"After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 'Men of Galilee,' they said, 'why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.' "

 

         I once knew a fellow who was a farm laborer from Mexico. He would stay in a trailer on the farm of one of our church members when he was working in our area. He used some interesting expressions that were unfamiliar to me. When work would slow down, or he felt that he needed to travel to Texas or California, he would come into the house in the morning and say, "Pack me a big lunch today." That meant they would not be seeing him for a number of months, and he would need to be sustained in his long journey.

         To talk about the Ascension of Jesus is like packing a big lunch. That is because Ascension draws together the major themes of the Gospel. It connects the cross, and the resurrection of Jesus, the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and the return of Christ. Here we see clearly what it means to say that Christ is Lord. Here we are directed to worship and to witness. We have to pack a big lunch for the long journey into the meaning of the Ascension of Jesus.

         If you remember the ending of the Jesus film, the Ascension is portrayed from the perspective of Jesus. He is standing with the disciples giving the Great Commission and the camera begins to rise into the air, as if we are seeing the Ascension from Jesus' point of view. Soon the disciples are just little specks below, and then the whole earth comes into view, as the narrator reads John 3:16, "For God so loved the world."

         Robert Wall writes, "The Ascension separates Jesus from his followers spatially and temporally. It validates Jesus' resurrection and vindicates the claim that he is the Messiah. The Apostles, who were not eyewitnesses to his resurrection from the tomb, are now eyewitnesses to his Ascension into heaven."

         The church has used the word "Ascension" to describe this event. We find it in the Apostles' Creed: "He ascended into heaven." And it marks a day in the Christian year, Ascension Sunday. But using that word can cause us to feel distant from Jesus. Like the film portrayal, it seems like Jesus is no longer near, he is out in space somewhere. Ascension can cause us to lose touch with Jesus. Even its place on the calendar in May, can be associated with a summer break from church. Ascension is a word that in our minds can get associated with distance and absence.

         The Bible uses the language of exaltation much more.

         Philippians 2:9: "Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name . . . "

         Hebrews 2:9: "But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor . . ."

         In Ephesians 1 Paul prays and speaks of the mighty strength "God exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms." Klyne Snodgrass writes, "This points to Christ's presence with God and to the larger reality of life with God. As the exalted One, Christ is Lord, and his exaltation is determinative for life and for the church."

         The focus in exaltation is not on distance, but on the identity of Jesus – he is the Lord. The emphasis is really on his nearness to us, his power given through the Holy Spirit, and his sovereignty over every spiritual and human power, which frees us from fear. Exaltation draws us to worship Christ, and to be his witnesses in the world. This is what we want to focus on today: exaltation. In the Ascension of Jesus to heaven, Christ is exalted and the significance of that draws us close to Christ in worship and energizes us in service and witness.

         In Acts chapter 1, Luke summarizes the Resurrection appearances of Jesus for forty days. During this time he taught the disciples about the Kingdom of God. Yet it seems they were confused. They ask, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the Kingdom to Israel?" It is as if the disciples are saying, "The healing and teaching and forgiveness of sins are all good, but now we want the Kingdom of God to come on earth. We want to be a free nation, we want a king like David, and we want our hopes for the defeat of Rome to be fulfilled."

         In his response, Jesus calls them away from such thinking. They are not being called to establish a kingdom on earth, a free and powerful nation of Israel. Rather they are being called to a ministry that looks very much like Jesus himself. They are called to proclaim salvation, to heal people, to forgive sin, and to bear the cross as they await his return. They are being called to be witnesses, and that means not only talking about Jesus, but living Christ-like lives.

         So we find Peter preaching in Acts chapter 3, "Repent then and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you – even Jesus. Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets."

         Jesus will not simply restore the kingdom to Israel. He will restore everything. That is our hope in the risen Lord, who is exalted in heaven.

         Then, after Jesus was taken up, the disciples stood around looking at the sky. Two angels came, reminding us of the angels who spoke to the women at the empty tomb of Jesus. There they said, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here. He is risen!"

         Now the angels say, "Why do you stand looking at the sky? This same Jesus will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." That is, he will return, exalted.

         At the tomb, the women were instructed not to spend their time among the dead, but to find life in Jesus.

         At the exaltation of Jesus, the disciples are instructed to live out that new life in the hope of his return.

         Titus 2:11-12: "For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ."

         In the ancient world, people lived in great fear of spiritual powers they felt controlled their lives, and of human authorities that were brutal and uncaring. It can be a little hard for us to understand what it was like to live in such fear. But the exaltation of Christ said to them, as Klyne Snodgrass puts it, that "whatever powers exist, whether human or spiritual, they are all subject to Christ." Christ exalted took away their fear of spiritual and human power.

         Then, as he brings this passage into the present, he asks, "Can people today really believe in the resurrection or in the availability of God's power for living?" He says, "Christianity is a religion about power, for it focuses on the resurrection and exaltation of Christ."

         Sometimes we avoid the power of God, or leave Jesus in a distant heaven. Sometimes we hold on to fears, and even are controlled by them, because we do not know that Jesus is Lord of heaven and earth. Perhaps we have not experienced the nearness of the One who is exalted.

         At the Communion Table, we come to the nearness of the risen Lord. The bread and cup speak of Jesus crucified for the forgiveness of our sin. Let us also remember, as Dietrich Muller writes, "the crucified is the one whom God has called to life to be Lord of the dead and the living, who has conquered every power and dominion, so that under his lordship the company of believers may go its way in confidence and faith."

         Amen.