the end of the forty days, Jesus instructed His disciples to remain in Jerusalem to await the Promise of the Father (Acts 1:4). “Tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49).
It must have seemed an age ago that John the Baptist had predicted, “I indeed baptise you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16). Now at last the moment drew nigh: the disciples would be “baptised with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:5).
For a long time Israel's hope had been placed in a Messiah who would be a Maccabean type King who would vanquish the occupying Romans from Israel. This was a teaching which the Apostles had apparently not yet unlearnt. They asked the Lord if He was about to restore the kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6). It is so easy to become preoccupied with our political present, and thereby to lose sight of the spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom.
Jesus had to remind them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority” (Acts 1:7). This echoes part of Jesus' answer to a previous question (Matthew 24:3). “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, (nor the Son), but My Father only” (Mark 13:32).
Jesus brought them right back to the point with His announcement of empowering and commission (Acts 1:8). Wait in Jerusalem, and when the Holy Spirit comes, you shall have power. He shall light the fuse of the dynamite which will take the world by storm, even to the very ends of the earth, and to the end of the age. This will come about not by politics, nor by man's conquest, but by witnessing to the things concerning Jesus Christ. “'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6).
Having thus spoken, Jesus “was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9). This is a succinct account of the ascension. While the disciples saw the cloud, no doubt reminding them of the shekinah glory which had once filled the Temple, Jesus was received into heaven to take His seat at the right hand of God (Psalm 110:1). The prophet Daniel was allowed a glimpse of this awesome moment from the perspective of heaven (Daniel 7:13-14).
The Apostles were looking steadfastly toward heaven, but their thoughts were brought back to earth with a jolt when two men in white apparel suddenly appeared beside them (Acts 1:10). In Luke's writings angels had attended Jesus' birth, His ministry, His death, and His resurrection. Now they were present at His ascension.
In Luke 23-24 we read that Jesus' earthly body had been placed in a tomb, and it was noted to be absent from the tomb down to the very detail of the folded grave clothes. Jesus bears in His hands and feet the marks of the crucifixion. He ate. Yet he was also able to appear and to disappear, to be recognised and not be recognised, to be touched and not to be touched. These things are a mystery.
The reason that the angels gave the Apostles not to stand gaping at the heavens is, “This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). This same Jesus who had walked with them for three years, this same Jesus who was crucified, dead and buried, this same Jesus who had risen triumphant o'er the grave and walked with them, on and off, another forty days, this same Jesus whom they had just seen ascending into heaven was going to return “in like manner” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
Meantime, there is work to do. The exhortation to “watch” (Matthew 24:42) must be balanced with the command to “occupy (do business) until I come” (Luke 19:13). The Apostles returned to the upper room in Jerusalem to join others in prayerfully awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:12-14). From there the gospel would go out into all Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). A work still in progress.
(B) A PSALM FOR THE ASCENSION.
Psalm 47:1-9.
This is a Psalm of exuberant rejoicing, in which “all peoples” are exhorted to clap their hands and shout (Psalm 47:1). Worship is not an optional extra, but God’s due, and embraces the whole of life.
“God” is identified as “the LORD most high” (Psalm 47:2). This term reminds us of Melchisedec, king of Salem, ‘priest of God most high’ (Genesis 14:18-20): who gave Abraham communion, and blessed him, after the defeat of the kings. This God is a great King over all the earth (Psalm 47:2), to whom we owe our allegiance.
In our Psalm, the LORD comes down to subdue the nations (Psalm 47:3), only to rise up again with a shout and the sound of a trumpet (Psalm 47:5). The same God who "chose an inheritance for Jacob" (Psalm 47:4) is also "King over the nations" (Psalm 47:8).
This is an enthronement Psalm: “God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet” (Psalm 47:5). We are reminded of the Ark of the Covenant being ‘brought up’ to the holy of holies in Jerusalem in the days of King David (2 Samuel 6:15).
Thereafter pilgrims would ‘ascend the hill of the LORD’ (Psalm 24:3) in the worship of the three great annual feasts, singing praise (cf. Psalm 47:6) to the ‘King of glory’ (Psalm 24:7-10), “the King of all the earth” (Psalm 47:7).
JESUS came down, to go up (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus first came down not to judge, but to save (John 3:17). He came to give His life as a ransom instead of many (Mark 10:45). He went down into the Pit, and is raised up out of Hades (Psalm 30:3).
For forty days the risen Lord Jesus walked this earth, as testified by many witnesses (1 Corinthians 15:3-7). Then, we are told, He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19), where He ever lives to make intercession on our behalf (cf. Romans 8:34). From thence He shall return for His own (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17), and to judge both the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1-2).
Our Lord Jesus Christ provides a reconciliation for those who had once been His foes, and outsiders to His people (Ephesians 2:19). We are gathered together in Him (cf. Ephesians 1:10), and grafted into the olive tree which represents Israel (Romans 11:17-18).
It is in the Lord Jesus Christ that we stand with, and as part of, the people of the God of Abraham. The Psalm ends with “the princes of the peoples” gathered together “as the people of the God of Abraham”, and our God being exalted (Psalm 47:9).
(C) THE LORD UPON HIS THRONE.
Psalm 93:1-5.
This Psalm is about, first and foremost, the Creator God upon His throne. He is “robed with majesty” (Psalm 93:1). He has also, incidentally, “established” the created order.
However, we are not to worship the creation (I interject), as it is only the Creator who is “from all eternity” (Psalm 93:2). There may be aspects of creation which man considers ‘awesome’ - such as the “floods” / seas / literally “rivers” (Psalm 93:3) - but the Creator is without a doubt greater than His creation (Psalm 93:4). Israel was aware of this, having seen His mastery of both the Red Sea, and the River Jordan.
The permanence of the LORD guarantees the permanence of His order. We see this elsewhere in the Bible: ‘The heavens declare the glory of God’ (Psalm 19:1); ‘The law of the LORD is perfect’ (Psalm 19:7); ‘The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring for ever’ (Psalm 19:9). Result: “holiness adorns your house for ever” (Psalm 93:5).
Jesus spoke of ‘a certain nobleman’ who ‘went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return’ (Luke 19:12). Some of the subjects of this nobleman sent a message after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us’ (Luke 19:14). Some of Jesus’ hearers may have thought that the ‘nobleman’ represented Herod: but in fact, he represented Jesus.
Forty days after His resurrection, Jesus was taken up in a cloud, and received out of the sight of His disciples (Acts 1:9). This is an earth’s-eye view of the ascension. The disciples were reassured of Jesus’ return (Acts 1:11; cf. Matthew 24:30; Revelation 1:7).
Meanwhile, Jesus was received into heaven to take His seat at the right hand of God (Psalm 110:1). The prophet Daniel was allowed a glimpse of this awesome moment from the perspective of heaven (Daniel 7:13-14).
When the work of new creation (which began with Jesus’ resurrection) is completed, there is another enthronement to come (Revelation 11:15). As we sing, ‘Every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord’ (cf. Philippians 2:10-11). However, be warned: those servants in Jesus’ parable who refused to have their lord to reign over them were dealt with accordingly (Luke 19:27).
In the meantime, the Lord is upon His throne (Psalm 93:1), and reigns for ever (Psalm 93:5).
(D) IMPLICATIONS OF THE ASCENSION OF JESUS.
Ephesians 1:15-23.
This single-sentence prayer is a follow-up to the single-sentence praise of Ephesians 1:3-14. God has blessed Paul’s readers with faith (Ephesians 1:15), so the Apostle ceases not to give thanks for them, and continues to pray for them (Ephesians 1:16). Paul prays that his readers would be able to grasp the full implication of their inheritance in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:17-18); and that they may tap into “the immeasurable greatness of His power towards us who believe” (Ephesians 1:19).
This “working of the might of God’s strength” (Ephesians 1:19) is demonstrated in Christ’s resurrection, ascension, and seating at the right hand of God (Ephesians 1:20). It is customary to reflect upon the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ in terms of the event: the cloud, the two angels in white, the promise of His return ‘in like manner’ (Acts 1:9-11). But Ephesians 1:20-23 points us towards the implications of the event.
1. Christ being seated at the right hand of God “in the heavenlies” (Ephesians 1:20) is replicated in our own spiritual experience. We are ‘quickened together with Christ’ (Ephesians 2:5), and ‘raised up together in Christ’ (Ephesians 2:6): but we are also ‘seated together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus’ (Ephesians 2:6). We are already citizens of heaven, and we should live accordingly (Philippians 3:17-21).
2. Furthermore, Christ is thus elevated in order to establish His reign (Ephesians 1:21). The Psalmist envisioned the enthroning of the Lord Jesus at the ‘right hand’ of the LORD God, ‘until His enemies are made His footstool’ (Psalm 110:1). He is set above every principality, and power, and authority, and lordship: and above every “named name” both now and hereafter (Ephesians 1:21).
Again, the inference for the Christian is not far to seek. Paul later exhorts us to ‘put on the whole armour of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For’ (he says) ‘we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against authorities, against the world-rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual (powers) of wickedness in the heavenlies’ (Ephesians 6:11-12). From heaven, Christ rules over these, but there are still pockets of resistance which have not yet yielded to His authority (Ephesians 2:2).
3. As the man at God’s right hand, Jesus is also able to take up man’s primeval dominion over Creation (Ephesians 1:22; cf. Genesis 1:26; Psalm 8:6). This had been marred by the Fall. ‘For in that He put all things in subjection under him (man), He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him: but we see Jesus…’ (Hebrews 2:8-9).
4. Having established that Jesus is “head over all things” (Ephesians 1:22), we are now told that He is “given as head-over-all-things to the church, which is His body” (Ephesians 1:22-23). He who fills the church (Ephesians 1:23), is also the One who - as a result of His ascension - fills all things (Ephesians 4:10). The head of the church is already the head of the world, whether the world acknowledges Him or not!
(E) THE UNFINISHED BENEDICTION.
Luke 24:44-53.
Easter had been a hectic, confusing day: but, in our text, Jesus pointed the disciples first to His own words, and then to the Old Testament Scriptures in order that they might put some meaning on all that had happened (Luke 24:44-45). This is where we must always begin: with Jesus, who is both the key and the fulfilment of Scripture, and with the Scriptures themselves. Trying to understand Jesus without the Scriptures is futile; and comprehending Scripture without Jesus opening our understanding is impossible (Luke 24:45).
“It is written,” begins Jesus, “that the Messiah should suffer and rise” (Luke 24:46). He was giving them - and us - new reading glasses to read already familiar passages and verses. From now on we see these old things as in a new light.
Not only this, but the church’s commission arises out of the Old Testament. Jesus continues, “and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47). If we search the Scriptures, we will find that that was always the plan.
Then we have the link with the New Testament: “you (all) are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:48). Yet the church’s witness is nothing without the “enduing with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). So, the infant church needed first to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Holy Spirit.
Now that the church had an understanding, an identity, and a purpose (all arising out of the Easter event): Luke’s Gospel fast-forwards to the Ascension of Jesus. We can imagine the band of disciples, trooping along behind Jesus as they go for one last walk together. No longer despondent, they are remarkably buoyant as Jesus lifts His hands in benediction (Luke 24:50).
And in the very act of blessing them, “He was parted from them and carried up into heaven” (Luke 24:51). He went as the forerunner, ‘to prepare a place’ for us (cf. John 14:2). He went as High Priest, ‘ever living to make intercession’ for us (cf. Hebrews 7:25).
This was no sad parting. The disciples “worshipped Him” there. Then, as instructed, they returned to Jerusalem: “with great joy” (Luke 24:52). Thereafter they were “continually in the Temple worshipping God” (Luke 24:53).
Luke’s Gospel had begun in the Temple, with Zacharias’ vision, and now ends right there. The place where heaven and earth meet. The place where God met with man. An appropriate base to endow the church for their world-wide mission.
It is nice, as we conclude, to think of Jesus’ unfinished benediction. Perhaps it was still on His lips as He took His seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high? Maybe it is continuing even now, and will only know its final “Amen” when He physically returns for His own?
As we continue to worship and serve Him in this world, may the Lord bless us with continuing understanding of what He has accomplished for us. May we fulfil our mission in the power of the Spirit and see fruit for our labours in this present ‘waiting’ time. And to His name be all the praise and honour and glory.
