We are in our third week of our year-long study of the book of Acts. We’ve been spending some time on the introductory verses of Acts where we have been reminded that the story Luke is going to tell us is all about the story he told us in his Gospel, the story of Jesus, what he did and what he taught. Because Jesus had been raised from the dead, the end of the ages has come upon us, and the story of Jesus lives on.

So what happens next? Is it now time for Jesus, raised and victorious, to “wreak havoc” on the world? That’s sort of what the disciples ask him in verse 6, and the answer can be seen as “yes,” but only in a surprising way. Jesus will do his work through the renewed Israel, through his Spirit-empowered witnesses. As the title for this series suggests, what we will see in Acts is how the gospel spreads and how the world is consequently transformed.

But, first, what happened to the resurrected Jesus? Why, if he has in fact been raised from the dead and is truly alive in a physical body, why do we not see him? Why is he not here? Answer: because he ascended into heaven.

Now it has been a very heavy week, hasn’t it? The assassination of Charlie Kirk has been in our news feeds and the divisions in this country have been highlighted again. I believe the Bible has something to say to help us, and the ascension of Jesus is as good a word for us today as anything else. But we’ll need to pay close attention to see how it is that this very important topic that we all say we believe in (it’s included in the Apostles’ Creed) can help us.

Here's my main argument today: believing in the ascension keeps disciples of Jesus from allowing anyone or anything else to take the place of Jesus in their lives. Now, let’s study the ascension of Jesus from this passage in Acts by answering three questions: Where did Jesus go? Why did he go there? What happens next?

Where Jesus Went

First, where Jesus went. The story of his ascension here in verses 9-11 tells us why, after 40 days of resurrection appearances, Jesus was not seen again. Jesus went away. So where did he go?

Lifted Up

We read in verse 9: “And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” At the end of Luke’s Gospel, we are told, “While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven” (Lk 24:51). And that’s about all the details we have about this event.

So, if we ask, “Ok, so Jesus went away. Which way did he go?” Luke would seem to have us understand that the direction the disciples saw Jesus going was “up.”

But this does not mean that went into outer space. It does not mean that Jesus became the world’s first space traveler. As J. I. Packer has said, for Jesus to “go away” he either had to go up, down, sideways or suddenly vanish.[1]

So I don’t think Jesus’s departure by going up means we can go to the Mount of Olives, where Acts 1:12 implies this event took place, and set our vector “up” from there, and get some idea of where Jesus might have gone or the general direction to where he might be found.

Into Heaven

Some might be tempted to do something like this, given the fact that we are told in these verses that where Jesus went was “into heaven.” Jesus “ascended into heaven.” And wouldn’t you like to know where heaven is and how one might be able to go there? Where is heaven? Many Christians have asked that, or at least many children have asked that, and many Christian parents have been stumped by it.

In fact, the ascension of Jesus does help us with this question, but it does so by challenging our assumptions. How many people have it in their heads that heaven is “up” so hell must be “down,” in the center of the earth? Our thinking has long been shaped by medieval cosmology rather than biblical cosmology. In biblical cosmology, heaven and earth are not two different locations within the space-time continuum but rather “two different dimensions of God’s [one] good creation.”[2] Heaven, in other words, is not somewhere “up” and separated from earth. Heaven and earth are more connected to each other than that.

So Jesus, by ascending into heaven, is not far away from us. He ascended into heaven, which is more like the control room of earth, the CEO’s office, if you will. In heaven Jesus is accessible to us on earth without the need for us to go to some particular place to be closer to him. Since Jesus is in heaven, he can oversee and order all the operations of his kingdom on earth.[3]

Exalted

So, where did Jesus go? He “ascended into heaven.” And where is this heaven, the place where Jesus went? Can we go there, too?

It comes as a great surprise to many people to find out that “heaven” is never mentioned as the place where the disembodied souls of people go to when they die. We might draw that conclusion in certain ways, but the ascension of Jesus into heaven demands we be a bit more precise here.

Jesus did not die in order to get to heaven. He got there by his ascension. The one thing Jesus decidedly did not do when he went to heaven was shed his physical body. Jesus is in heaven, right now, in a very real, physical body. That will be a real puzzle for you if you’ve been primed to think of heaven as the habitation of disembodied entities like angels and spirits and the departed souls of human beings.

And, again, the problem is not to be resolved by continuing to insist that heaven is just another place within our space-time continuum that one might theoretically be able to travel to by, I don’t know, flying to the moon and then hanging a left.

We must allow our minds to think in line with biblical cosmology. Heaven is the term for where God himself dwells, but because God is omnipresent, heaven is not so far away as we might want to think. It is invisible to us right now, to be sure, but the ascension of Jesus demonstrates that it is not inherently inaccessible to us. Death is never prescribed as the way to get there.

Rather, Jesus’s ascension means that a very real human being, full body and all, has already gone there. Jesus was “lifted up” and taken “into heaven” because the whole point is to show that this one human being has been exalted to a place of kingly rule and power over all of God’s creation. Ascension is a word picture “implying exaltation to a condition of supreme dignity and power.”[4]

Peter tells us that Jesus’s ascension means he is now “at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him” (1 Pet 3:22). There is a human being who rules over our world. That’s what the ascension of Jesus means.

Why Jesus Went There

We’ve already begun, then, to see the answer to our next question. Why did Jesus ascend to heaven? Because he had been given all authority over heaven and earth (Matt 28:18). But there is more we can say here about why Jesus ascended into heaven.

Gazing at the Ascension

Notice, for example, that Luke tells us twice, at the end of his Gospel and here again at the beginning of Acts, that the ascension of Jesus was something that his disciples saw. They watched it all happen. Jesus could have “gone away” by simply not appearing to them again after 40 days, and then they might have made up a story like this to explain why, if indeed he had been raised from the dead, he could no longer be found anywhere. But Luke insists that the ascension of Jesus, like the resurrection on Easter Sunday, was a historical event. Jesus’s ascension happened at a certain time (40 days after his resurrection) and at a certain place (the Mount of Olives).

And as it happened, verse 9 says, “as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” However we might want to imagine the scene, if we believe this report, we are talking about something quite extraordinary, aren’t we? You don’t see this every day!

So, in verse 10 we are told that the disciples stood there “gazing into heaven.” They were captivated but what they were witnessing. Well, of course they were!

But it’s not because they didn’t know what was happening. It’s because they knew quite well what was happening, and it captivated them. If only it would captivate us today, too.

Jesus had spoken before of a day when “the Son of Man” will be seen “coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (Lk 21:27). He had answered the high priest, when asked if he was “the Christ, the Son of the Blessed”: “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:62). That answer had caused the high priest to react strongly because it was, from his perspective, blatant blasphemy. How so? Because Jesus was claiming that he would fulfill the vision of Daniel 7:13–14.

I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

This very popular passage in Israel’s scriptures was understood in Jesus’s day to refer to the arrival of the kingdom of God and the  vindication for Israel after their suffering from the hands of the Gentiles.[5] This was, of course, apocalyptic literature, so we must resist the urge to insist on the literal floating of the body of Jesus on a cloud; Luke is simply telling us that the moment of Israel’s vindication and exaltation, long predicted in Daniel, had come.

He Will Come Again

But then, as if to awaken the disciples out of the euphoria of that moment, “two men stood by them in white robes.” These are certainly to be understood as angels who had come to interpret for them the significance of the moment. But what they say is not, “Let us expound Daniel 7 for you.” The disciples had gotten that point. What they had come to say was this, in verse 11: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Yes, this Jesus, ascended into heaven, will come again, “in the same way as you saw him go.” The same way? Yes: he went away vindicated and exalted, he will return again, vindicated and exalted. But you don’t need to keep looking “up” hoping to be among the first ones who will catch a glimpse of Jesus floating in the sky. Jesus’s “coming again” is elsewhere in scripture called his “appearing” (e.g. 1 Tim 6:14). Like the appearance of a mountain full of horses and chariots of fire that brought comfort to Elisha’s fearful servant in 2 Kings 6:17, Jesus will appear when God opens our eyes, when the curtain is pulled back, and we finally see that we have been surrounded by heaven all along.

His coming will not be to snatch us poor souls out of earth to go be with him “in heaven.” No! His coming will be to be to consummate the kingdom he has already been given, to be the center and focus of the resulting new world that he has already begun to create.[6]

Rejoicing at the Ascension

Now this word from the angels was no doubt meant to comfort the disciples, many of whom at least, might be saddened by some sense of being separated from Jesus by his ascension. They had to be happy for what they were seeing: Jesus exalted in heaven. But like parents leaving their child at college for the first time, they would miss him. This word of assurance from the angels helped the disciples return “to Jerusalem with great joy” (Lk 24:52).

In John 16, Jesus had told the disciples that it was to their advantage that he would go away. Because if Jesus did not go away, “the Helper will not come to you,” he said. “But if I go, I will send him to you.” This Helper, Jesus had made plain, was the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:26). Why would this be to their advantage? Because, “when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” The word helper is the word for an advocate. The Holy Spirit would arrive like a great defense attorney, clearing God’s people of fault and convicting the world of its own transgression. So, Jesus’s “going away” would mean the arrival of the Holy Spirit who would defend and vindicate believers in Jesus and prove that they were in the right.

So, the disciples could go back to Jerusalem rejoicing because the ascended Jesus was destined to return. In the meantime, those who followed him would have the Holy Spirit as their advocate for the time between the times. So much, then to look forward to.

What Happens Next

And this is where the history of the book of Acts begins. What happens next, after the ascension of Jesus? What are the disciples of Jesus going to do now?

The story gets underway as the disciples return to Jerusalem in verse 12. Luke reminds us of who these disciples were in verse 13. And then in verse 14 he pictures them together “with one accord,” “devoting themselves to prayer,” and that their earliest numbers included “the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” We are taking back here to the church of Jesus Christ in embryonic form. What will happen next?

Passing on Authority

We will get into it next week, but we must conclude today with some applications from the ascension of Jesus. What is its significance for us today?

Some scholars would have us compare the ascension of Jesus to certain parallels with the story of Elijah’s ascension in 2 Kings 2. That great prophet had called Elisha to be his disciple, and the day had come when it was time for Elisha to take Elijah’s place. Elijah asked Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.” Elijah said that if Elisha saw him as he was taken away, his request would be granted. We read in verse 11, “And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”

The parallels are striking and suggest that this fledgling group gathered in Jerusalem in the upper room had been given “the power and authority” of Jesus “so that they might continue the kingdom work he had begun.”[7]

What did they do next, having been granted such authority? They were told to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father, and so they did just that. Together, they waited, “devoting themselves to prayer.” And here they demonstrate two important implications of Jesus’s ascension for all of us who are part of this faith family.

Waiting and Praying

First, the importance of prayerful waiting.

There is a huge danger that the church rushes ahead into a certain kind of triumphalism. Forgetting (if not completely disregarding) the ascension of Jesus, the church is always in danger of expanding to fill the vacuum. Yes, we’ve been given the authority and power of heaven, but the ascension of Jesus reminds us that it is Jesus, not us who follow him, who is Lord of heaven and earth. N. T. Wright warns that if “talk about Jesus can be reduced to talk about his presence within his people, rather than his standing over against them and addressing them from elsewhere as their Lord, then we have created a high road to the worst kind of triumphalism.”[8]

That has been tried often in church history, with devastating results. Let the one who hears pay attention and see the significance of the ascension.

The power we’ve been given is “from above,” and so the proper posture is what we see in the embryonic church in verse 14. They were together “with one accord” and “devoting themselves to prayer.”

And this prayerful waiting is a key function that the church in Acts practiced repeatedly.

Hope for the World

Let’s see how this might apply and give counsel to us in light of the current events.

How should we respond when a popular, albeit controversial, person is gruesomely assassinated like Charlie Kirk was this week? Surely we who have been promised God’s own Holy Spirit are called to “witness” on earth how our Lord in heaven responds.

First, we must lament. We lament the horrific murder that was witnessed by thousands indeed, to millions, thanks (or no thanks) to modern technology. It is absolutely disgusting, no matter who the victim was. It was disgusting.

Second, we must pray. We pray because we believe that our Lord, risen and ascended, is accessible. We pray to know what he would have us do. We pray because we know that our enemy’s main goal is to divide us, to cause us to take sides in the culture war, preferably opposite sides, and to take up the weapons of modern warfare. And whether it be an actual weapon or that targeted social media post, the power of these weapons is always the same: rage and revenge against the other side.

Our prayerlessness, individually and collectively, stands as an indictment against us who claim to be Christians, suggesting that we don’t really believe Jesus is ascended into heaven, that we don’t really believe Jesus is Lord.

And that’s why, thirdly, we must repent. We repent because we are not in charge; Jesus is in charge. All of us must repent because, well, think about this. What is wrong with the world? How do you answer that, as a follower of Jesus. If you say, “(whoever) they are,” then you must repent. If you know anything at all about the Christian faith, you know that we are called to love even our (perceived) enemies, so there can be no finger pointing for followers of Jesus.

If you say, “I can’t stand them,” you have indicted yourself. The problem, from the Christian perspective is always much too close for comfort. It is in here, in the wickedness of the human heart. As G. K. Chesterton observed, “The answer to the question, 'What is Wrong?' is, or should be, 'I am wrong.' Until a man can give that answer his idealism is only a hobby.”[9]

It's not good enough, either, to say that the problem is “us.” We so often means “not me.”[10]

If you feel stuck here, unable to see yourself (horrifyingly) more in the shooter than in the victim, then, please, set up a meeting with one of your pastors. Any of them, I am sure, can help. If you are angry, get help. If you want to pull away and separate from your brothers and sisters, get some help.

If you feel hopeless, moving toward anxious despair, get some help. The ascension of Jesus leaves us no place for white-knuckled Christianity, just holding on until death or Jesus’s return. The ascension of Jesus ought to give you hope, wherever you are, because it means that history is “going somewhere under the guidance of God.” Where is it going? It is heading toward “God’s new world of justice, healing, and hope.”[11]

I know, I know. It is hard to believe that. But where else can hope be found? Everyone is looking for someone, for a savior.

We Christians are supposed to know who that is. If only we would believe it ourselves.

_____

[1] J. I. Packer, Growing in Christ (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1994), 64.

[2] Tom Wright, Surprised by Hope (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2007), 122.

[3] Wright, Surprised by Hope, 122.

[4] Packer, Growing in Christ, 64.

[5] N. T. Wright, The New Testament and the People of God, Christian Origins and the Question of God (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992), 292.

[6] Wright, Surprised by Hope, 130.

[7] Ben Witherington, III, The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998), 112.

[8] Wright, Surprised by Hope, 123.

[9] Jordan M. Poss, “What’s Wrong, Chesterton?,” Jordan M. Poss: Blog, February 28, 2019, www.jordanmposs.com/blog/2019/2/27/whats-wrong-chesterton.

[10] Kerry Patterson et al., Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, 2nd ed (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012), 184.

[11] Wright, Surprised by Hope, 134.