Today we take some time to commemorate the ascension of our Lord. All of our readings for this day speak to that event. Our first reading from the book of Acts is the most detailed. The Gospel for this day connects the Ascension to the ministry of Jesus after He rose from the dead. The Epistle tells us that Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father.
For the Apostles, this event was a bookend of Jesus' ministry. Peter described the ministry of Jesus this way, [Acts 1:21-22] "All the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us." These words describe Jesus' public ministry - from the baptism to the ascension. The ascension is one of the milestones in Jesus' ministry.
The ascension is such a milestone that we might be tempted to think that it is the end of Jesus' ministry to us. We might be tempted to think that Jesus' work of salvation is all over. We have seen the Son of God descend from His throne in heaven to take on our humanity in the womb of the Virgin Mary. We have seen Him patiently love and care for the people who were around Him in spite of the fact that He is perfect and they were all sinful. We have seen Him teach with His words and with His healing touch. We have seen Him lift up the heavy burden of our sin and carry it to the cross. We have seen Him die in order that we might live. We have seen Him rise in order that we might live forever. Who could blame Jesus for wanting to retire to heaven and do a little bit of landscaping - a little bit of remodeling - a little bit of preparing a place for us so that everything is just right when we move in to live with Him? While Jesus is indeed preparing a place in heaven for us, there is a lot more to His ministry than that.
The Ascension does not mean that Jesus' ministry is over. It only means that Jesus' ministry to us has changed.
Our experiences in this world govern the way we expect things to happen around us. For example: we have seen balloons ascend. They go up. They disappear from sight. They are gone. Jesus went up. He disappeared from sight. We expect Him to be gone, but He is not gone. Before He left He said, [Matthew 28:20] "Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." The Holy Spirit also inspired the Apostle Paul to write, [Ephesians 4:10] 10 "He … is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things." The Holy spirit inspired the writer to the Hebrews to say, [Hebrews 13:5] he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." He has not left, but He has disappeared from our sight so that He can be with us in a different way.
We can see this in the way that He came and went during the forty days before His ascension. He left the tomb without bothering to move the stone away from the door. He had a conversation with two of His disciples and then simply disappeared after He broke bread with them. Later on that same night, He suddenly showed up in a locked room in the middle of His disciples. He did exactly the same thing a week later and had a special talk with Thomas. He came and went and appeared and disappeared at will. He was always with the disciples, but they could not always see Him. He got them used to the idea that even though they could not see Him, He was always with them.
This is the true meaning of the Ascension for us. Jesus is with us even though we cannot see Him. The humanity of His physical body along with His deity have truly filled all things. He is always with all of His disciples all of the time. As Paul wrote, He fills all things.
This is very hard to understand. We know Jesus is 100 % God and 100 % man. We are very used to the idea that God is everywhere, but when it comes to the humanity of Jesus Christ, things get tough. It is hard if not impossible to imagine a man who is everywhere. Our minds want to rebel against the idea that Jesus is with us in all His deity and in all His humanity. Fortunately God does not call us to understand this, but only to believe it.
This eternal presence of God with us means that Jesus is always with us in His full deity AND His full humanity. The very body with the prints of the thorns, the marks of the nails, and the hole of the spear is with us even though we cannot see it. In a way that we cannot understand, all of His forgiveness, all of His love, all of His comfort is with each and every one of us in the body of Jesus Christ sacrificed on the cross and risen from the dead.
We are used to the phrase "Real Presence" when we discuss the presence of the true body and blood of our savior in, with, and under the bread and the wine of the sacrament. In fact, the term "Real Presence" refers to the entire life of the Christian. The Ascension means that our crucified and risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ is with us always and forever. Jesus is really present with us.
The Real Presence of Jesus means that it is Jesus who serves us in His Divine Service. When the pastor forgives our sins in Jesus' name, the Real Presence of Jesus means that it is Jesus forgiving. When we hear the Word, the Real Presence of Jesus means that it is Jesus speaking. When we receive the sacrament, the Real Presence means that it is Jesus forgiving, loving, and comforting.
I feel so sorry for those who reject the possibility that Jesus is with us in His full humanity as well as His full divinity. It means that the bread and wine of the sacrament only represent the body and blood of Christ. It means that there is no forgiveness, but only a symbol of forgiveness. It means there is no love of Christ in the sacrament, but only a representation of the love of Christ. It means that there is no comfort in the cup, but only a symbol of the comfort of Christ. Where there is not Real Presence, there is not real Gospel.
For those who reject the real bodily presence of Jesus, everything that is supposed to be pure Gospel becomes the law. The joy of the Divine Service becomes a chore. The privilege of studying God's word becomes a duty. The sacrament's communion that joins us to Christ becomes a boring ritual. The liturgy gets emptied of its meaning.
But Christ has ascended to fill all things. He not only dwells in heaven, but He also dwells with us both as God and as man. He still is Immanuel, God with us. He continuously brings us the gifts that He earned for us with His life, suffering, death, and resurrection. He is with us with His real love, His real forgiveness, His real comfort, His real salvation, and his real eternal life.
The Ascension of Our Lord means that the God-man Jesus Christ is fully with us even though we cannot see Him. The good news is that the day is coming when we shall see Him. The first reading for today tells us that while [the disciples] were gazing into heaven as [Jesus] went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." Jesus will come again. We will see Him again face-to-face for the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to write, [1 Corinthians 13:12] "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known."
Until that day comes, we can rest in the assurance that we are never alone. Christ our Lord, true God and true man is always with us. We have His forgiveness, His love, His comfort, and His strength. The world will do all it can to separate us from Him. It will discourage us. It will attack us. It will persecute us. Jesus Himself warned us, [John 16:33] "In the world you will have tribulation." Never the less, He also said, [John 16:33] "Take heart; I have overcome the world." The one who overcame the world ascended into Heaven in order to fill all things. He ascended so that He could be with us to the close of the age. For now, He is with us always even though we can't see Him. At the end of the age, we shall see Him and those who believe in Him will see Him forever. Amen
Please quote from my sermons freely. I expect people to copy my sermons or I wouldn't put them on a site like this. I only ask that you quote accurately if you attribute anything to me.
Send James T. Batchelor an email.
Welcome
