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Join Wayne Burger each week as he explores various topics and scriptures and challenges listeners to meditate on God's Word more deeply.
The Ascension of Jesus, recorded in Acts 1:9-11, contains a number of great lessons for us.
The Ascension of Jesus in Acts 1:9-11:
"And after he had said these things, he was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received him out of their sight.And as they were gazing intently into the sky while he was going, the whole two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven."
Here in three verses, we have the Ascension of Jesus.
He had spent 40 days with his apostles after his resurrection, and it was now a time for him to ascend into heaven. We can also recognize that these apostles saw him. They needed to see him ascend.
You know, if they had not seen that happen, but he just ascended privately, or they didn't know what happened, when asked about where is Jesus, what has happened to him, they had to say, well, I don't know, he was here yesterday, but we haven't seen him today. No, Jesus wanted to make sure that these folks knew that he had ascended into heaven. The Ascension of Jesus contains a number of great lessons for us.
First off, he needed to ascend because his kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. Jesus said in John 1836, when Pilate was trying him, he said, my kingdom is not of this world, else my servants would fight. So Jesus' kingdom is a spiritual kingdom, and it needs to be reigned from the spiritual realm.
And so he ascended into heaven. His throne is in heaven. I want us to look at Psalm 110, verses 1 and 2. This is a significant prophecy about the Ascension of Jesus.
David said, the Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. The Lord will stretch forth your strong scepter from Zion, saying, rule in the midst of your enemies. Let's notice what he says.
First off, David is the writer. And notice the language that he used. The Lord says to my Lord.
The Lord, in my version, in lots of versions, is spelled with all caps, L-O-R-D. When that is used, it is Yahweh. The Lord says to my Lord.
That first Lord is God the Father. The second Lord is Christ. And so notice what it says.
Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. And then he mentions the Lord, again the capital L-O-R-D, will stretch forth your strong scepter from Zion. A scepter, of course, is a symbol of the one who has it as being a king or a queen.
And so he says your scepter is going to be strong. But notice here in this prophecy, David says that Christ is going to ascend to sit at the right hand of God the Father. That's the reason in Acts 2, when Peter preaches the first gospel sermon.
This is after the resurrection of Jesus and the ascension of Jesus. Peter, as he begins to preach that day, said, beginning in verse 22, men of Israel hear these words. Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs, which God performed through him in your midst, just as you yourselves know.
This man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put him to death. But God raised him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for him to be held in its power. As he goes on and preaches about this, he quotes Psalm 16, 1, 8 through 11, I saw the Lord always in my presence, and he is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken.
Therefore, my heart was glad and my tongue exalted. Moreover, my flesh also will rest or live in hope, because you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor allow your holy one to undergo decay. You have made known to me the ways of life.
You will make me full of gladness with your presence. Then Peter makes an application of that passage when he says, Brethren, I may confidently say to you, regarding the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb was with us to this day. And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seek one of his descendants on his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that he was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh suffer decay.
This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this which you both see and hear. So, the ascension of Jesus was foretold in Psalm 110, 1-4.
And Peter declared that that happened, and that he was sitting at the right hand of God. And Zachariah, in the Old Testament, made an interesting statement about Jesus sitting and reigning in heaven. He says in verse 12, this is Zachariah 6, beginning in verse 12, and say to him, Thus says the Lord of hosts, to hold a man whose name is Branch, for he will branch out from where he is, and he will build the temple of the Lord.
Jesus is called the Branch. I can show you that from other verses. He said that he will build the temple of the Lord.
That's the church. Yes, it is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he who will bear the honor and sit and rule on his throne. Thus, he will be a priest on his throne, and the council of peace will be between the two offices.
Notice the idea and the message that's here. When Jesus ascended, he sat down at the right hand of God to rule over his kingdom. Peter declared that in Acts the second chapter.
But here we find out not only is Jesus going to be this king, but he will also be a priest on his throne. Jesus has the unique position of being a king and a priest. He could not be a priest had he stayed on earth because the priest had to come from the tribe of Judah, as Hebrews 7.14 says.
Jesus was not from the tribe of Judah. Jesus was not from the tribe of Levi. Therefore, he could not be a priest.
He was from the tribe of Judah. Therefore, he could not be a priest. But when he ascended into heaven, he sat down on the throne of God, the right hand of God, to rule over his kingdom, the church, and to be the priest after the order of Melchizedek, a new priesthood.
This was a promise that had been made to David way back in 2 Samuel 7, that he was going to raise one to sit on his throne and rule forever. And Jesus is now doing that, having been raised up, ascended. So the ascension of Jesus was essential that he might sit on David's throne at the right hand of the Father and that he might serve as a priest.
And as he serves at that idea of a priest, he is not only just a priest, but he's also the king, a priest and king at the same time. You know, it's unfortunate that people teach that Jesus doesn't yet have a kingdom and he's going to come back and be a king in Jerusalem sitting on David's throne. David, this is not going to happen.
Jesus is now sitting on David's throne. He ascended to sit on that throne and therefore he also is a priest. It is interesting that the people who believe that Jesus will come back to become a king on earth want Jesus to be a priest.
And they look to him today as a priest, which he is. But if he is a priest, he is also a king. You see, that was part of the promise that was made in the prophecy of Psalm 110, 1 through 4. And so Jesus Christ is that priest today sitting at the right hand of the Father ruling over the kingdom and being a priest for his people today.
As we look at a couple of passages with regard to this, let's look at Hebrews 2 which declares a great blessing for us. In Hebrews 2, verses 17 and 18, it says, Therefore he had to be made like his brethren in all things, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. Notice two or three things about Jesus.
He had to be made like his brethren. He had to come in the flesh. So that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest.
He lived on this earth. He was tempted at all points like as we are, yet without sin. He understands humanity because he is a man.
He understands the temptation and the struggles of life. Therefore he is a merciful and faithful high priest because he understands. So the Hebrew writer goes on to say, verse 18, For since he himself was tempted in that which he has suffered, he is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.
Aren't we thankful that Jesus has ascended. He could not be our high priest on earth because he was not from the tribe of Levi. But to be that merciful and faithful high priest, he had to ascend and sit on that throne and be a priest while on that throne because he's a priest after the order of Melchizedek.
That's a great study that we don't have time to do today. A great study that we'll do sometime about Christ and Melchizedek. But you see, Jesus can be that merciful and compassionate high priest.
Because he suffered the temptations and he's able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. The Hebrew writer also, in chapter 4, verses 14 through 16 say, Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, see that's the ascension, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Notice the language that the Hebrew writer used here. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne Jesus is sitting on a throne.
It is a throne of grace because he is a priest to give us that grace of forgiveness that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. That could not have happened had Jesus not ascended. And so those few verses there in Acts 1, even though they're very few, tell us a great message about the ascension of Jesus Christ.
We can be thankful that he ascended so that he can be our merciful and gracious high priest. He knows our condition and understandings. The Bible also says he is a mediator.
In 1 Timothy 2.5 it says, there's one God and one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. A mediator is someone who stands between two parties who are at odds with each other. Jesus Christ is that perfect mediator.
Because he is 100% God, he understands God's view. Because he is 100% man, he understands man's view. So he has that perfect position of being a mediator.
So not only is he our high priest, he is also our mediator. It is also interesting that while he's in heaven, that Hebrews 7:25 speaks of him as being our intercessor. An intercessor is someone who stands beside someone, pleading their case with them.
The intercessor is different from the mediator. The mediator stands between two parties and is equally related to both parties. The intercessor stands beside the one who has need and pleads his case.
So Jesus Christ is not only our mediator and our high priest, he is also our intercessor. And all that happened because he ascended into heaven. Those three verses may be brief, but they're long-lasting.
And remember, that verse also said he will return in like manner. In Revelation 1:7, speaking about the ascension of Jesus and the return of Jesus, the writer there, the Revelation 1 verse says, says that when he comes back, every eye shall see him, even those who pierced him. So Jesus is doing his work.
He had to ascend to heaven to be the king on David's throne. He had to ascend to heaven to be a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And yet he's coming back to be our judge.
What a great plan of salvation God has made! He gave Jesus to die to be our Savior. He raised him to sit on his throne to be our king.
And he gave him the priesthood to intercede and mediate for us. Thank God for the ascension of Jesus Christ. Thanks for joining us this week and spending time in God's Word.
Special thanks to Mac Graham, John Kachelman, and LightWay Media for recording, producing, and making this podcast possible. If you're ever in the Littleton, New Hampshire area, we'd love to have you join us for worship and Bible study on Sunday afternoons at 4 at the Senior Center. You're always welcome.
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