Sermons
A Message by the Rev. Harvey G. Throop
Palisades Presbyterian Church
San Diego, California
May 24, 2009
When Christ Was Lifted Up
(Acts 1:6-11 )
“…as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.”
(Acts 1:9)
Today, we come to one of the great events in the life of our Lord – Christ's ascension.
The disciples had been with Jesus for three years, but now, following his resurrection and after several post-resurrection appearances, he gathers his disciples and takes them two miles away from Jerusalem to the vicinity of Bethany. Ever since his resurrection, Jesus had been preparing his disciples for his departure. This had to have been a very difficult time for his followers. They had become very dependent upon Jesus -- upon his direction, wisdom and teaching. But now, he was leaving them.
So, being together, they asked him, “Is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel” (Acts 1:6)?
The idea of God being king over Israel goes back to the early history of the Exodus. God, of course, was considered greater than any pagan god or ruler on earth. The people of Israel were secure in their belief that under King David, they were chosen to become God's kingdom on earth.
When the kingdom of Israel later divided, however, and lost its political standing and power, the concept of the Kingdom of God was re-envisioned, we might say, as coming in the future when God would send his Messiah and the Jews would return to the glory they had experienced under King David's reign. That explains why when Jesus came, there had been so many questions by the Jewish leaders about whether he was the true son of David.
Judas, of course, had tried to force the matter by bringing the authorities onto Jesus, expecting that Jesus would use his arrest as a springboard for revolt against the Romans and the restoration of Israel as a leader of the world. But his scheme didn't work. Judas had pinned his dreams on a very different kind of Messiah than the one Jesus came to be. So had the other disciples.
This helps to explain their question to Jesus at the time just prior to his ascension. They had joined his cause because they thought he was going to restore the kingdom of Israel. So they asked him, “Is this the time when you will act?”
Jesus replied to them, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority” (Acts 1:7).
The point of Jesus' response to the disciples – and to us – is that all things are subject to God's timing and will. It was not for the disciples to know when Jesus would establish his kingdom. Instead, Jesus directed them to focus on the needs of the present time.
Then, he gave them a mandate and a promise. His mandate was, “Carry on what I have begun -- first in Jerusalem (where he was crucified), then throughout Judea (where they had been rejected); then in Samaria (among the impure and despised half-breeds) and finally to the ends of the earth (Gentiles, too).” In all those places, they were to be his witnesses.
That is our job, as well. From the moment we accept Christ as Lord and become his followers, we are commissioned to share Christ's Gospel. First, we are to witness for him in our homes, then in our neighborhoods, schools and places of work, then in our larger community and, finally, to the far reaches of the world.
So, Jesus' mandate was, “You shall be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). And then he gave his disciples a promise. He said: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you...” That power would come to them ten days later -- on Pentecost, and would continue with them as long as they were engaged in the Lord's work. Having said this, the scriptures tell us, Jesus “was lifted up…” (see Acts 1:9).
The New Testament scholar, William Barclay, has written, “The Ascension is far and away the most difficult incident in the life of Jesus either to visualize or to understand.”
Obviously, it is impossible for us to know what happened at the moment of Christ's ascension. Most likely, what Luke was doing in his account in Acts was to try to put into understandable language an event that was really impossible to describe.
In essence, Luke was saying, “Christ, in the disciples' very presence, passed from the realm of the visible and temporary into the realm of the invisible and eternal” (Erdman).
But what does the Ascension mean?
20th Century theologian, Karl Barth, suggests that what changes about Christ in the mystery of the Ascension is the place – the vantage point – from which he operates. By the Ascension, he moved from a human place to a divine place. And he ascended for a purpose.
That purpose is stated in the Apostle Creed: “To sit at the right hand of God…” Now, as the ascended Christ, his authority is complete. He is no longer limited by the constraints of time and space, as he was when he lived on earth.
Think of it this way. What if the President of the United States spent his entire term wandering the country, visiting every small town, shaking hands with everyone he could and kissing babies 24/7? Who would coordinate the critical decisions and guide the implementations that need to take place to keep this nation on track?
Or consider this: the boss makes a visit to the factory floor and connects in a personal way with the workers there. Eventually, however, the boss needs to get back to the office on the 20 th floor or there won't be anything to produce.
So it was with Jesus. What would have happened if Jesus had remained a resurrected but not ascended Lord? Well, his disciples would have continued to wander about, following him, waiting for his next move, always looking to him to proclaim, guide and challenge them.
The fact is that God did not become incarnate to be eternally present. He had to move on.
You may have known a college student described as being on the “5-year plan” or the “6-year plan” or the “8-year plan” – chronic students, never seeming to get any direction. Taking courses … registering … occasionally going to class … changing their majors five, six or seven times in the process, and who have a transcript filled with “incompletes.”
This kind of thing is what Jesus' Ascension seeks to prevent. It keeps the disciples from remaining where they are – students of the master, but never moving on themselves. Jesus leaves so that they can do their job. They are to be his witnesses. They are to teach and preach and visit and pray.
In the process, Jesus becomes fully and eternally available to all the world!
Christ's Ascension was necessary because, his post-resurrection appearances to his disciples had to come to a definite end. Jesus could not continue to make appearances or it would have implied that although he truly belonged to the spiritual world, he was still limited to the physical world.
Nor would it have been right that his appearances become less and less frequent and drift to an undecided close. This post-resurrection period could not simply fade out. So the official ending, which marked the conclusion of his earthly appearances, was accomplished by his Ascension.
Second, the Ascension was necessary because Jesus had to return to his Father to complete his mission. Having returned, Jesus reigns with God as our risen and victorious Lord and Savior.
Jesus' Ascension has stimulated peoples' imaginations for a long time. Many among us, perhaps, have seen various paintings that have tried to depict the "ascension.” I remember seeing one that had Jesus almost resembling a space shuttle on a launch pad.
However, when we think of Jesus' ascension, we have to remember that in the ancient world, God was thought to live just beyond the sky. You and I know that our earth is round, revolving on its axis and that it orbits around the sun. So the idea of a literal "ascension" into "heaven" should be understood figuratively -- as a kind of symbolism.
New Testament scholar and commentator, Barbara Brown Taylor, helps us when she uses the word "beyond" to describe Christ's ascension -- that Christ ascended beyond our vision, beyond our space and time criteria and beyond our ability to "see" him as he had been seen by his disciples.
The Ascension means that where Christ was once present locally , he is now present everywhere.
Where once his message went only as far as his own voice could carry, it is now going to the whole world through witnesses who preach and teach and live his Gospel.
Where once , Jesus had only five loaves and two fish to feed the multitudes, he now has One Great Hour of Sharing , Food for the Hungry , the Red Cross and other relief agencies to respond to crises as soon as they occur, anywhere on earth.
Where once Jesus could heal only those who were within reach of his own arms, he is now healing millions through the skills of doctors, nurses, counselors and ordinary people around the globe.
By our Lord's ascension, he is with us every day through the ministry of his Spirit. Jesus has not left the world. On the contrary, he's got the whole world in his hands.
We come to church to worship, to seek the Lord's presence, to sing and to pray, to be silent and still and to be filled with the abiding presence of our Lord until he comes again.
The Ascension marks the moment when Jesus turned over to his followers his own work and ministry. His mandate was: “You shall be my witnesses.” But he also gave us a promise. He promised his power to help us.
We know from the Pentecost story, which we will hear next Sunday, that that promise of power was fulfilled. We also know that ever since then, individuals and communities of faith all over the world have been empowered by the Spirit of God to do the work he has called us to do.
So often you and I trust only our own power or the power of military might more than the "power from on high.” But power is promised from God to do the things that he wills to be done on earth.
We worship and serve a living Lord. That Jesus ascended into heaven means that he is alive and that he gives the power of his Spirit for our ministry together.
It is with that knowledge that we serve, knowing that the One in whose name we serve empowers us to carry out his work not in futility but with the promise that it will serve ultimately to bring about his purposes here on earth.
