Luke 24:44-53.                   The Ascended Jesus is still with us            17/5/15

⁴⁴ He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷ and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

⁵⁰ When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. ⁵¹ While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. ⁵² Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. ⁵³ And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

Today being Ascension Sunday we are reminded of another great result of Easter and its ongoing benefit for us as God’s people. Here we have Jesus ascending into the heavens to rule in glory at his Father’s right hand. He has ascended so that each one of us can have Jesus’ presence with us as we live out our lives every day.

What a comfort and assurance that is for us as we live out our lives in the midst of the rubbish and tragedies of life, as well as the good things. With that presence of Jesus Christ we can hold our heads up in the tough times; and we can be kept grounded when everything is going along comfortably.

It is here though that we also face the great danger of forgetting that he is with us always. Just as real as he was for the disciples as he walked in their midst, so also he is with us. He is surely here with us, but because we can’t see him we often fail to recognise or think of him as being with us.

Too often we don’t even think, and then wonder why everything is going wrong. We get frustrated with life and even ourselves. We lose heart and become depressed and lonely. We fret and worry because we feel that we are missing out. Because we fail to recognise that Christ is with us we get caught up in our troubles and the horrors of life and we lose heart and soul. Life is tough and rough.

The danger for us, like that of those early disciples after Jesus had ascended into the clouds, is to still look to the skies and simply hope that life will somehow come good for us and that all will be well. We live life by and for ourselves and look up to things improving in the future. But without Christ it will never work out as it is meant to.

So let us listen also to the angel’s message to those early disciples to stop looking into the sky: to stop looking for the visible human form of Jesus. To stop simply standing still and hoping that life will come good for us. As good as it was for the disciples to have Jesus with them, his physical human form meant that he could only be in one place at any one time. That meant that he could not be with all of the people all of the time. So he ascends so that he can rule over all, for the good.

Now the temptation is to think that Jesus is ascended into heaven, therefore he is up there somewhere, removed from us here on earth. In fact the whole Reformed movement of the Christian Church has that very idea that Jesus is up there in heaven, therefore he can’t be here on earth. As a result when we talk of Jesus’ real body and blood being here in the Lord’s Supper they cannot accept this as true. That is why the bread and wine only symbolises and helps us to remember that Jesus died for our sins and our forgiveness. We can only receive him spiritually. Then the pressure is on us to maintain our own faith.

But that is not what Jesus has told us. As we heard over Easter, Jesus said, this IS my body, this is my blood. He truly is present in his humanity in the Lord’s Supper; and we take his presence into our very lives. We can’t see him there but we can be sure that he is there because he tells us he is. And he doesn’t tell lies. So we can be sure that Jesus is truly present with us as we live out our lives every day.

Perhaps part of the problem is that we imagine heaven is way up there somewhere and that hell is down there somewhere. But I would suggest that heaven is not a dot on a GPS map somewhere but is a reality close at hand that we cannot see. Remember that God and heaven is outside of the realms of this universe. So with God all things are possible.

Also in this regard remember what we learnt in confirmation that God is, yes all-knowing, all-powerful and all of that. Therefore he is not limited by time, space, power, knowledge or understanding. He is omni everything. Therefore God and Jesus Christ is now all of those things. At the same time Jesus is still a human being, as well as God, in all of these ways.

So now instead of Jesus just being in Israel in one locality at any one time he is now everywhere ruling for the benefit of his people; you and me. He is with us at all times no matter where we are or what we are doing. So the God and man Jesus Christ is with us always, just as he said he would be.

Which is of course, a bit of a scary thought for us at times: Jesus with us when we are in the pub, or trying to cheat on the tax man, or whatever: Jesus with us when something goes wrong and we curse and swear: Jesus with us when we are being selfish and self-centred. Jesus is there, and he knows what is going on.

At the same time he is there with us when we are travelling, or in a hospital bed, or undoing a dangerous task. When we need him we are now assured that he is right there with us. Wherever we are and whatever we are doing he is right there with us and for us.

Again we have just come from Easter when we were reminded of just how far Jesus was prepared to go for our good: To die in our place so that we might have the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. Because he was prepared to and did that for us we can be sure that as he is with us now, and he also will be doing was is good for us.

Now of course that does not mean that he will free us from all troubles and hardships, and give us health, wealth and happiness. Because we are living in a sinful world, and are ourselves sinful, he will allow troubles to come our way so that we do not forget him and what he has done for us. As well he tells us that we too will have to take up our crosses because we are Christian and seek to follow Jesus. But we have his assurance that he will use it all for good – our good and the good of his kingdom.

Here remember our second reading. Paul said: I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰ he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²² And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

How magnificent is that! He there with God doing what is good for his church – his body – you and me. What a blessing it is that has come our way through Jesus Christ and his death, resurrection and ascension.

But now on a slightly different tack, but still dealing with the fact that Jesus is with us always, we need to remember that where the Scriptures are, there is Jesus. We are told that Jesus is the Word. Jesus and the words of the Bible are inseparable. So where the Word is read, preached, spoken and meditated on, there is Jesus himself.

Yes we can’t see him in his physical human form, but we know that there Jesus is in all his fullness. His word is him speaking to us, so that we can know what he has in mind for us and our lives – yes even today. Through that Word he gives us instructions as to what is good for us and our relationships to him and to one another: instructions for good order in his church and in the world. Also his Word gives messages of warning; and of forgiveness, hope and salvation. Jesus and his Word is ever present to supply our every need.

Here also remember that in our baptism we were incorporated into God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit and they in us. So we have a further assurance that God is present with us here and now; and thereby that we are a part of that which is good and eternal. Forgiveness of sins, incorporation into God’s family, gift and gifts of the Holy Spirit and much more is now a part of our life each and every day.

Then as mentioned earlier in the Lord’s Supper we have Jesus himself giving us his very body and blood so that we can know for sure that we are not only forgiven but that he himself now lives in and with us and that we have the assurance of life and salvation.

So what joy and blessing we have now as a result of Jesus’ ascension into heaven. His ascension means that he is with us now and always. He is here with us each and every day of our life, helping us to live and be his people and then to finally take us to be with himself in heaven for all eternity. For this we surely ought to thank and praise, serve and obey him, now and always. AMEN

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish