Ascension of Christ

Unedited Transcript follows:

00:00
Name of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy spirit. Amen. We normally haven't celebrated a Ascension of like, sometimes we haven't celebrated Ascension at all as a church, it's uh kind of a fat the reality of being a mobile church and spread out a really long way.

00:21
Sometimes we struggle to Get all together on a Thursday and have that, um, be something that would be Um, we do that. Sometimes we do some midweek stuff, but that would, it's usually a smaller service. It's just hard for people to get out, like, on a Thursday evening and, and get to church.

00:38
So, um, I thought it'd be neat this year to intentionally celebrate a Ascension. On a Sunday when, when everyone was planning to come out and they could come out. So, this is actually the Sunday after Ascension, which we would have read a different set of colics different set of readings, But we decided this day to say, let's let's make a lot out of the Ascension, which gives us a an opportunity to have a sermon on Ascension.

01:05
You guys normally only get to hear sermons about Jesus being King on Christ. The King Sunday, which is the last Sunday of the liturgical year, but Ascension is like the day most rooted to Jesus life, where we can talk about him being King, which is neat. And we prayed today, Mighty God who's only begotten son.

01:25
Our Lord, Jesus Christ ascended into heaven. Our hearts and Minds also their Ascent and with him continually dwell. So, we pray. And what we see in that prayer, Is that we? We we recognize there's this grounding for that prayer. Like what we're asking the Lord, we're asking the Lord for our Ascent, right?

01:46
But we start with this grounding for this petition and the grounding for the petition is the Lord Jesus Christ ascended, right? So that's where we start, that's the starting place for this prayer. A lot of times colics are going to ground the petitions in various truths about God. And so we're grounding our petition that we may there with him Ascend in.

02:08
This fact about who God is and this fact about Jesus Christ ascending The Lord Jesus Christ. Descended. And and when we think about his Ascension, it's really his his coronation day. In the book of Acts. Which we read at a loop, prefaces the Ascension with a discussion of the Kingdom.

02:31
Is. Now the time that the kingdom is going to be restored to Jerusalem is what Jesus was asked and this is what Is the precursor for this event of Ascension. Jesus disciples had a really limited understanding of what that meant. You know, they were asking, hey is this the time that the right people are in charge in Jerusalem?

02:56
Right. And and instead of the occupiers, you know, But like is this the time that the right people are in charge in Jerusalem? And the coming event was. Both less and more. Than what they were expecting. It was less in the sense that She just didn't kick out the Romans, right then, right?

03:18
So it was less in that sense, but it was more in the sense that they watched their Lord Ascend as king over the entire world, right? So they they had a really limited scope, really? It's like oh Jesus rose from the dead. This guy that they killed that they said wasn't the Messiah rose from the dead showed.

03:40
He was now it's time for him to kick out the Romans and be king over Jerusalem. Said, well, it's less than that. And that I'm not kicking out the Romans, but it's much more than that. I'm ascending not a not as king over Jerusalem. But as king over the world.

03:58
As king over the entire world, I'm ascending. The Ephesians reading that we read, today is packed with meaning. The reason we read it though isn't for the first part. It's for that last part verses 20 to 23. And Saint Paul kind of Does what he does which is like I I say Saint Paul is like in our scriptures is like the stream of Consciousness writer.

04:29
So like he just like starts writing and he he starts doing one thing. He's unpacking the The. Um, that God, that he's asking to be present in the life of the Saints. But then he ends up just kind of like, Rolling with it. And then he ends up talking about this might demonstrated in the Ascension of Jesus and what it like, and he just kind of Ends in a different place than he began, which is kind of fun.

04:57
When you're learning Greek, it's not fun. I told I, I told my fellow Greek students. That the first thing I'm doing in the Kingdom is finding Paul and saying can you mix in a period? You know, like Uh, it would it would really help someone who doesn't understand this language.

05:14
If you if you ended a sentence somewhere, uh, and just keep going. Uh, and uh, but this is what he does. So he starts here and he ends up talking about the Ascension in verses 20 to 23. Just kind of unpacking this might, that's at work. He uses a perfect tense verb.

05:33
When he says that he worked in Christ Jesus. When he raised him from the dead that he worked that word worked. He uses the present tense. We don't really have are the perfect tense. I mean, he doesn't like we don't really have the perfect tense in the same way.

05:45
It's like something that happened in the past with continuing results now. So it's something that God already did and then there's stuff still happening. It's not it's the least common. Tense in Greek. So like when they do it, it's on purpose. You want to zoom in on that, you want to say, okay, why why perfect?

06:02
So, he's talking about a working that takes place that took place in the past and as continuing ramifications for now continuing to be worked out now. And so, he's like, Say hey. He raised him from the dead and seated him. When he did these things, when he worked this power, he he did something in the past that has ramifications for right now.

06:26
When you guys are reading, He has this use of this plural, and the singular, you might notice. In verse 21, it's like all singular. Far above. Well, it says all rule which might which might lead you to be confused but every rule Um, our power or authority, we're using singular here.

06:50
So so Paul's in the the singular he's using all singular. If that's ambiguous in the English, it's not. Um, in the Greek, but the singular, every rule, every Power, every Authority, and then in verse 22, he switches to the plural, he put all things under his feet. So so you want to get this sense of this, all-encompassing thing he's doing he's saying, is there any individual thing?

07:18
You can think of Jesus is King over that. And then he summarizes by saying, He's King over everything. All things all the things, so Everything and all the things, right? Jesus is King over everything and all the things, right? So anything you can think of Jesus Reigns over it.

07:42
Governmental authorities, power structures, political parties. Uh, bosses that are painting, all Jesus Reigns as king. Over all in every individual thing in every Power and every Authority, Jesus Reigns as king. That means every other power is ultimately. Impotent. Not powerful. Only ruling with authority, that God lets them use.

08:17
Right. And and so every other ruler in every Power and just a second Can we just? Pause. And remember this every presidential election. Just pause and remember who's And who Reigns over every Rule and power in every Authority and who stays King? Um, and then all the Lesser authorities are just that.

08:43
There are lesser authorities. It's not that they don't matter. But Jesus is ultimately King overall, right? Now we struggle with this reality of Jesus being King over all as people that have spent their whole lives. Um, most of us in a democratic Republic, right? So we struggle with this reality.

09:07
The, the government that's exalted by the scriptures, if you're like, what's the governmental system in the Holy scriptures, it's not democracy. It's a benevolent monarchy. It's, it's a good King, reigning. Over the whole world, this is the governmental system of the scriptures. So, and democracy. Um, impact, like it can exalt certain aspects of the Christian message.

09:33
Even that there's some alignment with like, individuals being created in the image of God. There's things like this that are good and exalted in that. But ultimately, Jesus as king or there being a good King over. The world is what the scriptures are talking about when they talk about government.

09:52
Talking about a monarchy and a king. So, We don't. Vote. Jesus into office. He hasn't asked for our vote. Um, We we use language and and we mean something good, but we'll use language. Like, have you made Jesus the Lord? Of your life. You you can't make Jesus Lord of anything.

10:19
You're you have no more power to make Jesus Lord than you do. Have to make the sky blue. Okay. You have, you have no power to make Jesus Lord, he is Lord and King overall whether or not you regard him as Lord and King over all or not. It has nothing to do with what he is.

10:36
This is an important thing. You can't make reality of anything. Like we we tell ourselves. A lie, a little bit like you don't make anything. And Jesus is king or is not King regardless of your perception of him. He's not relying on you. To record to, to make his kingship.

11:00
Like he's not relying on you to. Give him his power. He doesn't have a delegated Authority. He doesn't govern by the consent of the governed. Okay. So this isn't, this isn't Jesus just rules, okay? And this is and and we are given we can either recognize his lordship now or do it later when every tongue confesses in every knee bows to the king and king and Lord of lords.

11:30
But those are the two options available to us recognize Jesus as king and Lord of all now or do it later when every knee bows and every tongue confesses that he is Lord over all okay? Those are our Ops. It's important to say that because we got to put ourselves in our place like we have a really exalted view of what we're able to enact and what we're able to do, it's important to recognize that what's true about Jesus is true about him regardless of what you think and regardless of what I think.

12:04
He's King overall. But more importantly than that, Jesus is reigning as a good King. And he's extending his good and righteous rule. See I I have good news for you. Jesus is King. And his Reign and rule is righteous. This is so much more. Than like a dunk on people who disagree with you about some political point.

12:30
Jesus is King ha. So therefore like it's someone Jesus being King is the is the react this reality is that there is a good and righteous and mighty ruler who is reigning over all? That is happening in the world. And he's gracious. And he's loving. Any sacrificial. And he he's the he's the weird King who gives his life for his subjects, Jesus is reigning as king.

13:02
And he's a good King and he's a loving King, and he's a righteous King. He's a humble King. So it's good news. Jesus is King, it's humbling. It puts us in our place but we recognize that this is good news. Because Jesus is a good King. And we can trust him.

13:23
So, he ascends his King but also when we look at this, Grounding for our petition, that the Lord ascended. Jesus also ascends as our priest. He ascends as our priests. Now, our texts don't really address this today. But Hebrews 7, 25. Tells us that Jesus always lives to make intercession for us.

13:44
Jesus always lives to make intercession for us. That he's like that. He's praying for us to the father that he's laying us before the father as our intercessor. He's, he's he's praying for us. I get this. Picture. Um, it reminds me of Moses. Have you been reading through the morning prayer readings?

14:04
In the book of Deuteronomy, you have Moses kind of retelling the story. Um, and, and you might notice overnight, I mean, besides when Moses, every so often'll, be like, because of you. I'm not going in the land. He does that some too, you know, I any and he reminds them of that a couple times like it's your fault really.

14:21
You know, that I'm not going. But um, but I think what we see more is him saying You angered the Lord, when you made the calf and then I interceded for you. And I prayed for you and the Lord showed you Mercy, And he and he has various times that, he tells them You win, you rebelled against God, I prayed for you and the Lord said Mercy, This he, when he does that, and Moses does that a lot?

14:52
Throughout the Exodus. He's he's a type of Jesus, he's pointing us toward Jesus. And who Jesus is, you know, he's going up on the mountain and the clouds covering him and he's interceding for his people. And he's praying for his people. And we have Jesus ascending into heaven, into the clouds, the clouds covering him and he's interceding for his people.

15:12
He's praying for his people and saying, although they may be rebellious. Show them Mercy. Now it's important when we talk about Jesus, intercession that we don't get the wrong picture. It's not an angry father who's like, I'm ready to go judge and then Jesus begging trying to talk him out of it.

15:29
You know, God's mad Jesus is talking him out of it, you know? And and this that's not the picture of intercession God gave us the intercessor. God gave us Moses or and God gave us Jesus who intercedes for us on our behalf, God gave the people, both Moses and Jesus a gift from God to intercede on their behalf because he loves us.

15:54
So the father gives us. The son is an intercessor. Because he loves us. The father gave his son. That's the story. It's not. The father was really angry and the Uh, the sun helped us out. Thanks Peter God, he rescued us from a mad father. It's the father gave the son, right.

16:14
And the son is interceding for us because the father gave him to us as a gift. And so we have this Jesus ascended, as king ruling righteously, and you also have the Eternal Son of God. The word made flesh. To make intercession for you. This is what we. This is what we ground this prayer in on Ascension is these realities.

16:40
This reigning King, this reigning priest. And so, then we get to asking the Lord for something in our prayer today. We ask May our hearts and Minds also there Ascend. To have it, right? May our hearts and minds also their Ascent. See the Lord Jesus Christ, ascended. As a, as a king, he ascended as a priest, but he also ascended as a human being He's a man.

17:10
Um, he's human. And today he's human, so he didn't, like he didn't Ascend into heaven and then like stop being human, right? He ascended into heaven as a human at the Incarnation, understand something. If the Incarnation of the Eternal, Son of God Jesus became human. He the Eternal Son of God wasn't human before that he became human, and then he will always be human from now on.

17:37
He's always human. So like Can. You can have some fun. Tell people. Hey, I worship a human being. You do. You worship a human uh by virtue of his deity, you know. Um, so yeah. You worship a human by virtue of his deity because he's God you worship him and he's a human.

17:58
And what he did is he brought Humanity Up with him into the heavenlies in Ephesians 1 20. What we read today, that word seated, he seated him with him in the Heavenly places. That's the same verb root is is what's used in Ephesians 2 6, seated us with him, You know in the Heavenly seated us with him in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus, what?

18:23
So like not not even like a whole chapter later. You're gonna have Paul saying, you know, he seated Jesus. Um, Next to him, he seated us with him. Both past tense, right? He seated us with him because what what Jesus brought is he brought all of humanity, along with him, into the heavenlies to be seated.

18:48
And look closely at verses. 22 and 23. It says he gave him his head over all things to the church past tense. Which is his body. The fullness of him who fills all in all just pause for a second. He's talking about the Which is his body. And then he says the fullness of him.

19:13
Who dwells in all and is in all, hold on. He's saying the church has the fullness of the presence of God within it because of our Union with Jesus, that we have been given Jesus as a gift as head over the church. And the church is his body and the fullness of his presence dwells in the church, What?

19:37
We're that United with Jesus that we can say. Where the churches Jesus is. Where the churches Jesus is. The catechism of the Catholic church says the word became flesh to make us partakers of the divine nature. For this is why the word became man and the Son of God became the son of man.

20:04
So that Man by entering into communion with the word and thus receiving Divine, sonship might become a Son of God. God became, man. So that man might become oh Little G gods, right? That's what athanasius said, right, but God became man. So that man might become partaker what he meant and what he he didn't know how weird, some people would get with it, right?

20:30
So like, uh, so some people got really weird with it but what he meant is that they would be so United with Jesus and so much partakers in Union with God, that they are participating, which is what the scriptures say in the divine nature that we participated by Nature, were pulled into the life of God when Jesus ascends.

20:52
He pulls us up with him to be partakers of the divine nature. Truly United with him. His victory is ours. When he becomes a human and stays a human forever. He takes on for our good and he's forever linked with us. It's important to recognize hey desire for Glory.

21:17
Is not going away. You're I I know if you if I were to say to you, I desire glory. I already just tell you that. I want the glory. I want Glory. You say you have a problem, right? I know you'd be tempted to and you'd be right, if if I especially I said I want the glory like, like, that's what they, but that might be a bit much.

21:45
She's like uh, but but I want Glory, but let me tell you something. You want Glory. And I want Lori. And it's not a result of the fall. It's because God made us his image bearers and as co-rulers with him, He made us to rule with him. So why?

22:04
If I, if I came to you and I made a really nasty negative comment Whatever. Nice things. We'll sell you this morning would fade. And, Why would that be the thing? Like in your? It's because You desire glory and I do it's a subset of our desire for immortality.

22:25
We want immortality because we were made to be Immortal. And that the the fact that we die and are forgotten Is a result of sin. It was, it's not God's. Design that we would die and be forgotten. And so you and I have a desire for Glory that just won't quit.

22:46
But we realize as though that the way that we see that desire fulfilled is in our Union with Jesus. And to recognize that his Ascension is ours. And that ultimately will reign with him. The end of the story is we reign with him in the world that he's made new.

23:04
That's the end of the story. We As partakers in divine nature reign with God in the world that he's freed from the effects of sin and death. That's the end of the story and that's where that desire for Glory is met. Seek to meet it in all sorts of ways, that'll never work.

23:19
Um, you'll you you probably won't be the fastest or strongest person in any given room, let alone. In a nation, you know. So like you're you're like that's not the way to seek Glory, the way to seek. Glory is our Union with Jesus who raises us up and seats.

23:37
With him in the Heavenly places. So we prayed in our calls today that we believe Jesus to have ascended. And may, we also Ascend today's a day that we remember our Lord Jesus ascended into heaven, That he ascended his King. Who is reigning and and this is his coronation day, he's reigning as King over all the world.

23:59
And he's extending his righteous rule over all the world and he also ascended as our priest who lives to make intercession for us and to pray for us. And today we also recognize that in Christ's Ascension. He yanked Humanity up with him. And we're invited into participation in the glory that he has.

24:19
And that that Glory, that desire for Glory is only going to be fulfilled in Christ. So may God answer our prayer. Today that as we believe that Jesus has ascended, May also there Ascend. Amen.