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Who We Are - Sermon, Sunday, June 1st, 2003
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Sermon text: Luke 24:50-53 as follows —
When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
"They Were Happy to See Him Go"
Have you ever been happy to see somebody go? Chances are you have, because there are people like that: the nosy neighbor, the obnoxious co-worker, the foul-mouthed friend of a friend, the annoying relative. There simply are certain people who are not all that nice to have around. To be perfectly honest, when they leave, we're happy to see them go! It's too bad, but life is just that much easier or that much more pleasant when that person is not around.
I doubt that you would ever feel that way about the love of your life or your favorite grandmother! It would be unusual to say, "I'm happy to see him go," or "I'm glad she's not around." We don't normally say that about people who are dear to us! So, if you were reading Luke's Gospel for the first time and you'd get to the end, you might be puzzled. You'd read there of those climactic events, Jesus' suffering and crucifixion and dying, his rising from death and appearing to many. Then you'd read this last paragraph: "He left them," Luke wrote, and his disciples reacted with "great joy." Strangely enough, Jesus' disciples were happy to see him go!
Their reaction to the Lord's ascension was just the opposite of what we might expect. We might expect that his disciples would have been plunged back into sadness. I mean, they had been on an emotional roller-coaster for a couple of months. It started when Jesus made it clear that he was heading for Jerusalem, right into the nest of his enemies, and nothing was going to stop him. His friends, as they followed him, must have experienced plenty of worry and fear and stress. Then came the emotional high of Palm Sunday and that spectacular welcome to Jerusalem. But that was followed, just a few days later, by the terror and confusion of the night of betrayal. Then came the horror of his crucifixion and their abject grief at his death. That had to be the very bottom for Jesus' friends. But in less than 48 hours, their grief was wiped away by the joy of Jesus' return from the dead. Talk about going from a low to a high! His resurrection was too good to be true, but Jesus proved it to them again and again for the next 40 days with, as Luke relates in Acts 1, "many convincing proofs that he was alive."
Now, at the end of those 40 days, we're told that Jesus left them. We're also told how he left them, and that is significant. This time it's different. Up till now he had been appearing, disappearing, reappearing. In his glorified physical body, which was no longer bound by the laws of this world, the risen Lord appeared to various people at various times in various places. But this marks the end of that; this is different. This time he doesn't just disappear. Clearly, he's going away.
No longer will his friends and followers enjoy looking into his eyes. No longer will they hear the sound of his voice. No longer will they be able to shake his hand or feel his arm around their shoulders. "He left them and was taken up into heaven," and wouldn't you expect them to ride the roller-coaster back down into sadness, the sadness you and I feel when a loved one leaves us? Yet Luke tells us, "Then they worshiped him and returned with great joy." They were happy to see him go! Again, that might puzzle us at first, but once we start looking for an explanation for their joy, it's not hard to find. There are a whole bunch of reasons why our Lord's ascending to heaven made his disciples tremendously happy — and why it makes us happy, too.
Right from the start, his ascension was inevitable. It was going to happen, and Jesus knew it. Quite early in his ministry (John 6) he said, "What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!" Shortly after that he told them, "I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me." He knew it was going to happen. Jesus' ascension was the inevitable end point or climax of his entire ministry. You could say it was to be the exclamation point at the end of our Savior's work.
Relating what happened the night before our Lord's death, John wrote: "Jesus knew that he had come from God and was returning to God." And he prayed, "Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began." Jesus knew he would go back. You see, this is the eternal second Person of the Triune God. He's the One whom the Father sent. The Son of God left the glory of heaven to become the Son of Man. He descended, came down, in order to be the sin-bearer, the sacrificial Lamb. He came down to be the Substitute for sinners and the Savior of sinners. He descended in order to redeem you and me with his holy precious blood and his innocent sufferings and death. But he would go back, and he did. His ascension was his return to that glory which he had shared with the Father from eternity (by the way, his human nature was exalted to share in that glory; he didn't stop being man).
Is it any wonder that his disciples were happy to see him go? Christ's ascension is the exclamation point at the end of his mission. It proclaims him to be the Son of God and the successful Savior. It's another guarantee that we have been redeemed. He who came from the Father returns to his Father. He who came from glory returns to glory. He who descended in order to save us now ascends — his saving mission accomplished!
That's not all, when it comes to reasons for being happy about this. Remember the parting promise Jesus gave? "Surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age." During the time of his earthly ministry, he was present with people — right there, locally, physically, visibly present, just like you and I are present here with each other today. But then, like us, he could only be in one place at one time. Now, after his ascension, things are different! Jesus is present universally, present everywhere with all believers at all times. Paul wrote: "He ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe." "Surely I am with you always" is literally true. Along with Jesus' presence, unseen but real, we also have his almighty power working for us. Mark wrote, "he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God." Paul explained what that means in Ep 1: he was placed "far above all rule and authority, power and dominion...and God placed all things under his feet." Remember what he said before he left? "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me."
It's not that he did not have power before this. But during his earthly ministry, Jesus' almighty power was used sparingly and intermittently, as it served his mission. Now the ascended Christ exercises that power in a constant and unlimited way. He rules with all power over all things all the time, and don't miss this important phraise — "for the sake of the church." Is it any wonder that the disciples were happy to see him go? They'd been privileged to witness the Lord's power on many occasions, but now they understood that his power is unrestrained, exercised all the time over everything for the sake of all those who believe in him. Dear friends, just think of what that means for you and me on a day-to-day basis. Christ's ascension guarantees our Savior's personal presence — our Lord Jesus is indeed with us all the time, everywhere we go, whatever we do. More than that, he is powerfully with us as the One who rules all things in heaven and on earth, for our eternal benefit.
Oh, there are other promises, too, that we don't even have time to talk about this morning. Jesus promised that when he went away, he would send the Holy Spirit. He promised that he was going away to prepare a place for us in glory. We're told that having ascended into heaven, he is interceding for us with the Father. All this, all these great reasons to rejoice at his ascension! We can easily understand why he had said to his disciples, "If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father." They were, weren't they? When it finally happened, they were happy to see him go.
And we are happy that he did. If you ever wonder, as we sometimes do, if indeed you are one of God's redeemed children... If you ever wonder, as we sinful saints do at times, if all your sins are truly forgiven — when your conscience won't leave you alone (maybe for good reason) and the devil is using your guilt like a battering ram... If you ever wonder if life forever is really yours, then surely you must remind yourself of the death and resurrection of God's Son, your Redeemer! But you could also remember Jesus' ascendion, the exclamation point at the end of his ministry. If you ever doubt his presence with you, or question his power to help you, remember his ascension to the right hand of the throne of God. Remember also the way his disciples reacted to his leaving — with great joy. They were happy to see him go! And we're happy that he went!