First thing this evening, I want to impress upon you the
importance of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, for you, and then explore what the
ascending, or “lifting up”, of Jesus truly means.
It benefits us to be reminded of three things we gain
because of our Lord’s Ascension to the right hand of God. First, that Christ
our Helper and Savior has gloriously and physically, out-in-the-openly
conquered and triumphed over all His enemies: the devil, death, and hell, as He
said in Ephesians 4:8, “…He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive…”
that it may neither hold nor keep us any longer.
Second: the other part of Ephesians 4:8 is that Jesus gives
gifts to men. Meaning that He has procured those gifts with His Body and Blood
and sends them to us by His Holy Spirit through the means of the Spirit.
Third, in His Ascension, Jesus becomes our constant and
sleepless Intercessor, Mediator, and Advocate with God the Father in Heaven.
These three main benefits are why we gather this evening, because these three
benefits are exactly what is offered in the Divine Service found in Christ’s
Church. This is why you are here now and every time Service is offered.
As for the Ascension itself, I want to clear up some
misunderstandings that some false teachers teach. And we will begin seeking
after the Truth with these words of Jesus from St. John 12:32 “and I, when I
am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself”.
Now many hear this and rightly believe that God is high and
lifted up. The highest of the high; above all things. And rightly so, for the
Bible in many places describe God as such. In Genesis 14:18, Melchizedek is
described as “priest of God Most High”. In Exodus, God reveals Himself to Moses
on a mountain and those are usually high up.
Isaiah is famous for his revelation of God “high and lifted
up” upon His throne, in 6:1. To cement this truth that God is “on high”, all
temples and churches dedicated to false gods, in the Bible and history, are all
in high places, attempting to get as high as they can.
Of course this fails, but for our purposes the doctrine is
clear: God is on high. Jesus ascends to “on high”. Jesus is God. Simple. Easy.
Yes, I believe.
Yet, herein lies the temptation to sin. God is on high, all
well and good, but I am not. I can reach the heights of the false gods, but I
cannot reach up to God. Which makes us sinfully conclude that God is far off and
uninterested in anything but abject submission from us peons. In sinfulness, we
let Him have it His way, then. God is up there and we’re down here. God’s in
His heaven and all’s right with the world and we don’t have to deal with God
except on our own terms.
In this way, we wrongly believe that God is only high
and lifted up in power and majesty and when He is, He is only a tyrant and
warmonger, punishing the children for the sins of their fathers to the third
and fourth generations (Ex. 20:5). In the upside-down world of sin, this is
your truth.
When we repent of our sins, we are shown the better way.
Jesus is God, but Jesus is also true man, born of His mother. So when we see
Jesus ascending to the right Hand of God, it is not only God returning to His
throne in heaven, but a man going with Him!
Now Jesus saying “when I am lifted up from the earth”
is not only referring to His Ascension we celebrate this evening, but to when
the world lifted Him high up upon the cross. For that quote in John 12 goes on
to verse 33, where Jesus explains this “high and lifted up” business, saying, “He
said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die”.
It is true that God is high and lifted up, on His throne, in
heaven, but God is high and lifted up also on earth. John 3:13 says, “No one
has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man”.
And the descended Son of Man suffers, is crucified, and dies.
You want to worship God on high? You want glory to be to God
in the highest? You want to be drawn to Christ along with all men when He is lifted up? Then you must
gather around the crucifix. You must gather around that symbol which directs you
to the highest mountain on earth. The highest place is where the Most-High
dwells and the Most-High dwells with men.
Not only does He dwell with men, but He eats and drinks with
them. He leaves His cloak of the pastoral office (2 Ki 2:13), His doctrine
(Acts 1:1), and His baptism of the Holy Ghost (Acts 1:5) behind in the care of
men, such that the highest place on earth be reached by all people at minimal
effort.
For now that the Most-High and the dwelling place of the
Most-High is with us, the highest place we can ascend to is the Divine Service
where, in Body and Blood we taste the delights of heaven where God is on His
throne. And because God is on His throne in mercy as the Lamb Who Was Slain,
all is right with the world, because through Him the world is not left alone,
but redeemed and comforted in peace.
In this way, the Way of the Crucified God that is high and lifted
up upon the cross, the benefits of Christ’s Ascension come to us. The mountain
of God (Rev. 21:10) is His Church, His Bride. Jesus may ascend to the Right
Hand of God, but that Right Hand is upholding, defending, and administrating
His Church on earth.
The fruits of His victory over sin, death, and the devil are
offered in Word and Sacrament, the Holy Spirit reveals Himself in those same
gifts, and our Advocate, Intercessor, and Mediator kneels down with us in
prayer before the Most-High Who has descended even to this Altar.
Yes, the Lord Ascends, but in Christ, He unites His
Ascension with His Descension, just as God and man in Christ are united and a
man now has ascended to heaven to sit at the Right Hand of God, ruling all
things.
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