Bible Passage: Acts 1:9-11
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: May 18, 2023

Bulletin Ascension Worship 2023

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

What we observe today is one of several “ascensions” recorded in the Bible.  Before you label me a heretic, let me make my case.  In Genesis 17 there is the story of when Abraham was 99 years old and, we are told, the LORD appeared to him. (Genesis 17:1)  That’s important to note.  Abraham didn’t just hear some disembodied voice.  The LORD appeared visibly to Abraham.  It was during this visit that the LORD gave to Abraham the covenant of circumcision.  And when the visit was over, we are told, When [the LORD] had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. (Genesis 17:22).  This visible form that appeared to Abraham went up into the sky.

Another example is recorded in Judges 13.  It is the occasion when the angel of the LORD (who is the LORD himself) comes to Samson’s parents and tells them they are going to have baby Samson.  After the LORD delivered this message, Manoah (Samson’s father) prepares a goat sacrifice.  Then we are told:  And the LORD did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched:  As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel ascended in the flame. (Judges 13:19-20).

So when we see Jesus today ascend bodily into heaven, it is at least the third time human eyes watch the Lord go up into the sky.  But, my dear friends, This Time It’s Different.  Let’s see how the ascension of Jesus 40 days after Easter is completely unique and special!

The first thing that makes this ascension different is found in the very first verse of our text.  After he said these things, he was taken up while they were watching. (v. 9)  Well, you know how this works.  If you run across a pronoun when reading, you have to keep backing up until you find what that pronoun is referring to.  So we do that with our pronoun “he.”  We back up in Acts 1.  We find the word “he” in verses 7, and 4, and 3.  Verse 3 is interesting because it says, After he suffered, he presented himself alive to the apostles with many convincing proofs. (Acts 1:3).  Aha, so this “he” suffered, died, and lives again!  Finally, finally, finally in verse 1 we get to our antecedent.  I wrote my first book, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began doing and teaching until the day he was taken up…(Acts 1:1). 

It’s Jesus!  The one who ascends today is Jesus.  “Jesus” is the name given to the baby who was conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit.  This is the Word of God made flesh.  This was different than when the Lord appeared to Abraham or to Manoah.  Those times God “appeared”; he did not become “incarnate.”  In Jesus, God became incarnate.  This was different.  And we know why the Son of God became “incarnate.”  Back to our pronouns in Acts 1:  …he suffered (v. 3)  The Word became flesh, God came down to earth in the person of Jesus to suffer for sin.  And did he ever!  He suffered the guilt and shame of all our sin.  Just think of that.  Everything you deserve for sin, everything I deserve for sin, he suffered.  He suffered the full and just wrath of God for all our rebellion and pride.  We publicly confess what “he” came here to do:  “He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.”

And then He presented himself alive to his disciples. (Acts 1:3) God incarnate lives!  “He lives triumphant from the grave; he lives eternally to save.  He lives all-glorious in the sky; he lives exalted there on high.”  “He lives, all glory to his name!  He lives, my Jesus, still the same.  Oh, the sweet joy this sentence gives: I know that my Redeemer lives!” (CW 152:2, 8)

That’s why today is different!  Today the work the Son came to earth to do is officially over!  Nothing remains to do.  All that he left the throne to do, all that he became incarnate to do, he has done.  He returns now to the throne, the victorious God-Man!

There is yet another component today that makes this different from the “ascensions” I mentioned in the introduction.  Let’s go back to our text.  After Jesus has gone up and that cloud has hidden him from the disciples’ sight, they stand there looking up into the sky.  Staring.  Blinking.  Blinking.  Staring.  Finally, two men dressed in white, holy angels, stand there with them.  Men of Galilee, why are you standing here looking up into the sky?  This same Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven. (v. 10-11)  This ascension is a prelude to a return!

 The description of the disciples makes me think about a dog waiting in a car.  Their owner gets out and goes into the store.  And that dog just stares at that door!  Like they are thinking, “Oh no!  They have just gone into that building?  Now what?  What does this mean?  What shall I do?  This is terrible!” They just stare, not  knowing what to do next.  They don’t relax.  They don’t realize this is temporary.  The angels make that point to the disciples.  “Stop staring at the sky!  Jesus gave you work to do!  He’s coming back.”

That’s why Christianity is not just a sky-watching organization.  We are busy people.  We grow up, we get married, we have kids, we work jobs, we do faithful work.  But we do it all with the angels’ words in mind.  Jesus is coming back one day.  So we keep ourselves connected to Word and Sacrament.  For we want to be found in faith when he returns.  We ceaselessly look for opportunities to use our time, our talents, and our treasures to spread the good news of Jesus so others will come to trust in Jesus and be saved, too.  For this ascension is not the end of it all.  The end of it all is when he comes again.

Today it is good and proper to gaze at the sky and remember.  We remember the completed work of Jesus.  We remember that Jesus now sits on the throne.  And we remember that the next time we look at the sky, it just might be to see this same Jesus coming back in the same way we have seen him go into heaven.  Come, Lord Jesus!

Amen.