A Happy and Comfortable Day
When Jesus ascends to heaven, He isn't saying goodbye
[This message was prepared for delivery during worship with the people of Saint John Lutheran Church in Columbus, Ohio. While Ascension Day occurred May 29, the people of Saint John celebrated the Ascension on June 1.]
Luke 24:44-53
Martin Luther called the day of Jesus’ ascension “a happy and comfortable day.” But for the eleven apostles, that group of Jesus’ disciples the Lord was sending to lead the Church in proclaiming “repentance for the forgiveness of sins” in Jesus’ name, the day of Jesus’ departure into heaven may not have initially seemed either happy or comfortable.
The disciples had once thought that Jesus was a king who would toss out the Romans, usher in a new government, and put them in positions of authority. They were disappointed to learn that Jesus didn’t come to give people security from the world’s disasters and bad actors, material wealth, or even long life. Jesus instead came to deal with our most basic problems: the sin, death, and condemnation we inherit at birth. For the forty days since His resurrection, Jesus has been showing the disciples how in Him, God has overcome these things, how all who receive repentance–a holy change of mind--and saving faith in Jesus, have life with God now and will have life with God in utter perfection when, at the day of His return to this world, He raises us from the dead.
Our gospel lesson begins with Jesus more than hinting He is about to leave them. Jesus says: “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you…”(Luke 24:45) “‘While I was still with you…?’” the disciples may have thought, “But you’re here with us now. Are you leaving us again?” The thought of going through their lives without Jesus, of feeling abandoned by Jesus…again, must have been horrifying. The disciples knew that without Jesus, they were like sheep without a shepherd, sinners ticketed for death and eternal condemnation, without hope, peace, or the presence of God in their lives. The eleven knew they were in bondage to sin and could not free themselves.
We can understand the disciples’ feelings, can’t we? Haven’t we faced some grief or medical crisis and thought, “Christ has abandoned me”? Haven’t we sinned and thought, “There is no way God can find me in this pit I’ve dug for myself”? These are the questions posed to us by “the Law.” The Law of God, summarized in the Ten Commandments, contain His righteous demands on every human being: you are to have no other gods; you shall not use God’s name pointlessly; you’re to cherish every opportunity to hear God’s Word and worship Him with His people; you’re to honor parents and others in authority; you’re not to kill, commit adultery, steal, lie about or misconstrue the actions of others, or covet what doesn’t belong to you. We know the commands well. But honesty compels us to confess that, whether by thought, word, or deed, we fall short of the Law’s demands. And here’s the thing: the devil, the fallen world, and our sinful selves love to taunt us with God’s righteous Law to convince us that God will have nothing to do with us, that we are damned and lost forever, that we are without God and without hope.
There is another Word God speaks to us though. Not the Law that condemns, but the Gospel that frees us. The Gospel is what Jesus now speaks into the ears of the grieving apostles. He speaks, not condemnation, but life and assurance and hope. He speaks the Word that creates saving faith and gives His righteousness to us even as He takes our sin onto Himself. He tells them repeatedly over and over what they’d heard Him tell Nicodemus, something that they’d never fully understood: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.”
He gives the disciples faith and bolsters their confidence by first, opening their minds to understand that His life, death, resurrection, His ascension, and His return one day to judge the living and the dead, are all part of God’s plan to bring salvation, forgiveness, and everlasting life to sinners. You can see this promise all over the Old Testament. In Psalm 68:18, for example, we read of God’s Messiah: “You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train…” The events of the first Holy Week that had come as a terrifying surprise to Jesus’ disciples were exactly what God had long planned to give us our salvation!
Next, Jesus promises He will send the Holy Spirit to the Church. The Holy Spirit makes it possible to believe that, sinners though we are, Christ died and rose to set us free from sin, death, and condemnation. The Holy Spirit is the One sent by Jesus to assure you that you are not alone, that God is with you even in the darkest times this world brings. The Spirit is the One Who confronts you for your sin and through the Word of God He inspires, tells you that in Christ, your sins are forgiven and you are one with God. You are forgiven all your sins in Christ! That’s the Gospel.
Next, Jesus lifts up His hands to bless the eleven just as He is carried into heaven. When God blesses us, it’s no empty gesture. When God blesses you, He is actively giving His grace, goodwill, faith, and power for living to you.
Something amazing happens with the eleven after Jesus ascends to heaven! We’re told first that they worshiped Jesus. They’d never done that before in Luke’s gospel. They saw that Jesus is God and that Jesus wasn’t abandoning them. By going to heaven, Jesus was making Himself constantly accessible to them and all who call on Him. Jesus’ ascension secures the promise of God for us, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13; Joel 2:32) With Jesus ascended to God’s right hand, we know that our prayers in Jesus’ name, no matter how weak or small our faith may sometimes seem, are always heard in heaven.
The disciples then returned to Jerusalem with great joy. Jerusalem was the place where they had feared for their lives, hostility to Jesus still existed and the Romans still ruled. Weeks after Jesus died on a cross, Jerusalem and the rest of the world thought nothing had changed. But the apostles knew that Jesus, crucified, risen, and ascended, had changed everything! For anyone who believed in Jesus, there was now nothing to fear from the world–or the devil or our sinful selves. They believed in the Savior Who forgave their sins and gives eternal life to all who believe in Him. So the disciples could rejoice. You can rejoice too. God’s Word says: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved…” (Romans 10:9) You can face each day in the joy of knowing you belong to Jesus!
Finally, Luke says that as they awaited the coming of the Holy Spirit to empower their witness for Jesus to the world, the disciples “were continually in the temple” blessing God. For believers to bless God means to thank Him and praise Him for His blessings to us, above all the blessing of life with God that is ours through Jesus.
In the first congregation I served as pastor, up in northwest Ohio, was a woman we’ll call Mary. Mary was a believer with a servant’s heart who never called attention to herself. She contracted a rare form of cancer. The prognosis was not good. She consented to undergoing experimental treatments. Far from bringing her relief, they only increased her pain and discomfort. Finally, Mary decided to be brought back home. I visited her just before she died. I brought her Holy Communion and we prayed together. Then I asked her, “Have you ever been angry with God?” “I was,” she told me honestly, “but then I remembered Jesus promises to always be with us.” This is what Jesus’ ascension makes possible for all who trust in Him.
Jesus didn’t ascend to heaven to leave you behind. He went to heaven so that He could take His seat at God’s right hand and be with you and every one who calls on Him. He ascended so that He could send His Holy Spirit to the Church, making it possible for you and me to gather around His Word and His Communion table to receive again and again the good news that in Jesus Christ, your sins, my sins, are completely forgiven and you and I have everlasting life with God that cannot be taken from us. This same Holy Spirit Who Jesus sends to His Church after His ascension also makes it possible for ordinary people like you and me to share Him and His Gospel with others.
This is why Luther called Ascension Day “a happy and comfortable day.” Sisters and brothers in Christ, your sins are forgiven, Christ is with you, and one day, you will see Him face to face. When you see Him, all the daunting mysteries of this world will be behind you and you will live eternally under the blessing hand of the Savior Who died, rose, and ascended for you. May God continue to bless you as you follow Christ. Amen