The Final Ascension of Christ

Main message, if you like a title, the title of our main message is, The Final Ascension of Christ. The Final Ascension of Christ. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to open them up, and we're going to begin by turning to the book of Acts, Acts chapter 1. And we're going to read a very familiar passage of Scripture, very familiar, very fitting in our preparation for the Holy Day of Pentecost. Acts 1, we're in just a moment, we're going to read verses 1 through 12. Luke is our author here, and Luke, Dr. Luke, is going to record this scene for us in typical doctor fashion. He's going to pay good detail to the events that are before us here, and the details of this passage. This is, of course, the remarkable account of the moment just before the Day of Pentecost at that time. Luke is going to describe now the events surrounding Christ's ascension back to the Father here. Quite a moment. Acts 1, let's begin reading, and verse 1.

Luke writes, The former account I made, O Theopolis, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach until the day in which he was taken up after he, through the Holy Spirit, had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom he also presented himself alive, after his suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during 40 days, and speaking of things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

Verse 4, And being assembled together with them, his disciples, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he has said, You have heard from me. For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him saying, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And he said to them, It is not for you to know the times or seasons in which the Father has put in his own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and all of Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Verse 9, Now, when he had spoken these things while they watched, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day journey. Let's stop there.

Well, of course, a remarkable account here. And again, these verses in this moment very familiar to us in our preparation for the day of Pentecost. But I think I can confidently say that might not be true. The familiarity might not be the case with many in society today. And even those who consider themselves followers of Jesus Christ, you know, if you were to meet many on the streets today, I think if you quizzed them about the Bible, they would know something about the birth of Jesus Christ, no doubt.

They will certainly know something about the death of Jesus Christ. But if you were to ask them about the significance of this scene, this final ascension back to the Father, I don't know if many could articulate and be able to communicate the significance of this with any great authority.

In many ways, the departure of Jesus Christ here into heaven back to the Father, I think we could say it's arguably the least considered aspect, perhaps, of Jesus Christ's work. And perhaps even some of us today could do well to give more consideration of this, this whole matter of the the final ascension back to the Father here, and know more about it.

Because it could be said, if we're incomplete in our knowledge of this and the significance of this, we may be incomplete in our knowledge of the story of salvation. So it's important to give ourselves to this whole matter here. Now, in doing so, it's important for us to establish, perhaps right up front, that what is being described here in Acts 1, this is in fact the second or the final departure of Jesus Christ back to the Father. What is described here in verses 9, you know, He spoke these things while they watched He was taking up and a cloud received Him.

This return back to the Father is actually Jesus's second return after His resurrection. And the initial ascension back to His Father was the day after His resurrection. Let's see this. If you want to keep your marker here, we're going to come right back. But let's turn over to John chapter 20, if you will. John chapter 20 and verse 1. I think it will be effective for us to just establish in our minds. This is what we read about in Acts 1 there, the second ascension back to the Father after His resurrection. John 20 verse 1, we're going to break into the moment here.

We, of course, rehearsed John 20 the last time I was with you. But John 20 verse 1, of course, this is where Mary found the tomb empty. John 20 verse 1, now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So Jesus had been raised just before sunset on the Sabbath day, the previous day. Mary arrives on what we would call Sunday, just before dawn.

While it was still dark, she eventually stands outside the tomb. She's weeping. And if you go down to verse 16 through 18, verse 16 through 18, Jesus reveals Himself to her. He says, Mary, she says, teacher. And then look at verse 17, when Mary recognizes Him, Jesus said to her, verse 17, do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father, but go tell My brethren, say to them, I am ascending to My Father, and your Father, and to My God, and your God.

And then verse 18, Mary Magdalene goes, she tells the disciples that she had seen the Lord there. So she wanted to embrace Jesus here, but He says, do not cling to Me. Do not touch Me. I haven't yet ascended to be accepted by My Father as the perfect sacrifice. Do not touch Me here.

But in Matthew's account, Matthew records that later that day, they are allowed to embrace Jesus. Let's turn over to Matthew 28, just briefly, and verse 5. Matthew 28 and verse 5. Here we see the harmony of the Gospels. Matthew picks up this part of the story. Matthew 28, verse 5 through 10, we'll read here, that the disciples are able to, later that day, touch Jesus Christ. So Matthew 28, verse 5, the angel answered and said to the woman, do not be afraid. Said to the women, do not be afraid. For I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He's not here. He's risen. Come see the place where the Lord lay, and go quickly and tell the disciples. This is just as John recorded there. Tell the disciples that He's risen from the dead. Indeed, He's going before you into Galilee. There you will see Him, and behold, I have told you. So beginning in verse 8, so they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, ran to bring His disciples word, and as they went to tell the disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, rejoice. So Jesus meets them, says, rejoice. So they came the disciples and held Him by His feet and worshiped Him. And then Jesus says, do not be afraid. Go and tell the brethren to go to the Galilee, and there they will see Me. So let's stop there. So after His, this is after His, a little bit later in the day. So He told Mary, do not touch Me. I have not ascended yet. Back to the Father. But as the day goes on, we see that they are allowed to hold His feet and worship Him in that way, and touch Him in that way. So the day after His resurrection, we have this first initial return back to the Father. And of course, our focus today is going to be on the final ascension, all right, just before the day of Pentecost is ushered in. But I'd be remiss not to say that this initial ascension back to the Father, incredibly significant, incredibly significant.

This marked, again, the moment in which the Father accepted Jesus Christ as the perfect sacrifice for all of mankind. He was the first of the first fruit harvest of mankind, all right? We know that the day of Pentecost also is the Feast of First Fruits. It's referenced in that way. This conjures up imagery, Old Testament imagery, where they had that ceremony that pointed to this very moment. In fact, if you want to turn back there, Leviticus 23 verses 10 through 14, this moment, the day after His resurrection in which Jesus ascends the initial ascension, it was actually pointed to by an Old Testament ceremony where they would take a first sheath harvest offering, the first sheep of the harvest, and wave it before God to be accepted by Him.

Leviticus 23 verses 10 through 14, this was the initial observance of the Feast of First Fruits, which came to be known as Pentecost.

Leviticus 23 beginning in verse 9, and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When you come into the land in which I give you, and reap the harvest, you shall bring a sheath of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest.

He shall wave the sheath before the Lord, the wave sheep offering, to be accepted on your behalf. On the day after the Sabbath, the priest will wave it.

So this is happening now in what Luke is recording. And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheath the male lamb of the first year, without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord, its grain offering shall be two tenths of an epi, a fine flower mixed with oil, and an offering made by fire to the Lord for sweet aroma. And its drink offering shall be of wine, one fourth of a hen. You shall eat neither bread, nor parched grain, nor fresh grain, until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all of your dwellings. Okay, so before any of the harvest could be harvested, they took that first sheath and the priest waved it to be accepted by God and to bless it. And then, and only then could the harvest be done.

In the same way, likewise, Jesus Christ is the first of the first fruit harvest of mankind, you see. And he was raised before God and accepted by him. And he became the first of the first fruit harvest, opening up the harvest for us, you see. And God is working with first fruits now. And we know as you look through God's plan of salvation, God's hope is that all, and his will is that all, will be accepted and join his family. So you can't even put into words the beauty, the magnificence of this initial return of the Father to the Son. But in coming back to Acts chapter one, if you want to turn back there with me, we see that after his initial return, and acceptance by the Father, he did in fact return. And as we read Acts 1 verse 3, he presented himself alive after his suffering, after the many infallible proofs, and he was seen by them. Acts 1 verse 3, during 40 days, and during those 40 days, he spoke things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And then 10 days later, we would have the Pentecost. And Pentecost, of course, as we heard in the sermon at counting 50. So this would usher in the day of Pentecost. And let me just say, let there be no doubt that this period of 40 days, this transition period where he appears before his followers, where he shows himself alive, where he sees and teaches of the kingdom of God, this was a wonderful gift. These 40 days were a wonderful gift to those followers of Jesus Christ at this time. It removed any and all doubts. It stamped his identity as the Son of God. It allowed them to be given instruction. And so again, Jesus just didn't rise at that initial ascension and be accepted by the Father and stay there. I guess it would have been possible in God's plan to usher in the Holy Spirit on that day of Pentecost. I guess it could have been possible in some other way, you know, than to have Jesus return for these 40 days. I guess that's possible. But he didn't. And I propose to you that this return and this final ascension was absolutely vital to the whole purposes of God's plan of salvation here. And it really was just a proclamation.

A proclamation of just how gracious and loving our elder brother Jesus Christ is.

He came back to not leave his followers in disarray. He came back to tie up all those things that were untied and to be with his followers in this way. Prepare them for what it would mean to live in his absence. Luke is not only the writer of Acts, of course, but of course he's the writer of his gospel.

And in both the book of Acts and his gospel, he didn't want his readers to miss the fact of the significance of this ascension here. And we actually see that just as Luke begins the book of Acts, he finishes his gospel in the same way. And I want to show you this with the ascension of Jesus Christ, this final ascension. Turn over to Luke 24 verses 50 through 53.

Luke will end his gospel letter with the ascension, and then he picks back up, of course, as we read there in Acts 1 with the ascension as well. But here in ending his gospel, Luke 24, look at how he describes this final ascension here in his gospel. Luke 24 verses 50 through 53.

Luke finishes his gospel in this way, and he, Jesus Christ, Luke 24 verse 50, led them out as far as Bethany. He lifted up his hands and blessed them, and it came to pass while he blessed them that he was parted from them and carried up into heaven. You know, in Acts it says the cloud took him in. Verse 52, and they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen. So again, Luke ends his gospel here with the final ascension as well, and he does so with one of the most beautiful pictures in all of scripture. While he still blessed them, it says, while he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven, it says.

Beautiful scene here!

And notice the location Jesus led them as far as Bethany, and there in Acts we read of them returning from Jerusalem via the Mount of Olives. I don't know if anybody's been to this area before. It's pretty close together, but the distance here, this journey from Bethany into the gates of the city of Jerusalem would be via the Mount of Olives here.

So, of course, this ascension was a very comfortable and well-known place for them.

You remember, and we're as we're going through our study in the Gospel of Luke, we'll remember his triumphant entry as he began his ministry. The Gospel writers tell us that he was staying in Bethany. He descends from the Mount of Olives toward Jerusalem, so he takes his triumphant entry here and beginning his ministry along these same lines.

And so now that the followers of Jesus Christ are now going to begin their entry, in a matter of words, into this world, now absent their elder brother, their shepherd, as we'll see, empowered by his Holy Spirit. So again, verse 50, he led them out as far as Bethany and lifted up his hands and blessed them.

Again, there's just so much beauty here. This would have been very familiar to those that were hearing and watching this blessing as he extends his hands to them. Keep your marker here, but if you want to just turn briefly to Leviticus 9 verse 22. It is a little bit laborsome to go back and forth in this way, but all this was pointed to, all this was pointed to, all of the Old Testament, all the Old Testament prophets and writings, all pointed to the moment in which we're reviewing today. If you look at Leviticus 9 verse 22, we see the priest lifting up his hands and blessing them. Look at this. Leviticus 9 verse 22 tells us, Aaron lifting up his hands, Leviticus 9 verse 22, towards the people blessing them as he came down from the sin offerings and burnt offerings and peace offerings. And even verse 23, Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting and came out and blessed the people there. So again, we won't go any further than that, but here we have the priest with his hands raised and blessings. The fact of the sacrifice of sin had been accepted. You see? And Jesus now too, our high priest, extends his hands and blesses them. This would have been so comforting for them, and so many things would be firing off in their mind like, oh, this may, you know, all those things that were so scrambled after Jesus's death were now being ironed out and and made clear to them.

I wonder what the blessing was, you know, what were his words?

We don't know. You know, Father blessed them abundantly and in all things, in all times, perhaps, you know, give them all that they need. This is such a blessing. So this was going to be their final picture of Jesus Christ. Previously, it had been a distressed Christ, right? He was overwhelmed there in the garden. He was pushed to the limits of human endurance.

But with mercy and the goodness of God, that will not be their final picture anymore.

The final picture in their minds is now going to be a victorious ascending Christ pouring out blessings upon them.

This is a mark of His grace and kindness here. Great encouragement. Let's put ourselves there. You know, how glad Thomas, how thankful Thomas would have been for these additional 40 days that Christ gave him to address the doubts that he was having. You remember Thomas said, I'm not going to believe it unless I see Him with my own eyes, if I put my hand on His side and feel where that spear entered His side.

And Jesus gives him that privilege to do so, to answer those doubts in that way.

Able to put His doubting hands onto the nail prints of the hands of Jesus Christ.

Jesus gave him that gift during his 40 days.

Peter, think of the discouragement, the disgrace he was feeling.

When he denied Jesus and that rooster crows, and his eyes meet Jesus, and Scripture tells us he went off and he wept bitterly. He wept bitterly, and he said, I might as well go back to fishing.

Now, I might as well go back to fishing. It's all over. It's all over.

It's all over.

Well, Jesus, during these 40 days, in the end, makes Him breakfast on a shore.

He gives Him the opportunity to restate Himself with a three-fold affirmation.

No, you're not going back to fishing, Peter. You're not going back to fishing.

Just get that out of your mind.

Well, you're going back to fishing, but you're going to be a fisher of men, he said.

How wonderful this transition! What a gift for Jesus's mother! Jesus's mother!

Her last vision up to this point had been her son suffering, and then her hearing Him give over the responsibility of her care to the disciple that Jesus loved, John. That was his mother's last vision. It would have been, but now it ends with her vision with her ascended, precious boy. Now, Lord and King! So, the Scriptures, while it's important for us to observe the Passover, take in all the significance of what Christ did for us. The Scriptures do not encourage us, though, to stay there. With Pentecost, now we internalize that. We never forget it. We absorb the grace from the Passover. We let it transform us, as shown in the Days of Unleavened Bread. But now we stand up and straighten our shoulders, empowered by all that Pentecost is going to give us. And we have work to do. We have work to do. And this needs to be our picture of Jesus Christ, hands lifted, blessing us. I hope this is the view you have of Him here.

You know, I'm returning to the Father. I am who I said I am, you know, He's saying.

And the disciples watching this, their first gut reaction is worship.

Here in Luke 24, verses 52, Luke 24, verses 52, they respond. Luke tells us in worship, Luke 24, verses 52. So as Jesus is blessing them, they respond in worship.

Luke 24, verses 52. Then they worship Him. And they worship Him. I don't know what that worship sound like. Do you think they broke out in song? You know, I imagine that. Would they have sung perhaps something like, Are Him? Crown Him the Lord of life, who triumphs over the grave, who rose victorious to the strife, for those He came to save. We're going to sing the song in just a moment. His glories now we sing, who died and rose on high, who died eternal life to grain, and lives that death may die. You know, what did that worship sound like? As He's blessing them, and they're singing praises to Him. And the second response is joy. Here, there at the end of verse 52, they return to Jerusalem with great joy. Not just joy, but great joy. Here, so He leaves them. They're filled with joy. Their Savior has left, but they're no longer in despair here. Everything is being put together. All the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are being put together. There's great joy. We won't turn there, but you know, when Jesus was born, those exact words were described. The angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. For your notes, that's Luke 2 verse 10 and 11.

Luke 2 verse 10 and 11. Great joy. So worship and great joy. But they couldn't just keep looking up into heaven too long, because there was one more gift that Jesus was going to bestow to them. Luke 24 verse 49. Behold, He says, I send the promise of my Father upon you. Do not tarry, but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with the power from on high. So they needed to be somewhere else there. And so if we turn back to Acts chapter 1, where we began, Acts 1 and beginning in verse 10, we pick up the story with Luke again as he writes now right before he's going to describe that wonderful day of Pentecost.

Acts 1 verse 10 and 11. He picks up that moment. Acts 1 verses 10 and 11. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in wide apparel and said, men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who was taking up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven.

All right. Why are you still looking up in the sky? They say.

What kind of question is that? Our elder brother just left us, you know. Of course, we're looking into the sky. I think the inference here is really, why are you still here?

Don't you have somewhere to go? Don't you have an appointment to keep?

Don't you have a gift to receive? You know. And so immediately, their thoughts need to turn from Jesus departing them to the responsibilities and challenges that are before them.

Again, there's work to be done. And the means that that work will be empowered by, that will be powered by, is by the Holy Spirit. So as you enter into chapter 2 verse 1, Acts 2 verse 1, then the day of Pentecost had fully come, and they were all with one accord in one place, and suddenly there was a sound from heaven, a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were standing. And this was the power of the Holy Spirit given to them, the gift from that Jesus promised. And then go down briefly to verse 33, Acts 2 verse 33, and it says, now some of you are wondering where Jesus is. Peter says, empowered by the Holy Spirit, Acts 2 verse 33, he is exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured out this, which you see and hear now. You see. So you'll no longer find Jesus on the streets of Jerusalem. Why? Because he's at the right hand of God. And we have received the power of the Holy Spirit on this day of Pentecost, and this is now what you see and hear from this point forward.

So we see how crucial and beautiful this final ascension is.

You know, if Jesus had not returned to the Father and gave this gift, Peter would not have been able to stand up on this day empowered by the Holy Spirit to give these words. So this is absolutely crucial to accomplish all that needs to be accomplished now. And the ascension does not mean that Jesus is absent, but it actually means that Jesus is present more than ever, as he would now, through that power, come to live in the men and women to whom his Father would call. And it's the same power that you and I have today. So that's what's so exciting about it is we look forward to observing the day of Pentecost. This is what we're looking back and to see. This is what we're looking in the present, and this is what we look forward to the future. For those of you who have repented and have been baptized and accepted Jesus Christ into your life and the Father and started that relationship, this is the power that you now have. And this is the responsibility that you now have. It's what men and women are to see and to hear from this point forward. It's the same power that God the Father raised Jesus Christ from the dead with. It's the same power that you have that Jesus Christ used to overcome the wiles of the devil. It's the same power that was used when Jesus touched the leper and said, you are healed. It's the same power in which Jesus used to restore sight to the blind or to strengthen the legs of the lame. It's the same power available to you.

And may I just say, may this year more than ever may we know the power and the presence of it.

In a greater way than ever.

Jesus Christ is our ascended King.

And as we begin to conclude, let me just remind you, he is also, Jesus Christ is also going to be our returning King. Make no doubt.

What did those two say there as they were looking up into the heavens?

Well, just as you see him go away, he is going to return. Make no doubt.

The same Jesus whom has been taken away from heaven into heaven will and so like man a return.

So until that day, brethren, let's worship him.

Until that day, let's worship him. And just no matter what is happening in this world, let's have great joy. This is the joy of salvation that we're speaking about today.

Let's continually praise him and bless him for this wonderful power of the Holy Spirit. And let's finish the work. Let's finish the work for he is our ascended Savior, Jesus Christ.