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

We may imagine that the short account of the ascension of Jesus here at the end of Luke’s Gospel suggests it was not very important. True, he gives another description of it at the beginning of his second work, the Book of Acts, but again his words about it are few. Yet the ascension of Jesus is a crucial biblical event: it was prophesied in the Old Testament, for example in Psalm 68:18 and Psalm 110, it was predicted by Jesus in John 6:62, and it was prayed for by Jesus in John 17 when he asked the Father to give to him the glory he had with the Father before the creation of the world.

When gathered with them in the upper room on the same evening as his arrest Jesus had told the disciples that it would be better for them if he went away because then the Holy Spirit would come to live in them as the Comforter. The Saviour had mentioned that he was leaving them, a departure that involved him going to the Father’s house, which clearly indicated his ascension to glory.

We can also see that the occasion of the ascension was the final event in the preparation of the disciples for the work they were to do for Jesus throughout their lives on earth. They had been involved in that process during the three years of his public ministry as well as an intensive continuation of that preparation during the forty days he was with them after his resurrection speaking to them about aspects of the kingdom of God. It was important for them to see the ascension even as it was important for them to have seen him risen from the dead.

It is common to describe the mission of Jesus under two heads – the period of humiliation from his conception to his experience on the cross and the period of exaltation commencing with his resurrection. Obviously, the descent experienced in the period of humiliation brought him very low, and it is also obvious that his exaltation includes him being given a very high position.

Traditionally, the church has regarded the ascension of Jesus as stage two in the reward given to him for his life of obedience to the will of the Father, an obedience which was unto death; stage one was his resurrection from the dead, stage two was his ascension, stage three was his enthronement at God’s right hand, stage four is the second coming with its various events such as the Day of Judgement and the creation of the new heavens and new earth, and perhaps there will be further expressions of his exaltation in the eternal 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 special place, Bethany. What comes to mind when we think of Bethany? It was a place of friendship for Jesus in the family of Martha, of resurrection power by Jesus in the case of Lazarus, and of beautiful devotion to Jesus in the case of Mary. The disciples had been present on these occasions and would have their own thoughts about it. Jesus and the disciples had stayed there for some of the evenings in the last week of his life.

It is possible to suggest that Bethany was a favourite location for Jesus – it was one of them, at least. Bethany was certainly a place of surprises for the disciples. We have already mentioned the surprise connected to the resurrection of Lazarus and the expression of devotion by Mary. Maybe the disciples recalled them as they walked there on the Ascension Day. Maybe they thought that they were going to visit their friends. Whether they did or not, they were going to see an astonishing event on this day, an event with extraordinary consequences.

The prayer for the disciples

When they reached Bethany, Jesus stopped, lifted up his hands, and blessed the disciples. Did Luke want his readers to note that his book begins with the account of a priest, Zechariah, who received a visit from the angel Gabriel to inform him that his wife would bear a son? Zechariah failed in his role as a priest because of his unbelief regarding that promise, and he was unable to pronounce a blessing on the people worshipping in the temple. In contrast to him, Jesus could provide a blessing for the disciples 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 in Bethany and bless the disciples as he departed from them.

In recording this detail, Luke gives 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 while they are unable to see him. 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 as he left them? He was going to be their priest in heaven.

Think of what Jesus doing in heaven at this moment? He is interceding for his people. But what does that mean? We are not told what the disciples heard Jesus say, but what they saw him do. 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 continually in the Father’s presence.

The parting from the disciples

Luke mentions two details about the ascension as far as Jesus was concerned. He caused one – ‘he parted from them.’ The other was done for him – ‘he was carried up into heaven.’ What do those details show?

The first detail shows that Jesus was in control of the event in the sense that he decided the time when he would ascend, and also that he was no longer limited in what he would usually do in a physical manner. Similar to how he was able after his resurrection to appear and disappear, so he now was not limited by the laws of gravity. 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 himself. 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 time on earth. 

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 ascension raises the question as to the proximity of heaven, or the third heavens as Paul described it. The first heaven is our atmosphere, the second heaven is outer space, and the third heaven is beyond the physical universe. But how far away is it? The disciples saw Jesus enter it, and later on Stephen when he was dying saw into heaven and Jesus standing there. So it is not far away.

The pleasure of the disciples

Luke does not describe the celebrations that took place in the heavenly Jerusalem, although we are told something of the occasion in Revelation 5 when Jesus entered into glory and went to the Father’s right hand. Luke’s account remains on this side of glory, so he described 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 we say about this expression of worship? It was spontaneous, the right response to 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 Jesus had just left them and gone to heaven. Yet it was also not surprising because they knew where he had gone, to heaven, and they knew why he had gone there, which was to build his church throughout the ages until he comes again. 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 a eulogy we say something good about the person we are speaking about. We can think of Jesus blessing them in the way that a priest would have given the Aaronic blessing, and then of them praising God, saying good things about him. 

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 strongly 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 against them.

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