Sermon – Ascension – "Life Is A Journey" – Luke 24:50-52
May 24th, 2009Click play to listen to the audio version of this sermon.
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Sounds cliché I know, but life is a journey. As with all journeys, it's always nice to know where you're going. Knowing the destination makes all the difference in how you travel.
The life of Jesus Christ is a journey. In fact, the church's calendar is set up in such a way that we follow Jesus on His journey every year. Unlike the secular calendar, the church's calendar begins on the 1st Sunday in Advent, which this year was November 30th of 2008. That was the Sunday that we began to light the paschal candle or the "big candle" as the acolytes call it. Jesus Christ, the true light, was coming into the world and we note that by lighting this special candle. For four Sundays, we prepare ourselves for the beginning of Christ's journey. He leaves the Father in heaven and comes down to earth.
Christ's journey comes full circle as He returns to the Father in heaven. So today, the Ascension of our Lord, marks the end of His journey. And so, this is the last Sunday that the paschal candle will be lit until we begin a new year on November 29th.
So as we follow the journey of Christ's life as mapped out for us by the liturgical calendar, we recognize the point of origin for His journey. It didn't begin in a stable in Bethlehem. Nor did it end in a tomb outside of Jerusalem. His journey began in heaven, seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. He has been there from all eternity. And His journey ends in heaven, seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. And He will be there for all eternity. That is the journey that the Church takes along with our Lord every year.
As Jesus walks with His disciples from the Upper Room after the Last Supper and goes to the Garden of Gethsemane, He describes His journey like this, "I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father." (John 16:28). Without a doubt, Jesus knows the journey that His Father has sent Him on. And He knows what He will encounter on that journey – trials, troubles, suffering and a heavy cross to bear. But He knows with absolute certainty how and where the journey will end. Knowing your destination makes all the difference in how you travel.
I. He Blessed The Disciples. In between His "coming from the Father into the world" and His "leaving the world and returning to the Father," Jesus accomplished the purpose for which He came into the world. Responding to Pontius Pilate, Jesus says, "For this purpose I have come into the world- to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice." (John 18:37). The "truth" that Jesus bears witness to is that God so loved the world, that He sent His only Son into the world to make things right again.
In the beginning all things were "very good." The relationship that God had with His man and woman was wonderful. It was perfect, just as everything that God had made was perfect. But Adam and Eve cheated on their lover and had an affair with another, a serpent of all things. And if you can believe this, they blamed God. They said He was unfaithful to them. What would you have done with Adam and Eve and all of their descendants, every one of which follows in their footsteps?
Doesn't matter what you would have done or what you have done or what you keep trying to do. The only thing that matters is what God has done. He sent His Son into the world. Jesus Christ came down from heaven and became man. Not 'a man.' But He became 'man,' all mankind, even you. The whole human race is embodied in His body.
He received the righteous and just punishment from the Father for mankind's sin, your sin, and atoned for it all by His blood shed on the cross. And by His resurrection from the dead, all mankind has been reconciled to God the Father. The work that He had come into the world to do, He has accomplished. "It is finished." Now, it's time for Him to return to the Father.
Luke reports that after the disciples witnessed Jesus' ascension, "they worshipped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy." Why would they respond like that as their beloved Lord and Savior leaves them? Let's see.
Luke carefully notes the details, and the gospel is in the details. "He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands, He blessed them." There's something about those hands that assure that the blessing is real and powerful.
With those hands, He had touched the eyes of a blind man and the tongue of a deaf mute and they were blessed with sight and speech and hearing. With those hands, He reached out to touch the lifeless hand of the little girl and gave her back to her mother and father alive. He reached up with these hands to the boy being carried to his grave in Nain and the boy sat up and returned to his mother's home.
Remember that occasion, when after a full day, Luke reports that "when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. And demons also came out of many." (Luke 4:40).
These are the hands that reached out to grab hold of Peter as he was drowning in the stormy sea and lifted him safely into the boat. With these hands, He took bread, gave thanks and broke it and fed 5000 and 4000. He held these hands out to Thomas and conquered all his doubt. What blessing comes from those hands of Christ.
All of this and we haven't yet mentioned the fact that there were holes in those hands where the nails had pierced Him. By those hands uplifted on the cross, He took the punishment that was ours upon Himself. By those hands, He received the wrath of God for our sin in our place, so that we would not. He reconciled us with the Father to us by those hands.
And so, when Luke says, "He lifted His hands and blessed them," he means all of this that comes from those hands of Jesus.
But this has not yet touched on the meaning of His ascension as it applies to those hands and the disciples great joy. The great blessing He bestows on us all by those hands is that He returns to the Father in heaven with them. The humanity He took upon Himself in coming into the world, He takes with Him into heaven. When Jesus lifts His nail scared hands to His Father in heaven, all humanity stands before the Father, reconciled and at peace with God, for the sake of Jesus Christ and those hands.
No wonder "they worshipped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy." And no wonder we do too.
II. Ascended Into the Cloud But there's more. In his Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke tells us that "as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight." What's with the cloud? Haven't we seen that cloud before?
There was that cloud that was with Israel in the desert as they made their way to the promised land. And the Scriptures say that God was in the cloud. As long as Israel saw the cloud they knew that God was present with them. God was truly present in the cloud. Not symbolically or spiritually present as if the cloud represented the presence of God or made them think of the God's presence. He was really present in the cloud. Sounds sacramental I know, and it is.
The point is, as old Israel made their way to their destination, they were continually assured of God's presence with them. Just like now, as you make your way to your destination, you are continually reassured of God's presence with you who is in the bread and the wine of His Holy Supper.
But the bigger point is this. When cloud moved, they followed it. When it stopped, they stopped. When the cloud turned north they went north and when it went south, they went south. They followed the cloud and in doing so they followed God.
What does this have to do with the Ascension of our Lord who went up until He was hidden by a cloud? I thought you'd never ask. Just as Israel followed the cloud, which led them to the promised land, yet all those who left Egypt never entered the promised land but died in the desert because they sinned, Jesus follows the cloud which brings Him to heaven. Jesus is the new Israel, and He enters into the promised land because in Him there is no sin. And in Him, the true Israel has entered the promised land.
The true Israel is all of those, whether on the Old Testament or New Testament side of history, who believe as father Abraham believed, trusting in the word and promise of God, the word and promise made flesh and fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The true Israel has already entered into the promised land. Jesus is the true Israel, and all those who follow God, trusting and believing in His word and promise, are embodied in His body.
No wonder "they worshipped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy." And no wonder we do too.
III. He Leads The Way "As they were looking on, he was lifted up…" It took two angels to explain things to them, just as it had required angels to explain things at His conception and birth and at His resurrection. "This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven."
The writer of the letter to the Hebrews explains the angel's words like this. "For Christ has entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf… And just as it was appointed for men to die once and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him." (Heb.9:24,26).
I suppose you could summarize the journey of Jesus' life by saying, God left God to come to sinful mankind. And God returned to God bringing forgiven mankind with Him. And the journey continues. Jesus promises, "I go to prepare a place for you in My Father's house. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again to take you to myself, that where I am you may be also." (John 14:3).
Knowing the destination of the journey you're on sure does effect the way you travel. If you're not sure where you're headed, you're always nervous and afraid where you might end up. But you know the destination of your life's journey. In your baptism, you have been united to Christ who sits at the right hand of the Father. That's your destination. It's your destiny. You're there now, already, but not yet. But the promise is that sure and certain that you might as well life by faith. "Set your minds on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father, and not on earthly things." (Col.3:1).
That doesn't mean that the journey is easy. There will be crosses to bear and troubles to endure. But your ascended Lord already has a place prepared for you in His Father's house and a seat reserved for you at the heavenly banquet table. So, travel in peace. Worship Him and return to your Jerusalem with "great joy."
Related Entries:
» Sermon – Ascension – "What Does This Mean?" – Luke 24:50-53 – 5/4/08» The Ascension of Our Lord – Luke 24:50-52
» Sermon – Thanksgiving – "Remembering To Remember" – Deuteronomy 8:1-10 – 11/21/07
» Sermon Index – Lutheran – LCMS
» Sermon – Pentecost 19 – "If Only" – Mark 10:17-22 – 10/11/09
» Sermon – 2nd Sunday after Pentecost – "The Sabbath Was Made For Man" – Mark 2:23-28
