The Certainty of the Ascension and Future Return of Jesus

“Now what do we do?”

(Acts 1:9-11, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, November 28, 2010)

9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 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.”

And when He had said these things ... (9)

The time had come for Jesus to ascend into heaven. He had completed all the work that he came to do. Obeying the law, following the call of His Father to the cross, dying, being buried, rising, teaching and commissioning His disciples... all of this was done. Yet there was much more to be done, not from the vantage point of God with us on earth, but from the Father's throne in heaven.

The time had come to leave. But He had promised in another place, “I will be with you always; even to the end of the age.” See the end of Matthew's gospel. Jesus' continuing presence with the church as “Immanuel” or “God with us” would be through the Holy Spirit.

God has an order in the way that He does His great works of salvation. Jesus would ascend on high as the Resurrection God-Man, entering the heavenly sanctuary, cleansing the way for us through His blood, the way into the presence of the Lord. From that place of all authority in heaven and on earth, He would, together with the Father, send forth the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, inaugurating the new life of the church.

Everything in its time... not before the atoning death of the Lamb of God, or before the display of victory in His resurrection life, and not before the teaching and resurrection appearances during the forty days prior to this moment... but after all these monumental achievements, and after His arrival in heaven, and His vindication and enthronement on high as the King of heaven and earth... only then would the Holy Spirit be given, the essential gift of God with us, that the church might be the Lord's witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the very ends of the earth. Jesus had to go to God in heaven, so that God from heaven might be sent to be with us.

He went on clouds of glory, because He went in the presence of God. The Lord often appeared in the Old Testament connected to some heavenly cloud that became a manifestation of God Himself, like that glory cloud that filled the temple in the days of Solomon. Off Jesus went on a cloud like that. He was out of their sight. Now what? What would they do? What are we to do?

One of the most challenging facts about the current division between heaven and earth is that heaven is out of our sight. We know that Jesus is our ladder to heaven, but we cannot see the view from the top of the ladder at present. When someone goes to heaven, we respectfully place his body in the grave, and then what? We are left dealing with the fact that the one we love is out of our sight. But now Jesus is out of their sight. He was lifted up to heaven.

And while they were gazing into heaven ... (10)

Angels were suddenly there that day, just as in Jacob's dream so many years before. An event is transpiring between the world of heaven and the world of earth. Angels, we are told in Hebrews 1, are servants to people who will one day inherit all the blessings of salvation. We experience many blessings right now, but there is so much that God has in reserve for us above. Heaven is the safest place for us to keep our treasures, since everything that we leave here on earth eventually is lost. Where your treasure is, there your heart shall be.

Angels were present when shepherds near Bethlehem were told about the birth of Jesus. Angels ministered to Jesus after His time of temptation in the wilderness. Angels brought the word of resurrection to the first eyewitnesses of the empty tomb. They are heavenly messengers, assuring us that heaven is real, and that Jesus has gone there ahead of us. Their appearance to the disciples is for our benefit, assuring us that Jesus is still alive in a realm of life that exists forever, though He has now been removed from our sight. All is well. Jesus has ascended into heaven.

Men of Galilee … (11)

The question still remains. What now? These blessed companions of Jesus are in shock. They are all looking up into the sky? But they are not going to be able to see anything in the skies. Luke 16, the story that Jesus tells about the rich man and Lazarus, suggests that people in heaven are aware of what is going on down here on earth. Hebrews 12 tells us that we are being seen by them. But we could look up at the sky forever, and we will not see them.

They are on the seeing side of the heaven/earth mirror. We are on the side of momentary opportunities that must be seized. We are in the place where we ought to be today. This is the place where Jesus came to do what was essential for our salvation. We live in the part of existence where the cross happens. We are in the world where the trial and triumph of faith happens. Why do you stand looking into heaven? You do not get to see anything that is happening there under normal circumstances. When that door closes there is no way for you to open it up to take a peak. God wants you to do some things here now. If you are gazing into the skies, you can see the stars and be amazed at the vast expanse of the universe, but you will not be able to see heaven.

This Jesus ... (11)

You need to live here today, through the power of the Spirit of heaven at work within you. Where is Jesus? He is at the right hand of the Father, where He reigns over everything. He, and all of heaven are watching you. They all want you to live on earth with this confident expectation: This Jesus, who was taken up into heaven, will come back in the same way as His friends saw him go away into heaven so long ago. You need to follow this Jesus. He is the One who has established the power of lowliness during His time here below. He is ordering your life every day. He is the one who will come again to judge the living and the dead.

Jacob had a glimpse of this Jesus in a dream almost 4000 years ago. In that dream Jesus was the ladder that went from earth into heaven. Jacob saw angels ascending and descending on that ladder. When Jesus spoke to one of His friends in John 1, He said to Him, “You will see angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” The way that we see heaven and experience heaven now comes to us through the ladder that is Jesus. Up and down that ladder come angels doing the bidding of the heirs of salvation. Somehow there is manifold protection and blessing for us coming down that ladder. There is also an offering of praise and obedience going up to God by way of that same Jesus ladder. But the day is coming when heaven and earth will be one. Let the certainty of the return of Christ and the new heavens and earth be the seed of the best Holy Spirit gifts of God in your life, assuring you that your labors in the Lord are not in vain.

1. What happened to Jesus?

2. What is the significance of the appearance of angels at this moment?

3. What does this passage teach us about heaven and earth?

4. How does the certainty of the return of Jesus impact our lives here and now?

OT Passage: Genesis 28:10-22