Christ Is Still Upon the Throne

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Eusebius, Bishop of Nicomedia (341 C.E.) was the first to establish Ascension as a separate and special day. It may not always be possible to hold special services on Thursday (forty days after Easter). On this special service, we connect the resurrection to the ascension. Christ death and resurrection secured our hope for eternal life. Christ ascended to the right hand of God assured us of our future glorification. His ascension set the stage for the coming of the Spirit.

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set 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, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:1-11)

Can you imagine the scene? The first followers of Jesus fully expected the messiah to come and establish God’s kingdom on earth. His arrest and execution stifled their faith. But now, the disciples witnessed resurrection. They assumed that God through Jesus would now establish God’s kingdom. But instead, they witnessed absence. Note the juxtaposition of  “I will be with you always” and he leaves. How do you live as an earnest disciple of a now-departed Lord? Imagine the look on their faces; mouths hung open, gazing into the sky.

  • You know the look; the look parents have during times of graduation. Sometimes a look of surprise, for nobody thought he could graduate. But really it is a look of the future uncertainties of an empty nest, of a child transitioning to the next stage in life. The knowledge that the future is often dangerous, confusing, unsettled. Will their feet land on a solid Rock? To believe in the resurrection is to believe in the ascension. “Jesus is still upon the throne.”
  • You know the look; the look of a patient after hearing the diagnosis. A disease announced that has a cure more costly than one family can bear alone; the dreary months ahead loom with no promise and little hope. To believe in the resurrection is to believe in the ascension. “Jesus is still upon the throne.”
  • You know the look; the look of a church that has experienced a decade of decline. Jealousies and bickering has led to several defections. The once vibrant teenage class now stands formless and void. The number of deacons to serve God’s people can be counted on one hand with fingers to spare. And we stand there gazing into the sky wonder what in the world has happened. To believe in the resurrection is to believe in the ascension. “Jesus is still upon the throne.”

Why do you stand there gazing? The Lord is exalted; the King is exalted on high. He rules today at the right of God in the heavens. And our proper response is worship and witness (Luke 24:50-53). The Bible does not deal with ascension in any fancy way. It is presented as a natural conclusion to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. After Pentecost, the first disciples accepted ascension. The disciples knew that Jesus had gone to be with them always. What does, he ascended mean? He is alive and we are his present witnesses of his ongoing work in the world. What does he ascended mean? That we, the church, go forth in the advancing of the kingdom.

Psalm 93 The LORD is king, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed, he is girded with strength. He has established the world; it shall never be moved; your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting. The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring. More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters, more majestic than the waves of the sea, majestic on high is the LORD! Your decrees are very sure; holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore.

Ascension day, Thursday June 2nd. What happens now? What happens between Ascension Sunday (June 5) and Pentecost Sunday (June 12)?  [Pentecost Sunday (50 days after Easter)]. The Day of the Ascension until Pentecost is a period that can be called the “between times” (passage between Christ’s earthly ministry and the empowerment and commissioning of the Church). The disciples’ actions give us a clue of resolution. Acts 1:14—All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers. This interim time is one for contemplation and prayer, which are not idle forms but a practice of preparation for ministry and mission (Ora Labora—Prayer is work and work is prayer).

Adrian Nocent offers the Verona Sacramentary as a prayer that covey the themes of this day:

Rightly do we exult and rejoice on [this memorial day]. The ascension into heaven of Jesus Christ, Mediator between God and [humanity], is not an abandonment of us to our lowly state, for he exists now in the glory that he always had with you and in the nature took from us and made his own. He deigned to become [human], in order that he might make us sharers in his divinity.[1]

[1]Adrian Nocent, The Liturgical Year, translated by M. J. O’Connell (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1977) Vol. III, pp. 235-36.