Epilogue
The Ascension
The Ascension
The Disciples’ Vision
Jesus stayed in spirit with his disciples for 40 days, counseling and inspiring them as to how to continue His mission. His last words to them were to “be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). And then Acts says “He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight” (1:9).
Since Jesus’ “body” was in fact a spiritual entity, as explained earlier, this “ascension” was in fact a spiritual experience—a vision—that the disciples shared. It was a vision laden with symbolism. Jesus Himself had invoked this symbolism earlier in His ministry when He said, “No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man” (John 3:13). He was of course speaking figuratively here. That is, He hadn’t literally descended from Heaven on a cloud. He was born on earth, like any other human being. So, when He said He “has ascended into heaven,” He meant He Himself was close to God in heart. And that’s what the ascension following His resurrection meant, too—that the spirit of Jesus was “lifted up” to a spiritual place close to God in heart.
“Ascending” being “close to God in heart” is exactly what David had in mind when he wrote in Psalms 24:3-4, “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully.”
So, Jesus’ ascension means He was “lifted” into the presence of God. What the disciples saw on that day was a vision that symbolized this.
The two angels that appeared to the disciples immediately afterward told them concerning the Second Coming of Christ (Acts 1:11) that Jesus “who has been taken up from you into heaven” (brought into the presence of God) “will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven” (that is, He will come from the presence of God, and thus will be born, we might surmise, from a sanctified lineage on the earth, just as Jesus was).
How This Helps Us Have a Real Relationship With the Real Jesus
When we know that Jesus’ body didn’t actually float up into the air at the ascension, Jesus becomes less of a magical, supernatural, remote figure and much more of a brother and real human being with a physical body and a spirit that behave according to the natural laws (the physical body returns to dust, and the spirit lives on and even appears on occasion to people on earth).
Since Jesus’ life is thus more like our own, we feel closer in heart with Him.
Moreover, it causes us to burn with a holy fire of anticipation for the Second Coming of Christ. This man will not be Jesus himself, because, as Ecclesiastes 12:7 tells us, “the dust [of Jesus’ body] returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” He will, however, be anointed by Jesus but will be a different person and will consequently have a different name. Jesus declares passionately three times about this “new name” in the Apostle John’s Revelation (2:17, 3:12, and 19:12). So, come quickly, Lord Jesus, and anoint your Holy Successor whom we may follow and roll up our sleeves to work with to bring in your long-delayed Kingdom of Heaven on earth! Amen, and amen.