There is often great emphasis placed on the death and resurrection of Christ. The ascension, however, is often underemphasized or misunderstood. The ascension is so much more than simply a miraculous levitation to the skies at the end of Jesus’s life. The ascension is an event with deep implications and real, tangible effects on the life of the church, highlighting His exaltation and authority.
The Ascension Turns Humility into Exaltation
Luke records the ascension as both the conclusion to his gospel and the starting point for the book of Acts:
While he blessed them, he departed from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
Luke 24:51-52
And when he said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “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.”
Acts 1:9-11
Prior to this, Jesus appeared to two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-34). They were confused about why Jesus, whom they had hoped would redeem Israel, had to die on a cross. Adding to their confusion, they had heard the tomb was empty and rumors of his resurrection. Jesus rebuked them, explaining that the prophets had long anticipated this moment:
O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that they prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into glory?
Luke 24:25-26
Peter echoes this in Acts 3:19-21:
Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, and that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.
Both passages declare that the ascension was anticipated throughout the Old Testament as the moment when Christ’s suffering was turned into glory. On earth, Jesus suffered, but in heaven, He is glorified until the time of restoration.
On earth, Jesus endured the shame of the cross; in heaven, He has a name above every name (Phil. 2:8-9). On earth, He was obedient to death; in heaven, every knee shall bow to Him (Phil. 2:8, 10). On earth, He took the form of a servant; in heaven, He reigns as Lord (Phil. 2:7, 11). On earth, He was a man of sorrows; in heaven, He divides the spoil with the strong (Is. 53:4, 12). On earth, His soul was in anguish; in heaven, His soul is satisfied (Is. 53:4, 12). On earth, He was numbered with transgressors; in heaven, He intercedes for them (Is. 53:12).
The ascension was Jesus’s ultimate moment of vindication, where His humility was turned into exaltation.
The Results of the Ascension
When New Testament authors spoke of the ascension’s significance, they frequently referred to to Daniel 7 and Psalm 110.
In Daniel’s vision (Daniel 7), the dominion of “beast”-like kingdoms was taken away, and the trampled “Son of Man” was exalted, given a throne, and all other kingdoms and dominions were subjected to him:
I saw in the night visions,
Daniel 7:13-14
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 a 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.
Similarly, Psalm 110 anticipates that the Messianic Lord would be exalted to a priestly role at God’s right hand, ruling over all enemies and shattering the authority of kings:
The LORD says to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”The LORD sends forth from Zion
your mighty scepter.
Rule in the midst of your enemies!…The Lord is at your right hand;
Psalm 110:1-2; 5-6
he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
He will execute judgment among the nations,
filling them with corpses;
he will shatter chiefs
over the wide earth.
These passages are the foundation for New Testament descriptions of the ascended Christ sitting at God’s right hand (Mk. 16:19; Acts 2:33; Heb. 10:12). Because of the ascension, Paul rejoiced in God’s power:
That he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
Ephesians 1:20-21
The resurrection gives us hope for a new birth (1 Pet. 1:3), but it is the ascension that places Christ at God’s right hand, with angels, authorities, and powers subjected to him (1 Pet. 3:22). The resurrection proclaims Jesus as the firstborn from the dead, but the ascension proclaims him as the rulers of the kings of the earth with everlasting dominion (Rev. 1:5-7).
The ascension allows Jesus to serve as our priestly intercessor (Rom. 8:33-34; Heb. 4:14; 7:24-27, 1 John 2:1), and to send the Holy Spirit (John 16:7; Acts 2:32-33; Eph. 4:8-10). The ascension is crucially important, because it was the moment when Christ was given all authority, in heaven and on earth (Mt. 28:18-19).
Christ’s Ascension Means Things are Different Now
Since Jesus has been exalted and now reigns with authority far above all other rule and power, the world order has fundamentally changed. While we still await the future day when the kingdom is delivered to the Father, and all enemies, including death, are subdued (1 Cor. 15:24-26), the ascension means Christ’s reign over the world has already begun. His exaltation is the firstfruits of the great harvest to come (1 Cor. 15:20-23).
Imagine the exalted Son of Man, reigning at God’s right hand, high above all rule, authority, power, and dominion, being consumed by a presidential election or worried about a city ordinance. It’s absurd! Psalm 2 reminds us, “He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision!”? Have we forgotten the ascension?
The ascension reveals the truth about the cross. Before the ascension, the meaning of the cross was hidden and concealed, viewed as a shame and reproach, a demonstration of power by rulers and authorities. But the ascension reveals the suffering on the cross for what it really was and highlights it as the way to glory. Because of the ascension we can now see that humiliation and exaltation and intimately connected. Paul reminds us in Romans 8:
Who is to condemn? Christ Jesu is the one who died – more than that, who was raised – who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?”
How much less should we be concerned about food, gas, and housing prices? If, as Paul says, “neither death not life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present not things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation shall be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord,” how much less should we worry about a bad president?
The call to bear a cross for Christ is not a call to live as perpetually defeated. The call to endure suffering is not hopeless. Building up the Kingdom of Christ rather than seeking earthly authority is not “apathy.” The call to follow Christ’s suffering is not a “loser’s theology.” The ascension glorifies our sufferings, making them incomparable with the glory to be revealed (Rom. 8:18). Rather than avoiding suffering, we “suffer with him in order that we may be glorified with him” (Rom 8:17).
Do you believe in the ascension of Christ? Then why are you more vocal about politics than you are about Christianity? Why do you campaign more zealously for political candidates than for Jesus? Why do you defend political platforms more than the doctrine of Christ? Why are you more interested in the nation’s future than the church’s future? Why is earthly citizenship more important than heavenly citizenship? Why do you get more upset with someone who doesn’t vote than you are upset by someone committing sin? Why worry about having a voice heard in Washington when you already have an intercessor at God’s right hand? Why worry about what kind of country your children will live in more than their faith in the power of the gospel? Why fear suffering, persecution, or poverty? Why place so much confidence in conquered rulers?
Do you believe in the ascension of Christ? Then live as loyal citizens of the heavenly kingdom. Don’t let the ascension go to waste.
The Christian Exile 