So, then, after the Lord had spoken unto them, He was received
up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.--_Mark 16, 19._
The Christian Church, from the beginning, has made the ascension of
our Lord the subject of a special annual festival and service, and
with excellent reason. The ascension of Christ ranks in importance
with His birth, His death, and His resurrection. Strange to say,
however, much less attention is given to it. Many are prompt
and devout in noting and observing Christmas, Good Friday, and
Easter, but when it comes to the glorious ascension, the heavenly
enthronement of our blessed Lord, though furnishing equal cause for
our gratitude and rejoicing, few seem to so regard it, and make
little over its celebration. This ought not to be.
Christ's ascension into heaven is one of the great foundation
truths of our Christian faith, a part of the fundamental Creed.
"He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God
the Father Almighty," we recite in the Apostles' Confession. The
ancient prophets spoke repeatedly of it, Christ, Himself, on several
occasions foretold it, and the apostles and evangelists, most of
whom were eye-witnesses of it, testify to it, and, moreover, it is
also full of blessedness and precious consolation for those who
enter into it with spirit and understanding, as one of the sick,
after a sermon on Christ's ascension, preached by our missionary in
the City Hospital, exclaimed, "Thank God for this precious truth
of Christ's ascension!" The man was right. It is a truth full of
strength for a Christian's faith, hope, and love, that it well
behooves us to regard it, considering _I. Its significance for
Him_; _II. its significance for us_.
St. Paul, summing up the history of our Savior's life, says:
"Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was
manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up
into glory." That is the last item, the capstone, as it were, of
His life. His work upon earth was completed, the purpose for which
He had come perfected; there was nothing for Him to do. "It is
finished," He had spoken upon the cross. Moreover, He could not
remain upon earth, and eventually die again as a man, for He had
conquered death. What, then, was left for Him to do but to return
where He had come forth, to ascend on high? This ascension was not
a vanishing out of sight, as, for instance, when Christ vanished
out of sight in the case of the disciples of Emmaus; nor was it a
concealment of Himself, as He concealed Himself from the Jews in
the Temple when they lifted up stones to cast at Him; nor was it a
transfiguration of His body, as on Mount Tabor, when His face shone
as the sun and His garment was white with light.
By Christ's ascension we mean that Christ, according to body and
soul, was taken up in a visible manner, by a true and local motion
ascending into the clouds, so that now "body and soul" He is in
heaven. We shall not speculate, throw up all manner of questions how
this could be, but accept the statement of trustworthy, reliable
witnesses, men of unimpeachable veracity, that so it was, and we
know that it was not the only case of such heavenly ascension. The
Bible records two others; the one occurred in the days before the
Flood, when it states of Enoch "that God took him and he was seen
no more"; and the other took place after the Flood, when Elijah,
the prophet, was conveyed in a fiery chariot into ethereal realms.
These Old Testament incidents were types of Christ's ascension. The
ascension of our Lord stands out as an indisputable fact, witnessed
by many. The exact time, place, and circumstances are all minutely
given. Thus, what is the first particular of its significance for
Him, it shows that He was the divine Being which the Bible states,
that He was divine God blessed forevermore.
And we rejoice at this elevation of His. How delightful it is to-day
to lift up our eyes and behold Him who for our sakes became a babe
in the poverty and humiliation of Bethlehem's stall, Him whose
life was one uninterrupted series of woes, Him who was despised and
rejected of men, whose head was pierced by the crown of thorns,
and in whose hand was placed the insulting rod, who hung suspended
from the cross,--how delightful to see Him worshiped by the host
of heaven, conquering, triumphing, receiving the very honor that
behooves Him as the true God. On this day we invite and unite with
all Christendom in "bringing forth the royal diadem, and crowning
Him Lord of all." As He once said to Nicodemus: "No man ascendeth up
into heaven but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man,
which is in heaven." The ascension of Christ is evidence that He was
the God-Man, having come from heaven.
Again, Christ's ascension shows that His work on earth was
accomplished, and that He had done that work well. When our
Government sends an ambassador to effect a treaty with a foreign
nation, and on his return home this ambassador is received with
public demonstrations of joy, and is accorded a seat of honor in
the national capitol, this reception is proof that he has performed
his mission well, to the satisfaction of the Government. The event
which we to-day commemorate, this gladsome reception of Christ into
heaven, this exaltation to the right hand of God the Father, prove
conclusively that the work He had been sent to do was done and was
done well, to the complete satisfaction of the Father. This is
implied already in the text by the word "sat." He sat down. Sitting
is a posture, an attitude of rest. God rested on the seventh day,
after all His work of creation was finished. Christ now sits upon
His throne, at the right hand. That is a mark of honor. When we read
that Bathsheba, the queen-mother, went in to see Solomon, her royal
son, she was placed on a throne at the king's right hand, in token
of the respect he paid to her as his parent. So when the same term
is used in the case of our Savior, it means that Christ, in His
human form, as man,--for as God He needed not to be glorified,--that
Christ the Man was lifted up into the exalted dignity of heaven,
high above all the powers and dignities of the angels, that at the
name of Jesus every knee must bow and every tongue confess that He
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The right hand also implies power. Our right hand, as a rule, is
the stronger hand. So when Scripture speaks of God's right hand, we
are well aware that that is not to be taken literally, since God
is a spirit and has no parts of a man, but is a figure of speech,
to imply His majesty and power. Christ's taking His seat at His
right hand means that Christ, the God-man, as our Catechism says,
ruleth and reigneth with infinite, eternal majesty and power over
all creatures and works of God's hand. To quote His own words,
expressed to His disciples at His departure, "All power is given
unto me in heaven and in earth." Yes, it is one of the great and
glorious truths of our holy Christian faith that He who was born in
Bethlehem, crucified on Calvary, and buried in Joseph's tomb, is
now enthroned as the Lord of angels, the Head over all things, and
that He particularly takes care of His Church. That this is indeed
the case we may learn from the experience of Saul. When Saul was
smitten down on the way to Damascus, he was asked by a heavenly
voice, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" Saul was persecuting
the Christians, but the voice says "Me." Jesus thus identifies
Himself with His people. Their interests are His interests, their
sufferings, His sufferings. They are the apple of His eye: no harm
can come to them but when He permits it.
What consolation this thought ought to afford to believers amidst
all the sorrows of life! But this leads us already to consider of
what significance Christ's ascension is to _us_.
We sing in one of our Ascension hymns:
Th' atoning work is done,
The victim's blood is shed,
And Jesus now is gone
His people's cause to plead.
He stands in heav'n, their great High Priest,
And bears their names upon His breast.
Reference is here made to the great day of Atonement, when the
Jewish high priest, bearing on his breast the plate upon which were
inserted the twelve stones, each stone of which was engraved with
the name of one of the tribes of Israel, and having in his hand
the blood of sacrifice, would take it into the Holy of Holies, and
presenting it before the Ark of the Covenant, would intercede, ask
forgiveness for the sins of the people whose representative he was.
So our great High Priest, having given His life a sacrifice for our
sins, passes into the Holy of Holies, there to make intercession
for us, for which reason we speak of Christ as our Advocate, our
Spokesman, for instance, when it says: "If any man sin, we have an
Advocate with the Father." The best of us are continually coming
short, but there stands our mutilated and meritorious Brother,
holding up the hands that felt the nails, ever pleading in our
behalf, ever drawing down upon us the compassionate mercy of an
offended God. Yes, "He stands in heav'n, our great High Priest, and
bears our names upon His breast."
And, again, in Christ's ascension we have an earnest pledge of our
own. He is the Head, and, "Where the Head is," we sing to-day, "well
we know the members He has left below in time He surely gathers."
He is our Forerunner, and a forerunner means that others are on
the same way to the same place. His entering for us implies our
entrance also. Christ did not only take our human nature upon Him
for thirty-three years, while He dwelt upon earth among us, then,
however, discarding it as a worthless and worn-out garment,--He
took it along with Him into heaven and glory, and we are branches
of the same vine, joined with Him in the same organism, and thus
His ascension is virtually our ascension, the first-fruits of a
like harvest to follow. Taking our stand to-day on Mount Olive and
gazing on the blessed Savior as He mysteriously mounts up into the
high heavens, we behold our Lord clearing a way for us into that
upper world, and giving us an example of how all believers are to
ascend at one time to the same heavenly realms. "In our blessed
Lord's ascension we by faith behold our own." He has told us, "I go
to prepare a place for you. Where I am, there shall also my servants
be."
How the ascension of Christ confirms our faith, animates our hope!
Who can question that there is as much to awaken our grateful joy
in our Savior's ascension as in any other event of this marvelous
destiny? Christmas joy is right, and Easter joy is right; but there
is no less reason to give due honor to the event of our devotion
to-day, so blessed, so assuring, so vital. And if we have duly
entered into the joyous truths of our faith, the practical effect is
plain. The Apostle directs us, "Seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection
on things above, not on things on the earth." "Where your treasure
is," the Savior said, "there will your heart be also." Christ is the
Christian's treasure, and since He has ascended into heaven, there
is a corresponding uplifting of our love to that home of blessedness
whither He has gone, and which He is making ready for His believing
people.
These, then, are some of the chief thoughts which connect with the
event we are commemorating to-day. To this ascended Savior let us
anew render our devout homage. Anew let us give Him our love, our
gratitude, our faith, our service. Let our lives, down to their very
close, be spent in Him and for Him. Then, too, the day shall come
when we also shall go up in triumph. Angels of God will then also
escort us as conquerors to the skies, and we shall be and reign
forever with Him. Grant us this, O Christ! Amen.