Ascension and return

So when they had come together, they asked Him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." And when He had said these things, as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as He went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven." ~ Acts 1:6-11

 

May flowers have come into bloom. Spring is in full swing. For many Easter is already a distant memory. However, the Church has still been celebrating Easter. This year, Thursday May 14th marks the end of the Easter season for Western Christians. That day marks the 40th day since Easter Sunday; the day when our crucified and resurrected Lord and Savior Jesus Christ ascended from earth into heaven.

 

You see, when Jesus rose from death on the third day after His crucifixion, He did not go to heaven right away. He remained on the earth for 40 days, visiting His disciples a number of times. He taught them, opening their minds to understand many of the prophesies about Him in the Old Testament Scriptures; showing them many of the things that were foretold about Him. He explained all that He had come to do and had indeed fulfilled. He then commissioned them to go out into all the world proclaiming the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins in His name, and building up those who have faith in His name. They are to live as those who have been created, redeemed, and sanctified to bear His image of selfless love to the world. In order to accomplish this great task of spreading the Gospel and living out love, Jesus promised that they would receive "power from on high" (His Holy Spirit).

 

This Gospel of forgiveness which Jesus has earned for the world means resurrection from death for all people; the undoing of death, which is the wages of sin. Moreover, this forgiveness Jesus has earned gives eternal life to all who trust in Him as Savior. This trust (faith) is a gift of the Holy Spirit. It is produced through the power of the Gospel message of God's love for us in Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

This Gospel of forgiveness on account of Christ comes to sinners through the call to faith in Christ and repentance from sin. This Gospel is applied to sinners in the waters of Holy Baptism, by which God adopts us as His beloved children, making us heirs of His eternal kingdom, pouring His Holy Spirit into our hearts, imparting faith, and forgiving our sins. This same Gospel of forgiveness is received upon our lips when we receive Christ's very body and blood in the Sacrament of the Altar (a.k.a. the Eucharist, Holy Communion, the Lord's Supper, etc.). The Holy Spirit works through the Church as we strive to live by faith, and to faithfully carry out all that Christ has given us to do until He comes again in glory to raise all the dead and stand as Judge over all the earth.

 

In the back of our church (St. Paul Lutheran Church) we have a statue of the risen Christ. He is in the air with His hands raised in blessing. He is wearing a white robe draped in red (it kind of looks like a red cape!). This image could be thought of as the ascension of Christ, but the red implies that it is actually depicting the return of Christ in glory as Judge of the living and the dead (see Revelation 19:11-16).

 

I mention all of this to say this: the Christian faith is not just about moral lessons, or a list of "do this and don't do this." The Christian Faith is about faith in Christ. It is about trusting in the One true eternal God who paid for our sins by coming into the world as one of us in order to die on the cross and rise victorious over death. The Christian Church is that peculiar people who have been called by the Gospel of forgiveness in Christ's name and by the power of the Holy Spirit have received that Gospel in faith.

 

Knowing the salvation which has been afforded to them by Christ, Christians continue to gather together to regularly hear and to grow in the Word concerning Christ; they continue to be built up in the Faith by receiving the gracious gifts of Christ's Holy Sacraments for the forgiveness of sins and the living out of their faith in Him. By the power of His Word and Spirit, they selflessly show forth their love for God and their love for a world in need. They spread the Gospel of salvation in Jesus' name, looking forward to the day of His return with longing confidence.

 

If you have not been regularly gathering with those who proclaim and live according this Gospel of Christ, I encourage you to make a point of doing so. This is the most important thing a person can do. There is no salvation apart from Christ Jesus our Savior. He will come again in the same way as His disciples saw Him go into heaven. He will come again in glory as our Judge. I pray you would grow in the knowledge of the truth of forgiveness, life, and salvation until that day.