THE ASCENSION

“While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven” (Luke 24:51). “After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight” (Acts 1:9).

Over the years we have emphasized the importance of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. We are to be like Him by following His example in words and actions. We understand that Jesus is our sin-offering, dealing with sin and bringing us into a redemptive relationship with God. The resurrection shows that God has accomplished what He intended and that resurrection becomes a metaphor for the Christian walk. There is yet one more aspect that we have not looked at, and from recent readings, that others are now looking at closer, and that is the ascension of Jesus. What does it mean?

Part of the reason that we have not looked at it closely is that there are only two texts that report it (1). There are other texts that allude to the ascension. In Philippians 2:9, God “highly exalted” Jesus “to the highest place,” giving Him a name above all where all will bow before Him. Ephesians 4:7-9 speaks of Jesus ascending on high. The Hebrew writer speaks of Jesus as sitting down “at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven” (1:3; 12:3), “who has ascended into heaven” (4:16). John speaks of Jesus returning or ascending to where He came from (6:62; 13:3; 20:17). These are important in understanding what the ascension accomplishes or shows.

There are other reasons that we have not look at the ascension closely. One is the separation between Luke and Acts, both of which were written by Luke. Luke explains in Acts 1 what he finished the Gospel with in chapter 24. Another reason is that end-times theology has emphasized Acts 1:10-11 and so has tended to not explore the meaning of the ascension. Finally, what happened to Jesus after He disappeared. In a rather humorist explanation, Wade Hodges writes, “Is he the first astronaut? Does he suddenly lift off the ground, pass through the blue of the atmosphere and into the black of space, zooming past the moon and then Mars and then out of our solar system, hurtling through galaxies until he finally comes to the edge of space (the final frontier) where heaven is” (2)? If we try to explain what happened, how did the witnesses see and understand it?

First we need to look briefly at Peter’s Pentecost sermon in Acts 2. In the sermon Peter speaks of the death of Jesus as the deliberate act of God, that God had raised Jesus from the dead, and exalted Him to His right hand, making Him both Lord and Messiah. This is important for the rest of the book. In the first twelve chapters, Luke emphasizes that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and then in the rest of the book that He is Lord. Both ideas confront the ruling powers; the former the Jewish religious leaders and the latter Rome itself (3).

As emphasized by Peter, Paul and the Hebrew writer, the ascension was a necessary part of exaltation to Lordship. Jesus is Lord, something that conflicts with the powers that be. Both in Ephesians and Colossians, Paul speaks of Jesus as ruling in the heavenly realms over all powers, seen and unseen (4). All powers will eventually answer to Him whether they recognize Him or not. Those powers think that they can resist or rebel against God and rule on their own. I’m remind of the Parable of the Tenants found in Luke 20:9-18 and Matthew 21:33-46. While spoke to the religious leaders, who understood it that way, we can see that other rulers think the same way; that by destroying the Son they will inherit the property. Rather than humbly recognizing that Jesus is Lord, they resist and attempt to destroy His followers. Another implication in this is that we need to be careful in whom or what we put our trust. Evil and sin is not dealt with by the right people making the right laws but rather by the crucified and risen Savior.

N.T. Wright says it this way following Psalms 2: “The one who is enthroned in heaven is the one who is ruling over the earth, to whom all earthly rulers must give account” (5). We have too frequently seen rulers and politicians unaccountable to anyone, evading taxes, abusive to those who disagree, threatening, and involved in manipulation to get their way. One day, all of us will have to answer to God, bowing before Jesus as Lord.

The ascension isn’t about Jesus going off to a faraway place but being exalted to the throne as Lord and Messiah. This brings us to the question of where is heaven? A popular view has been that it is “up there” or “out there.” We have looked up and divided heaven and earth, with God out there. But is this the best view of what scripture teaches?

Wade Hodges helps us here. “If you like science fiction or have fooled your friends into believing you actually understand what quantum physics is all about, it might be helpful to think of heaven and earth as two parallel worlds existing side by side or as alternative realities that sometimes overlap with each other, but still maintain their unique properties of space and time…When Jesus ascends he is crossing from one reality into another” (6). What if we see heaven not as being above the sky or across outer space but the unseen realm of creation that is inhabited by the glory of God (7). This, in my mind, is what Paul meant by the heavenly realms.

The ascension offers us a different idea of Jesus’ return. Many read the text as if we are going to be welcomed by Jesus when we join him. Here is what the angels said. “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” (Acts 1:11). What is seen here is what other texts emphasize. There will be a great wedding feast when the new heavens and the new earth come with the new Jerusalem out of heaven. The barrier between the two parallel worlds will disappear as God reclaims His creation freed from sin. “Jesus is already reigning, is already in charge of this world. ‘All authority,’ he says at the end of Matthew’s gospel, ‘has been given to me in heaven and on earth.’ When he returns he will complete that work of transformative, restorative justice; but it has already begun, despite the sneers of the skeptics and the scorn of the powerful” (8).

You might think of texts such as 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 where we meet Jesus in the air. When a conquering general returned to his home town or capital city, people when out to greet him and lead him into the city. This is the picture Paul draws on and I see that idea in the angels comment at the ascension. Revelation 19, 21-22 draws the picture of the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven to earth. Romans 8:15-25 speaks in part of the redemption of creation, or a return to Eden (9). Even in 2 Peter 3, Peter uses the word “destroyed” to refer to the flood of Noah’s day, and then the same word “destroyed” to refer to the fire at the end; which we could see as a cleansing rather than a blowing up of the earth.

Finally one other aspect deals with the clouds. Why mention the clouds? Consider that when God appeared, it was often in clouds. There were the pillars of fire and cloud in the wilderness. When the Tabernacle in the wilderness was completed, God came and cover it in a cloud. At Mt. Sinai, God came in a cloud covering the mountain. We see the same with the Temple in Jerusalem. Then there was the transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain in the presence of Peter, James and John. Certainly this has something to say to us. The ascension isn’t about Jesus going away but about Jesus drawing near to his creation, especially by sending the Spirit. In context, Acts 1 and 2 speak about the coming of the Spirit to God’s people (10).

The ascension says much more than we have thought and I would encourage you to study more on this subject.

George B. Mearns

(1) Mark reports it in the disputed ending of his gospel (16:9-20). One can accept or reject that ending and work through his comments on the ascension in your study.

(2) Wade Hodges, Hail to the King, July - October 2008,