Grace,
mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
The sermon
text for today was inspired by the Holy Spirit through the apostle St Luke, who
was a doctor. And he compiled our gospel reading tonight as part of an
orderly account, so that we may have certainty concerning the things
which we have been taught. So we read:
While [Jesus]
blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And the
worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually
in the temple blessing God. (Luke 24:44-53)
Prayer: May
the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O
Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Can you imagine what heaven must
be like? The bible tells us about all kinds of amazing creatures and angels
there. In Ezekiel chapter 1, we read about the four living creatures, each with
four faces: a human face, a lion’s face, the face of an ox and the face of an
eagle. And each of these creatures have wings, and a likeness like burning
coals of fire, with eyes everywhere, and wheels taking them in all kinds of
directions. These creatures are called the cherubim. (One of the
cherubim with the face of a lion is often used as the emblem of St Mark, and so
we have pictures of this angel in our church.) In Isaiah 6, we read about the
seraphim: each having six wings and singing, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of
hosts.
We can’t begin to imagine what it
must be like in the company of these creatures! And yet, today we celebrate the
ascension of Jesus. And St Mark teaches right at the end of his gospel that
Jesus did two things: He was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right
hand of God. He didn’t simply enter heaven to stand among all these angels,
and be made equal to all these amazing creatures, but he went into heaven to be
worshipped by them, sitting at the right hand of God, being made equal to God
in his human flesh.
It is such an amazing mystery
that we celebrate in our church tonight that it’s impossible to describe it
fully! It’s too amazing for our minds to even comprehend.
In our Gospel reading, we read
from St Luke where he tells us Jesus’ words to his disciples preparing for his
ascension, and then he tells us very simply about the events of Jesus
ascension.
+++
So first, let’s hear about what
Jesus said to his disciples. We read: Then [Jesus] said to them, “These are
my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything
written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be
fulfilled.”
Jesus says: These are my words
that I spoke to you while I was still with you. Isn’t Jesus still with them
when he says this? Isn’t he still going to be with them? And yet, Jesus is
talking about the time before his crucifixion as the time when he was still
with them. Don’t you think it’s strange that if you read the gospels, Jesus
doesn’t do very much after his resurrection with his disciples? He appeared
them over a period of 40 days, but he didn’t give another Sermon on the Mount,
or anything. He taught them very simply, as if the only thing he wanted to do
was to demonstrate that he was risen, and to prepare the apostles to be the
first preachers of the resurrection.
Everything Jesus teaches us he already
taught before he went to the cross. After his resurrection, there is no new
teaching. In fact, the resurrection simply proves that everything he taught
beforehand is true and is sealed and is solid. We can build our house on this
rock, because the man who spoke them is now risen from the dead. Even today,
we’re not seeking any new teaching from Jesus—we’re not expecting Jesus to come
and teach us something new. Everything that needs to be taught in the church
Jesus gave to us right up front before his suffering and death.
Jesus says: everything written
about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.
Here Jesus is talking about the entire Old Testament. When he says the Law
of Moses, he means the first five books of the bible: Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. When he says the prophets, He is
referring to the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Ezekiel, Daniel, and then the 12 Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah,
Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habbakuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. And
when Jesus says the Psalms, he’s not just talking about the book of
Psalms but about all the poetic books of the Old Testament: Psalms, Job,
Proverbs, Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther, and also
with these are included Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles. (Sometimes, Daniel is
also included with the poetic books instead of with the prophets, but
personally, I think that Daniel properly belongs with the prophets.)
So when Jesus says that everything
written about him in the Law of Moses, the prophets and the Psalms must
be fulfilled, he is saying that every book of the Old Testament speaks
about him. Jesus is teaching us also how to read the Old Testament: that it
teaches us about him. We could go through all the events of the Old Testament
and meet Jesus there. (That’s also the reason why it’s so important for us and
our children to learn the Old Testament.)
Even on the day of Pentecost, we
see Peter, preaching the first Christian sermon, and taking passages from the
Old Testament and showing how they talk about Jesus.
So Jesus’ teaching is not a kind
of new law, new prophecy, or new poetry, but all of these things are brought to
new life through the resurrection of Jesus, because all of these books teach us
about Jesus. And Jesus left nothing of what was written about him unfulfilled.
Just think if Jesus had just got down off the cross and went home! What a
tragedy that would have been for all of us!
No, Jesus wanted to fulfil the
Old Testament for us. He wanted to bring all the sacrifices to an end by making
the one perfect sacrifice for the sin of the world. He wanted to bring the Old
Testament priesthood to an end, because he wanted to be our eternal high
priest, who is able to sympathise with us in our weakness, who was tempted
in every respect as we are, yet without sin.
So we read: Then he opened
their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is
written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,
and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to
all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
Listen to that: Jesus opened
their minds to understand the Scriptures. We might think, “how do I
understand all of the Scriptures? Some of it is pretty hard for me to
understand! You know, I’ve tried to read the bible cover to cover, but I always
get derailed when I get to Leviticus!” We need Jesus himself to come and open
our minds. The bible is breathed out by Jesus, and inspired by the Holy
Spirit, and we need the help of the Holy Spirit and of Jesus to understand it.
If we want to know what the bible’s about, we have to go and ask the author.
So, understanding the Scriptures is not something that can be done with human
reason and scientific methods. Sometimes when people explain the bible, it
sounds like an autopsy report, because they think it’s a dead word! No: Jesus Himself
must open our minds to understand the Scriptures.
He says: Thus it is written
that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that
repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all
nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
What’s Christian preaching all
about? That the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead.
And what’s it for? That repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed
in his name to all nations.
So this is what the apostles, and
then all pastors, are called to do: preach the law of God in all is rawness and
ugliness, the teaching of sin, judgment, punishment, and hell. This is the
preaching of repentance: the preaching that finds sinners, crushes them and
kills them. But also, we are called to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all
its sweetness, the teaching of what Christ has done for us, his forgiveness,
his grace, his love, his mercy, his atonement, his blood, his death, his
resurrection. This is the preaching that creates out of nothing new living
saints out of dead sinners.
All these things are to be
preached in his name and to all nations. Repentance is preached in
the name of Jesus, and the forgiveness of sins is preached in the name
of Jesus. Law and Gospel is Jesus’s own words, with his name attached to
it. And beginning with Jerusalem, on the day of Pentecost, the Gospel is
to be preached to all nations.
And Jesus says to his apostles: You
are witnesses of these things. It is these apostles who are the eyewitnesses
of the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus, and now Jesus explicitly
sends them as his preachers. And today, everything we know about Jesus comes
from their writings. And people throughout history will be converted to the
Christian faith and come to know Jesus not because of people’s spiritual
experiences, but because of the apostles’ eyewitness. St John says at the
beginning of his first letter: That which we have seen and heard we proclaim
also to you. Even today, we still preach to the world what the apostles saw
and heard.
Now if Jesus is going to send out
his apostles to do this work, he needs to equip them and give them everything
that they need for the job. He says:
And behold, I am sending the
promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with
power from on high.
Jesus says: I am sending the
promise of my Father upon you. Here Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the promise
of His Father. Jesus shows us that he is the one who sends the Holy
Spirit upon the apostles and upon all Christians.
And he says: But stay in the
city until you are clothed with power from on high. They are going to begin
their work in Jerusalem, so they have to stay in Jerusalem until they are
equipped for their work. They are going to be clothed with power. How
weak they must have felt! How unprepared! And yet Jesus promises to clothe them
with the power of the Holy Spirit. He gives them whole armour of faith to put
on: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and as
shoes for their feet the readiness given by the gospel of peace, the shield
of faith with which they can extinguish all the flaming darts of the
devil one, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.
What a great thing it is for them to be clothed with power from on high!
Do you know for us that Jesus
also clothes us with power from on high? He gives you all the strength
and energy that you need at any particular time. That of course is different
from what you think you need! Maybe you find yourself tired and
exhausted all the time, maybe you can’t get a good sleep at night or you get
woken up by little children, or something. Stay in the city. Stay where
you are, listen to the word of God, and put your trust in your dear Jesus, who
knows what is best for you, who knows your heart so deeply and your needs so
much better than you know yourself. Stay in the city until you are clothed
with power from on high. Jesus will give you his power in his own time, he
will fill your jar of clay with his treasure, to show that the surpassing
power belongs to him and not to us. As St Peter writes: After you have
suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his
eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and
establish you. Come, Lord Jesus! Send us the Holy Spirit!
+++
And so, after Jesus teaches his disciples
his final words, we read: Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and
lifting up his hands he blessed them. The place of Jesus’ ascension was the
Mount of Olives, which is near the town of Bethany. The Mount of Olives is the
place where the Garden of Gethsemane was, where Jesus had wrestled in prayer
and sweated blood. And now, this same place is turned into a place of great
joy! The place of suffering has turned into a place of blessing! How often it
happens also for us that the aspects of our life which bring us the most
suffering and anguish are the things where God wants to heal us and show his
glory the most! How often is it that the deepest pains that we have are the
things to which Jesus speaks his deepest comfort!
We read: While he blessed
them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. He parted from
them, while blessing them. He parted from them, and was hidden from their sight.
He was carried up into heaven by God, to show that he would carry us up
to heaven to be with him. He appears before the face of God in his holy
flesh, his true human body, and shows us that his human flesh is now
enthroned together with the Father. And it’s this same Jesus who descends upon
the earth in all his glory to baptise each Christian, to preach each faithful
sermon, to speak his absolution to us with his own mouth, and to give that same
glorified flesh and blood to us to eat and drink in the Lord’s Supper. How can
we get our head around this wonderful mystery!
And finally, we read: And they
worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually
in the temple blessing God. They worshipped him—yes, what else could they
have done? What else can we do tonight than adore and worship Jesus, our Lord
and our God, who has promised to be with us to the end of the age?
And so, just as Jesus had gone
from Bethany to Jerusalem many times before—once to ride into the city on a
donkey, once to face his trial—they also go back to Jerusalem. And they do so
with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.
Just as Jesus is lifted up, may
our hearts also be lifted up and encouraged! Just as death has been defeated in
Jesus, so also may everything of death, fear, and despair be defeated in us.
May God also give us a share in that same joy that the disciples had on that day! May God allow us to drink deeply and richly of the Holy Spirit which Jesus pours out on us! May our ascended Lord Jesus also clothe us with every gift that we need in our lives, and all the power that we need from on high!
Amen.
Lord Jesus, we thank you that you
have ascended into heaven and sit at the right hand of God the Father. Send us
all your gifts, and especially the gift of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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