Ascension Day
Beloved. Ascension Day shows beyond all doubt that the work for our salvation is complete. Our salvation was accomplished when on the cross Jesus cried out, It is finished! Easter was the Father’s pronouncement that He had accepted Jesus’ sacrifice and that we are forgiven. Jesus ascended to heaven in triumph: he successfully completed the work He had come to earth to do—bring about forgiveness and salvation for sinful man. Jesus’ ascension means His enemies are defeated, but for His friends/ His dear Christians, we have the greatest joy.
At His ascension, Jesus tells the disciples: Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved. This means that the devil’s kingdom has been broken, destroyed, pillaged. St. John [1 Jn 3.8] writes: For this purpose the Son of God appeared, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Jesus describes His work this way [Lk 11.21]: When a strong man, [that is, the devil] fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he [that is, Christ] comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoils. If Jesus had not come, all people would still belong to the devil and be his slaves in his kingdom of sin and death. Sin—and its result, death—was that great work of the devil that Jesus came to destroy. Jesus, true God, Second Person of the Holy Trinity, came into this world and became also true man in order to destroy sin and death by His own suffering and death. Jesus did destroy sin in every respect—its guilt, punishment, power and dominion. Sin, in every respect, has been taken out of the way and reduced to nothing. Only Jesus, the very God Himself, could have done this; anyone less couldn’t have. But if Jesus, the Stronger One had not come and defeated the devil, the strong man, all of us would still be captive to devil, sin, death and hell.
But Jesus did come! He conquered devil, sin, death and hell. His ascension shows this beyond any shadow of a doubt. Now Jesus has the Gospel message go out into the entire world—the message that sin and death are destroyed, the message that we are rescued from the devil’s kingdom, the message that heaven is now opened to us. In short, the Gospel message is that Jesus has done everything to save us; there’s nothing we have to add.
As we receive that message into our hearts in Holy Spirit worked faith, we then receive the benefits of Jesus’ work—he who believes and is baptized will be saved—because for us Jesus destroyed sin, death and hell.
Jesus gave to His Apostolic Church signs to accompany her as she preached that Jesus destroyed sin, death and hell; that Satan’s work and kingdom were destroyed. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new languages; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. All these signs show that Satan is not in charge but that he and his kingdom are destroyed. Jesus’ ascension shows the rout of His enemies/ our spiritual enemies and it also means defeat for those who reject Him and His work.
Although Jesus destroyed sin, death, devil and hell, not all will enjoy the fruit of His victory because not all receive it in faith. Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature…but he who does not believe will be condemned. Those who reject Jesus will be condemned because they did not receive their only hope of rescue—Jesus. We are surrounded by many who do not merely not know Jesus, but they are openly hostile to and reject Him. Jesus told the Jews at His trial: I tell you, from now on you will all see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. St. Paul says much the same: that at the Last Day, when Jesus comes in all His glory, [Ph 2.10] everyone in heaven and on earth and under the earth should kneel, and everyone should confess, “Jesus Christ is Lord!” Because Jesus, true Man and true God, the only Savior of the world, ascended, all who now reject Him will one day have to recognize Him for Who He really is when He returns on the Last Day as Judge—but then it will be too late for them. For Jesus’ enemies, His ascension means defeat. What a warning for us not to reject Jesus, but to recognize Him for Who He is and to receive Him and His work, trusting in Him as our only Savior from sin, death, devil and hell.
But for Jesus’ friends, His Christians, His ascension is nothing but pure joy. We rejoice with an exceedingly great joy because with Jesus’ ascension we see that Jesus actually did what He came to do and so we see the certainty of our salvation. We rejoice with Jesus’ ascension because by faith we know that although we cannot save ourselves, Jesus came and saved us from our greatest enemies—sin, death, devil and hell. The ascension proves what the resurrection shows—Jesus is Lord and Savior.
Our text: So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Although Jesus’ ascension marks the end of His post-resurrection appearances, it does not mark the end of His work. Instead remember our text: that Jesus continued working with them and confirming the Word through the accompanying signs. Jesus is still at work for the sake of and for the benefit of His Christians, His Church.
We have great joy at Jesus’ ascension because Jesus continues to be with His Church, working through and in her. He is at work gathering people from all times and places into His Church. Jesus tells us [Mt 16.18], I will build My Church and he who does not gather with Me scatters. The very fact that we are Christians today means that Jesus is still at work: He has gathered us into His Church and has worked and is still working on us.
Before we were Christians, as we are as we are born into the world, we were all astray, estranged from God, enemies of God, our sin separating us from Him. But what happened? Without any merit or worthiness in ourselves, Jesus came to us and brought us into His Church; He gathered us into His people and made us His own dear Christians. We have done nothing to deserve this great grace of God. Instead, in His great love and mercy toward us He did everything. Gathering people into His Church is the gracious work of our ascended Lord.
Jesus gathers us into His Church in only one way—by the working of His Holy Spirit in the Word and Sacraments. Hear again the final words of our text: …the Lord working with and confirming the Word through the accompanying signs and also from our text he who believes and is baptized will be saved. We are brought into God’s holy family through baptism. In baptism, not only are we washed clean of sin, do we receive the forgiveness of sin, but baptism also connects us with Jesus’ death and resurrection. In short, we are given in baptism the benefits of Jesus’ work; and in God’s grace to us, these benefits are given together with something that we can see—water.
By the Holy Spirit’s work in the Word and Sacrament, Jesus is gathering people everywhere into His Church—just like He gathered you and me. Through the Word and Sacrament, Jesus works faith in our hearts, and preserves and strengthens that faith in us. What a mighty work of our ascended Lord: He comes to us spiritually dead people and by His Word creates spiritual and heavenly life in our hearts; He brings us from spiritual death to spiritual life. In other words, He creates faith in our hearts so that we receive and make our very own the forgiveness and life that He offers us in the Word and Baptism. The one who believes, that is, who trusts in the Word and work of Christ, will be saved.
Today we don’t generally see the extraordinary, miraculous signs Jesus gave the apostolic Church. Does that mean that Jesus is not working among us today? Hardly! Elsewhere He says [Lk 16.29]: They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them! Jesus is still working through and confirming His Word just as mightily today: thousands of greater miracles are done in Jesus’ name when His Word is proclaimed and dead souls are brought to life, united with Jesus and gathered into the safety of His Church. May we daily praise Jesus for what He does each day in and by His Church—that by the preaching of His Word, He conquers the devil’s might and power and tears many souls out of death and hell.
May we remember Jesus’ words: Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. In His grace, Jesus wants to use each of His dear Christians as His instruments to bring His Word to the world so that He may gather His Church. Whenever we tell another person the good news about Jesus, He is using that word to gather and build His Church. Though we may not see immediate “results”, may we faithfully continue to tell the Good News about Jesus and praise and thank Him that He uses us in this most vital and precious work.
Jesus is now not only gathering His Church, but He is leading and protecting His Church and each individual Christian, you and me, working everything for the good of His Church and of each Christian, finally leading us to eternal glory. Jesus can do this because he was taken up to heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. The right hand of God is not a geographical spot, locking Jesus up in a certain spot in heaven. Instead, it is a position of power, authority and activity. It means that Jesus is now ruling in divine power and glory-- also as true man. When Jesus ascended, He did not stop being true man. Now as both God and man, Jesus is now fully using His divine power and majesty; and He is present everywhere as God and man. Because He is true God, Jesus is ruling all things, but because He is also true man, He knows what it’s like to live on this sinful world; He knows all our hurts and pains and therefore He knows the best way to help and comfort us. Jesus, the God-man, is with each of His Christians. When Jesus ascended, He told His disciples to go into all the world and, at the same time, told them I am with you always.
Now, dear Christian, because of His ascension, Jesus is with each of us closer than He was with the disciples during His earthly ministry where He allowed Himself to be limited by space and time. We don’t see Jesus, but He is still with us, personally, in a wonderful way. Our seeing Him is replaced by faith, which is nobler and stronger, a glorious gift He gave us.
Jesus’ ascension means utter defeat for His enemies, but pure joy for us. Because Jesus ascended, we know that He is gathering His Church, ruling all things for our good and that He is with us always. To the crucified, risen and ascended Lord be all praise, honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.