Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Text: (Ezekiel 1 and Mark 16:19)
So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
In St Mark’s gospel we read that Jesus was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And many people think: So what? Churches throughout the world should be full of people to celebrate Ascension—so what’s so special about it? But so many people think that it means that Jesus went away in such a way that he’s simply not here any more, and that he is inaccessible. St Bernard in the 12th century said: “The memory of Jesus is sweet, giving to the heart true joy, but above honey and everything is his sweet presence.” But even though Jesus was taken in a cloud, and the disciples were there looking up into the sky, Jesus also promised to be “with them always to the end of the age”, not just spiritually, but bodily, physically, so that he himself could breathe out the Holy Spirit on every Christian in the church throughout the centuries to come.
So, the church is here, Holy Baptism is possible, the Lord’s Supper is possible, because Jesus Christ, true God and true man, has ascended into heaven and has sat down at the right hand of God the Father. Everything that is possible of God is possible of Jesus. If God is everywhere, Jesus too can be everywhere.
It’s the Ancient Greeks who saw earth down here and heaven up there. But the Ancient Hebrews, from whom we learn the truth about God, saw heaven and earth as converging. God was always intervening in human history, and he set up the Divine Service to allow his holy people to have access to him. In the Old Testament, they had limited access to God through sacrifice of bulls and sheep and goats, but now in the New Testament, we have unlimited access to God through the blood of Jesus poured out for us on the cross, so that we can receive all the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
But as we think about the ascension of Jesus, I’d like us to study Ezekiel chapter 1, which can give us some insights into what we actually mean when we say that Jesus has ascended into heaven.
The book of Ezekiel starts like this:
In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin), the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the LORD was upon him there.
The first chapter of Ezekiel describes an event where the prophet saw into heaven and described it. The ESV bible here says that he saw “visions” of God—but this isn’t quite correct. Literally, it should say he saw the “appearance” or the “form” of God. What Ezekiel saw was not a vision—he didn’t “have a vision”, like we might say. He saw something that was external, objective, and outside of him. And Ezekiel also tells us where he was. He was “in exile”, in “the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal”. He says: “the hand of the Lord was upon him there.” Ezekiel was a priest. He ministered at the temple in Jerusalem, like Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father. But unlike Zechariah, Ezekiel wasn’t at home. He was far away from home in a foreign land.
In ancient times, every country had its own gods. The Egyptians had their gods, the Babylonians had their gods, the Romans had their gods, the Greeks had the gods, the Persians had their gods. It was just like Hinduism today—Hindu and India are almost the same word. You can’t really be a Hindu if you’re not Indian. Like many ancient religions, Hinduism is connected to India—it’s connected to the River Ganges, and all that sort of thing.
But in this passage, God shows that he is not a god who is confined to Jerusalem and Israel, but he goes to meet Ezekiel in Babylon. He is not simply a God who travels, but the God who made heaven and earth, and so can be everywhere.
Then we read:
As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal. And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf's foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went. As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies. And each went straight forward. Wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. And the living creatures darted to and fro, like the appearance of a flash of lightning.
Notice that Ezekiel uses the word “likeness”, “likeness” all the time. Ezekiel is describing something that is almost indescribable, but he can tell us what it looked like. If Ezekiel were making this up, he might ramble on and on, but he describes all of this in an orderly way.
He tells us of a stormy wind, a great cloud, brightness, fire flashing all around. And in the middle of this there is a place of focus—gleaming metal, he says. “Khashmal” in Hebrew. And in the midst of this he saw these four living creatures.
In chapter 10 of Ezekiel, Ezekiel calls them “cherubim”, and he recognises them as cherubim. (After this description, I hardly know why it’s a compliment to call a baby a cherub!!) In fact, of all the passages in the bible that teach us about cherubim, this is one of the central passages. Right at the beginning of Genesis, we are told about the cherubim and the flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
Sometimes in the liturgy or in hymns, we hear about cherubim and seraphim. In Ezekiel 1 we read about the cherubim, in Isaiah 6 we read about the seraphim who cry out “Holy, holy, holy”.
But we see that they are quite magnificent creatures. To our imaginations, they are repulsive, scary, terrifying. We have each winged creature with four faces—a human face, the face of a lion, the face of an ox, and the face of an eagle. Ezekiel says: Their appearance was like burning coals of fire.
Then we read:
Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them. As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl. And the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went. And their rims were tall and awesome, and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
We see here these amazing wheels which again highlight to us that the cherubim travel with God who is everywhere. They move everywhere on the earth. It says in Psalm 18: “God rode on the cherub and flew”. So Ezekiel describes for us these wheels.
Then we read the next part, which is very important.
Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring crystal, spread out above their heads. And under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another. And each creature had two wings covering its body. And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army. When they stood still, they let down their wings. And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads. When they stood still, they let down their wings.
And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.
Ezekiel describes the appearance of God. He says: “And seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance.” We are created in the image of God, and so God here reveals himself with a human likeness—but also shrouded in mystery and light and fire.
But here is what is just so incredibly important when we think about the ascension of Jesus. Ezekiel describes the likeness of the throne and likeness of a human appearance on top of it. Before that, he describes the likeness of the cherubim. But between the cherubim and the throne, Ezekiel describes a very important detail: an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring crystal.
And what’s the significance of this, you might ask?
If there is one thing that Ezekiel is really trying to make sure that we all understand here is that there is a separation between the cherubim and God who is seated on the throne. There is a platform, an expanse, a crystal structure—God is seated on a throne on top of it, and the cherubim cannot reach above it. They are below it.
And Ezekiel writes:
Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking. (And that concludes the first chapter of Ezekiel.)
Many ancient religions, like Hinduism, have gods who are half-animal, half-man, winged animals, and such like. And we shouldn’t laugh at them. The cherubim are very much like the Sphinx in Ancient Egypt, the Griffin in Ancient Greece, and maybe even a bit like some of the idols of modern day Hinduism.
But Ezekiel doesn’t dismiss it all as fantasy. There are all sorts of invisible living creatures that God has created, angels and archangels. But what these other religions didn’t know was that these living creatures were not gods. These religions worship these creatures (a bit like the cherubim) as gods. But Ezekiel says: They are not gods. They are servants to the one true God who rules over all.
Over all these cherubim, there is an expanse. And over the expanse, there is a throne. And God is seated upon the throne.
So when we say that Jesus went into heaven, that’s one thing. But where did he go? Below the expanse, or above the expanse? He went and sat down at the right hand of God. He is above the expanse—equal with God in power, majesty, and nature. Jesus is not one of the living creatures, he is the Lord of angels and archangels, and he is our living master and Lord.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses also want to make Jesus less than God, but if they do that, they put him below the expanse to be with the cherubim. That is not what Jesus is! That is not what the gospel of Mark says about him. That is not what Thomas meant, when he says: “My Lord and my God!” Anyone who wants to make Jesus less than equal to God wants to put Jesus at God the Father’s feet, and that is not where God the Father wants to put him. He exalted him to his right side as his equal.
And so, this is the amazing thing at the ascension of Jesus: that not just a human likeness is seated on the throne, but a true flesh and blood human being, the flesh of God, born of the Virgin Mary. And this Jesus, who we worship, rides upon the cherubim and visits his church, and blesses us, covers us with his blood, baptises us, speaks his words to us, and gives us his own body and blood to us to eat and drink.
And so here we are, like Ezekiel, as exiles in a foreign land, living among a people who are turning away from God, and Jesus Christ comes seated upon the cherubim into our midst as our Lord and God, and still pours out on us his gifts. Like Ezekiel, the hand of the Lord is upon us here. The hands of our living Lord Jesus are resting upon us with blessing and grace, with life, forgiveness and salvation.
And so we praise our wonderful, glorious, gracious Jesus in the words of our hymn: Crown him with many crowns, the Lamb upon the throne!
Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ, we confess that you ascended into heaven and are seated at the right hand of God the Father. We confess that you are our Lord and our God, true man and true God in one person. We know that even the memory of you, and the thought of you is sweet, but even sweeter than honey and everything is the joy of being in your presence! Amen.
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