The Ascension of Jesus (Luke 24:50-53)

No doubt, there are different ways of considering the ascension of Jesus.  After all, he had predicted that it would take place. He had also prayed about it as we can see from John 17 when he asked the Father that he would be given the glory he had in eternity, before the world was. We should remind ourselves as we think about it that Jesus had told the disciples that it was better for them that he would go away so that the Comforter could come to them. His ascension fulfilled several Old Testament predictions that prophesied of the glory that the Messiah would have.

It may seem unusual to suggest, but it looks as if Luke’s focus is also on the disciples in these verses. Note the number of times the words ‘they’ and ‘them’ occur in the passage. Of course, at the same time we are to have our focus on what happened to Jesus at this significant stage in the path of exaltation, but Luke also seems to say, ‘Look what happened to the disciples.’ Is he saying to Theophilus and other later disciples, ‘You also can experience the benefits that they did on this occasion.’

Luke’s emphasis here also highlights the amazing fact that previous failures can know great personal blessing because of the Saviour’s resurrection and ascension. The disciples with him here had failed him in several ways, but here they are, restored to service, about to be equipped with the Holy Spirit as their Enabler as they took the gospel of Jesus to the world.

The privilege for the disciples

Often when someone arranges a farewell event, he will invite to it those whom he loves and cares for the most. Jesus here arranged his farewell event and he planned that it would be in a very special place for him, Bethany. What comes to mind when we think of Bethany? It was a place of friendship for Jesus, of resurrection power by Jesus, and of beautiful devotion to Jesus.

The home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus highlights the blessings that Jesus brings to sinners. It is a reminder that he enables them to have communion with him as Mary did when she sat at his feet, to receive real life from him as Lazarus did, to serve correctly as Martha did in John 12 after her previous wrong focus when she complained about her sister Mary, and to show our affection from him as Mary did when she poured her expensive ointment on him a few days before his death.

Was Bethany the place that seemed closest to heaven for the Saviour? In that home in Bethany, he saw the effects of divine grace lived out. Was in the place on earth that he wanted to see last as he travelled to glory? Was he telling the disciples that the best preparation for going to heaven is to live like Bethany residents? Even as a train journey goes through several stations, so the last station for Jesus before his arrival in heaven was Bethany.

What did the disciples think when they made their way to Bethany that day with Jesus? Maybe they imagined that they were going to visit their friends who lived there? Whether they did or not, they discovered that Jesus was going to a better home, to the Father’s house that he had spoken to them about a few weeks previously, recorded in John 14. It had been a privilege for them every time they had gone to Bethany with Jesus. But no previous privilege could fully compare with what they were about to see happen to him.

The prayer for the disciples

When they reached Bethany, Jesus stopped, lifted up his hands and blessed them. It could be the case that Luke wanted his readers to note that his book begins with the account of a priest, Zechariah, who received a visit from the angel Gabriel. Zechariah failed in his role as a priest because of his unbelief and he was unable to pronounce a blessing on the people. In contrast to him, Jesus could provide a blessing because he had not failed in his work. In a manner far higher than the actions of Zechariah, Jesus had provided the real atonement for sinners when he offered himself as a sacrifice on the cross. Because he had done so, he could now stand and bless them.

Luke may also be giving to his readers an insight into the future activities of Jesus. Often when people part from one another, those left behind wonder what the departed friend will be doing. It would be right for the disciples to wonder what Jesus would be doing, and what better way could this have been done but by the physical action that he performed?

What is Jesus doing in heaven? He is interceding for his people. But what does that mean? While we are not told what the disciples heard, we are told what they saw. They looked at uplifted hands, hands marked with the wounds of the cross. They were reminded that the blessings that he provides only come from heaven because he had come to earth to die on their behalf. There is a sense that the wounds of Jesus are the loudest voice in heaven, a constant reminder of the achievements of the cross, signs that are effective.

The parting from the disciples

We are told two details about the ascension as far as Jesus was concerned. One of the activities was caused by himself – ‘he parted from them.’ The other was done for him – ‘he was carried up into heaven.’ What do those details indicate?

The first detail indicates that Jesus was in control of the event in the sense that he decided the time when he would ascend. No doubt, the time had been arranged by the Trinity in eternity, but as we look on, as it were, at what was taking place we can see the sovereignty of Christ. Yet we should observe what he did not stop doing, which was lifting his hands. Although he was leaving them, it did not mean that his blessing of them would cease. His intentions for them were still the same.

The second detail raises at least two questions. First, who carried Jesus to heaven? The suggestion is that he was conveyed into heaven, but on what was he conveyed? Luke gives us the answer in Acts 1:9 when he says that Jesus ‘was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.’

We are not told how high this cloud was, but it was visible to them when Jesus entered it. The cloud was the shekinah glory, the sign of the presence of God. This shekinah glory was revealed at the birth of Jesus in the star that the wise men saw at the onset of his life as a man. Here it appeared again at the conclusion of his life.

There is also a hint here of appropriate transportation into the presence of God. Many think that here is a reference to an angelic escort accompanying the Son as he entered the royal palace in the heavenly city. Later this year the crowning of Charles III will take place and crowds will watch him being taken along the route to the place where it will occur. The disciples observed the King being escorted to the city of his coronation, a city that is far greater than any on earth. That was a great privilege for them.

Moreover, the disciples saw the destination that Jesus reached, although they did not see into it. The Saviour entered into heaven. He was not the first man to do so (Enoch and Elijah had done so physically), but he was the first and only man to sit on the throne of God when he reached there. The splendour of the occasion is too majestic to describe.

The pleasure of the disciples

Luke does not describe the celebrations that took place in the heavenly Jerusalem. How could he? But he did describe the celebration that took place in the earthly Jerusalem. The celebration that he records is limited to that of the disciples, first at Bethany and then in the city.

The first feature of their response is worship of Jesus. What can be said about this expression of worship? It was spontaneous, the appropriate response to observing an event of profound importance. They could not prevent themselves from doing so. Moreover it was shared, in the sense that all of them took part. Worship should be an expression of unity by the people of God. Third, the worship was surprising given that he had just left them. Yet it was also not surprising because they knew where he had gone, to heaven, and they knew why he had gone there. Fourth, the worship was sanctifying because it looks as if it was an act of consecration on their part, setting themselves apart to his service.

This response of worship was followed by great joy. Again we might regard this response as surprising, given that there was physical separation from Jesus who had gone away from them into heaven. Indeed, none of them would be in his physical presence again until they died. Yet we can see that their joy was surpassing great, mega joy. Perhaps the striking feature of this joy is that it did not require the physical presence of the Saviour. Faith discerns where Jesus is and what he is doing, and when that discernment occurs, there will be great joy.

The third feature that marked them was that they were in the temple blessing God. We may be surprised to know that Luke uses the same word when he says that Jesus blessed them and when they blessed God. The word is the term from which we get eulogy, and in an eulogy we say something good about the person we are speaking about. Maybe we could think of Jesus blessing them in the way that a priest would have given the Aaronic blessing, and then of praising God, presumably using some of the psalms.

It is interesting that they blessed God in the temple. They had not appeared there since before the death of Jesus. There is not a reference to them doing so until they came back to Jerusalem after the ascension. They obviously received courage to engage in this activity because the temple was under the control of the high priests and they were very opposed to Jesus and his disciples. The question arises as to why they were not arrested. After all, the story that the priests made up after the resurrection was to say that the disciples had stolen the body. Here were the disciples claiming that Jesus was alive and ascended, but the authorities took no action.

Luke is perhaps encouraging his readers to think of what was said about Jesus when Mary and Joseph took him to the temple when he was presented to the Lord. Simeon had said to Mary that Jesus would be killed, and Anna had spoken about God sending redemption. Their predictions had been completed and now Jesus the suffering redeemer had gone to heaven to govern all things for the benefit of his people. It certainly was an amazing connection.

What a wonderful end to a wonderful book about a wonderful Saviour!