The Ascension of Christ

In the Bible there are two descriptions of Jesus’ return to heaven after His resurrection. Luke contributed both accounts. “And He led them out as far as to Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. And it came to pass while He blessed them that He was carried up into heaven (Luke 24: 50-51 KJB). Acts 1: 9 adds “While they beheld He was taken up and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” The cloud that received Christ was not merely condensed vapor; It was the symbol of Shekinah glory, the glorious presence of God. Yes, it broke off the Apostles’ visible fellowship with their Master, but it bore His resurrected body to the invisible world of God’s dwelling.[1]
Why does our Bible allude so often to this moment in the Old Testament, the Gospels and the Epistles? How is Heaven different since Jesus returned there? Can and will human beings affect the next event on God’s eternal schedule? What is the role of Jesus Christ in God’s eternal time table?
The object of this brief study is to explore how the Ascension of the man, Jesus Christ, to His Father after the Resurrection was a critical part of God’s eternal plan for mankind.


It’s His World
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.” (John 1: 1 KJV)
Verse 14 identifies the Word as Jesus Christ. “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” In the beginning Jesus Christ was God. He spoke the universe into existence and created man on the sixth day.
Throughout the generations He has often come to visit earth. President Lyndon Johnson would have said He came to “press the flesh.” He and two angels had dinner with Abraham outside his tent in Genesis 18. The Lord said, (to himself) “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?” He was planning the destruction of Sodom where Abraham’s nephew Lot resided. “Abraham stood yet before the Lord” to plead for the city. Stephen Schrader termed this a christophany meaning that Jesus Christ was head of that trio. [2]
The Lord wrestled with Jacob all night in Genesis 32. Jacob spent 21 years working for Laban, his father-in law. He was rich with livestock as he returned to the Promised Land with his two wives, concubines, children and servants. While passing through Edom, Jacob sent messengers to his brother, Esau. He believed that Esau might try to kill him because of the way he had cheated him years before. He sent herds of animals to his brother as gifts. Next he placed his concubines and their children between himself and Esau. Behind them came his wife, Leah, and her children. In the rear were Rachel and her precious son, Joseph. All of these passed over the river, and only Jacob returned to the far side, and it was night. Genesis 32: 24 tells us that a man wrestled with him. Jacob must have discovered early on that he could not prevail physically over his opponent, but he held on. One touch to Jacob’s heal socket should have ended the battle. He had lost the wrestler’s pivot of strength. He was “prayerfully clinging to God’s grace. He, who had the blessings of prosperity, was clinging to the blessing of overcoming his enemies- possibly Esau. He, who in the past had prevailed through trickery, would from then on prevail with God. “God sanctified Jacob’s absolute.“[3] George Bush in his Notes on Genesis wrote that it is obvious that Jacob knew that a man had attacked him. (Esau could have sent an assassin.) This was “no created angel, but that divine person, the sent of God; the Messiah that was to be…was really manifested in flesh and blood.”[4] The fourth man in the fire in the third chapter of Daniel was Jesus. These visits were fore gleams of God’s master plan.
The Incarnation
Genesis 3: 15 is the first prophecy of the birth of Jesus to Woman. Two thousand years ago He came down from heaven for an extended stay. He became a man. We make that smelly stable in Bethlehem a beautiful tableau. The temptations He conquered after His forty day fast in the desert, we dismiss with a shirk: “O He was God.” We casually follow that One Solitary Life as He walked those miles with His disciples feeding the poor and healing the lepers. William Milligan wrote that the incarnation was not just to prepare “our Lord as a victim for sacrifice.” That up to the crucifixion the Son “had been learning obedience by the things which He suffered.[5] (Hebrews 5: 8)
He went all the way to the Cross. Paul described Christ’s sacrifice in Philippians 2: 2-8 (NASBU). “Although He existed in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself taking the form of a bond servant, and being in the likeness of men…He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” In the movie “The Passion of Christ” He wasn’t dragged. Mel Gibson has Jesus crawl onto the Cross. The height of His suffering was certainly His Father’s rejection when He asked, “My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Harold Wilmington observed that He didn’t even know why God had forsaken Him, because He had abstained from using His omniscience (knowledge of everything) for a period.[6]
Satan probably began celebrating at this time. He did not possess omniscience then or now. He must not believe his Bible either for he persists generation after generation.
Jesus cried telelestai meaning “It is finished.” He didn’t say “I am finished” either because His work was just beginning. Also, no one had taken His life from Him; He had gone willingly. Jesus had taken the punishment for the sins of all human beings past and present. There is no work we can do to earn our salvation. The Temple veil tore in two exposing the Holy of Holies. Humans would have direct access to God from then on. The earth shook and tombs opened exposing saints, who would later walk the streets.



The Resurrection
The devil’s celebration was short. The first to discover the empty tomb was Mary Magdalene. She came while it was still dark. (John 20) While she ran to tell Peter and John, other women arrived. When they came out of the empty tomb, two angels told them that Jesus was risen from the dead. (Luke 24: 1-10) When Mary returned Jesus presented himself to her. God had chosen these women to be the first messengers of the resurrection. The men inspected the burial clothes, but they had to wait until that night to see their Master in the upper room.
During the next forty days Paul states that Jesus made numerous appearances to the Apostles and over 500 other witnesses.(1 Corinthians 15: 5-7) They ate with Him and touched Him. God gave Him the ability to appear in that upper room with His disciples without using the door, just as he had walked on water before his death. A top priority was to meet with and affirm Peter, who had denied Him so vehemently three times in one night. Forty days was just long enough for the disciples to begin to connect the dots from the acts of love and partially understood teachings of those three years together.
God and Man
It was time for Jesus to escape the confining bounds of earth. The Ascension completed the Resurrection. Without the resurrection, Christ’s death would have left us hopeless. Without the Ascension the Resurrection would be incomplete. We know Him no longer as just a man; indeed He is the God-Man. (2 Corinthians 5: 16-17).[7] He returned to the glory that He had known before His Holy Spirit entered Mary’s womb. Henry Swete wrote that Our Lord returned to the Father not as He came, but forever united with human nature: the word made flesh.” [8]“The full vision of God …burst upon the human soul of Christ.”[9] William Milligan taught that He ascended in His human as well as His divine nature. That when He put the “garment of flesh aside…He did not lay aside the humanity He had assumed when He was born in Bethlehem.”[10]
Jesus had muscles from hard work. He had used His hands to build and had walked many miles. He needed regular rest and food. He enjoyed and needed recreation and the support of friends and family. He experienced every human emotion. He was burdened when He saw suffering and sad for those who lost loved ones. He grieved for Mary and Martha when Lazarus died. Was He also sad because He had to bring Lazarus back from paradise?
Most importantly, Jesus was tempted to sin. Tempted means that He could have sinned. He overcame temptation by praying to the Father. He “was in all points tempted as we are, yet” He never succumbed even once. (Hebrews 4: 15 KJV) He knows what each of us is going through because He went through it himself. Sometimes we tell a friend, “I know how you feel.” Jesus really knows.
Our High Priest
Because He had never sinned, He could enter God’s presence boldly as our high priest. He went to make atonement for our sins. Unlike the temple priests who entered the Holy of Holies once a year, Christ presented His own sinless blood once, for all forever. This duty completed He sat down at God’s right hand. (Hebrews 1: 3) It is interesting that He stood up to welcome Stephen into heaven in Acts 7: 55-56. Jesus is seated at the right hand of God to make intercession for us. When Satan accuses us to the Father, Jesus Christ defends us. It’s not that we didn’t do the crime; It’s His righteousness that covers our sin, and God forgives us forever. (Romans 8: 1-4)
Coming King
For five hundred years the Jews expected their Messiah to be their king. “When the kings of the earth set themselves…against the Lord and against His anointed…the answer comes…Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.” (Psalm 2: 2-6) Isaiah and Zechariah promised the people a king who would reunite Israel. When Jesus healed the sick and fed the 5000, the people wanted to make Him king. He had to withdraw from the multitudes to focus on His real objective. The thief on the cross must have understood before the disciples did because he asked, ”Jesus, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom.” (Luke 23: 42)
Jesus resumed His role as King at the Ascension. Before time began God had given His Son all authority in Heaven and earth (Matthew 28: 18). He relinquished His power when He was born, but early in His ministry He asserted, “The Son of Man hath authority on earth to forgive sins.” (Mark 2: 10) Other times He called on His Father to heal the sick or to turn water into wine. David’s Psalm 110: 1 is a powerful prophecy of Messiah as king. “The Lord (Jehovah) said unto my Lord (adonai) ‘Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” Picture the foot of the conqueror on the neck of the defeated foe.[11] David was king so adonai must be Jesus Christ. When Jesus went back to God, He assumed the role of king. He will sit at God’s right hand until “He shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father.” (1 Corinthians 15: 24 KJV). Theologians of the early1900’s referred to this enthronement as The Session. The culmination will be the Eternal Reign of God.[12] Every man will bow before our maker.
The Lord Jesus has visited Man since His Ascension. John, the Apostle, was captive on the island of Patmos for his persistent testimony for Christ.[13] He had to be in his nineties, but he may have had to do hard physical labor. He wrote in Revelation 1: 9-17 “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet…and I turned to see the voice that spake with me…And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man…And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead, and He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not, I am the first and the last.”
Sixty years after Jesus parted from the Eleven, John was worshiping alone in that austere place. His first response to Jesus’ sudden appearance was reverential fear. When Jesus reached out and touched him, he was probably relieved. His life must have flashed before him. For three years he had been the youngest in that inner circle among the Twelve, “the disciple whom Jesus loved. “ (John 13: 23) He had shared the Transfiguration, fantasized sharing a throne, leaned on Jesus at The Last Supper and braved the foot of the cross. After Jesus’ resurrection he received Holy Spirit, healed the sick and survived torture for his Lord. What a reunion this must have been!
John described the appearance of the Lord of the universe in detail. Jesus directed John to write this Apocalypse to shew His servants the things which must shortly be done” (Revelation 22: 6)

Holy Spirit
Jesus ascended into heaven so that He could send Holy Spirit to minister through those He left in the world. (John 16: 7 NASBU) To his disciples He said, “It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you, but if I go, I will send Him to you.” Holy Spirit is our helper or comforter. He also reproves the sinner and seals the believer. He directs the millions of churches throughout the world. He guides billions of Christians in an instant.
Our Eternal Home
Another reason that Jesus returned to heaven was to prepare a home for each of us. (John 14: 2). We are actually citizens of heaven here temporarily as “ambassadors for Christ.” Only human beings can have this “ministry of reconciliation” to and with the people of the earth. Even angels do not have this wonderful privilege. (2 Corinthians 5: 18-20)
Our Ascension
Jesus also promised to come back to earth again “in like manner as (they) saw Him go” to take His people to live with Him. “The dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17 KJV) A cloud received Jesus when He was taken up. (Acts 1: 8) The Apostles expected their Lord to return during their lifetimes. We do not know when He is coming back. He only tells each of us to be ready.

Conclusion
The Ascension brought the Son of God back to His rightful place at the right hand of God.
He is our lifeline to Holy God. He told us to pray in His name. We have Jesus Christ. We do not need a religion. He is our high priest and our coming King. We must speak His name.
[1] Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Editors C F. Pfeiffer and E. F. Harrison (Nashville: Southwestern 1962) 1025
[2] Stephen Schrader, “Genesis” Liberty Bible Commentary, (Lynchburg: The Old Time Gospel Hour, 1982), 53-54
[3] Bruce Waltke, Genesis, A Commentary, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001) 116
[4] George Bush, Notes Critical and Practical on the Book of Genesis (New York: 1857)
[5] William Milligan, The Ascension of Christ, (Minneapolis: Kloch and Kloch Christian Publishers 1980) 30
[6] Harold Wilmington, Wilmington’s Guide to the Bible (Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 1984)
[7] J. Hamilton Keathley, “The Ascension of Jesus Christ”, WWW.Bible.org
[8] Henry Barclay Swete, The Ascended Christ, (London: Macmillan and Company, Limited, 1916) 9
[9] Swete 10
[10] Milligan, 27
[11] Woodrow Kroll, “Psalms” Liberty Bible Commentary (Lynchburg: Old Time Gospel Hour, 1982) 1135
[12] Swete 1
[13] Wilmington 536