Acts 1:6-14 The Ascension of Jesus
What do a kettle, toaster and blender have in common? That’s right, you guessed it – they are household kitchen appliances. And very useful ones too. But what do they need to work properly? Power! Yes, they need power. To ensure they work and do the job they are meant to do, you have to make sure they are plugged in and switched on.
Similarly, the church, that is the people of God, needs his power to live according to his ways and his word, and so bear testimony to his saving love. We can’t do it in our own strength. We need God’s help. Before Jesus’ ascension, he promised to send a helper – the Holy Spirit – to empower and enable his disciples (that includes us) to live as his people. Acts 1:8 is a key verse where Jesus says to his disciples,
“you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
This is a word of promise to us as well.
And so, today we’re thinking about the Ascension of Jesus, an important festival day in the church calendar that can generally go unnoticed. We’re going to briefly consider what it is and then think a bit more about its significance in the life of the church.
So, what is Ascension Day?
Ascension Day is one of the earliest of the Christian holy days to be celebrated, dating from the late fourth century, well before Christmas Day.
Ascension Day always falls on a Thursday, because it is exactly forty days from Easter Sunday (see Acts 1:3). It marks the final appearance of the risen Jesus to his friends, and his return to his Father. Down the centuries theologians have debated about what actually happened at the Ascension. I don’t think that is important. The main thing is Scripture records Jesus’ ascension to his Father, marking the end of his earthly ministry. Jesus had often spoken about it with his disciples. And this is what Luke writes about at the end of his gospel and here at the beginning of Acts.
The Acts of the Apostles begins where the Gospel according to Luke left off. There we read how Jesus instructed his disciples to stay in the city, Jerusalem, until they are clothed with power from on high. In other words, they are to wait for the promised Holy Spirit. And this can only happen when Jesus returns to his Father.
A helpful way to think about it is the gospel of Luke recording what Jesus began to both do and teach in his human body, and the book of Acts tells us what Jesus continued to do and teach through His spiritual body, the church. And He does this through the Holy Spirit who works in and through the church, the people of God. The book of Acts is an account of the spread of the gospel throughout the world as the Holy Spirit enables, equips and empowers the church to witness to the good news of Jesus and all that He has done for humankind. Jesus’ promises affirm that his ascension is not the end of a story; rather, his departure initiates the next chapter in the story of God’s salvation and we see that unfold in the book of Acts.
Why does the Ascension matter?
The ascension is an important part of the ministry of Jesus. Why?
Because after ascending to the Father’s side, Jesus is now interceding for us as our high priest and advocating on our behalf in God’s presence (see for e.g., Hebrews 4:14-16 & 1 John 1:9 – 2:2). But it also matters because after his ascension he sent the Holy Spirit to empower God’s people to be his witnesses throughout the world just as he had promised to do. Next Sunday is Pentecost when we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Jesus disciples that led to the gospel spreading far and wide.
The wonderful news is that we too can receive and be filled with the Holy Spirit today. And that’s why Acts 1:8 is such a key verse as I’ve already mentioned. But let me read it to you again, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
What this verse makes absolutely clear is that the power of the church – the people of God – comes from the Holy Spirit and not from any sort of human effort or will power. It is the Holy Spirit who affirms us as God’s children and enables us to live and witness to his saving purposes for us and all humanity.
In the book of Acts, we read of many instances when God’s people experience repeated fillings of the Holy Spirit as they face new opportunities and obstacles. Ordinary people were able to do extraordinary things because the Spirit of God worked powerfully in and through them. Even today the Spirit of God is powerfully at work in the lives of individuals and whole communities around the world.
What does God’s power working in us enable us to do? It enables us to be his witnesses. That’s a really important word – witness. Did you know that in the book of Acts, the word ‘witness’ is used over 35 times in its various forms.
Jesus told his disciples that when they received the Holy Spirit, they would be his witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8). And that’s exactly what they did.
Similarly, we are called to be Jesus’ witnesses to our friends, families and neighbours. The work of a witness is to tell what they have heard and seen. We are to tell others of what we know about God’s saving love. Just like those first disciples, we are to tell and share the truths of God’s word and especially the truth of Jesus saving work on the cross. We are to witness to Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life and we are to tell that all are welcomed into God’s family through him. He shows us the father heart of God.
In Jesus are to be found all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Jesus has paid the price for sin and overcome death itself and now reigns eternally as our Lord and Saviour. In and through him we can know God’s amazing grace, forgiveness and love. Jesus came to give us life in all its fulness. We can know and experience this in our lives and, beyond earthly life, there is the promise of eternal life for all those who trust in Christ as Saviour.
These are wonderful and life-giving truths that we are to be witnesses of as we share the good news of the gospel with others and invite them to find out more about this carpenter from Galilee who gave himself as a ransom for many.
But before we can be witnesses, we need his Holy Spirit to indwell and empower us. We know this is possible because of Jesus’ ascension. He has kept is promise. The Spirit is freely given to all who say yes to Jesus. The Spirit of Christ works and wills in us to make us more like Jesus. The Spirit witnesses to our spirits of God’s amazing love and through us, witnesses to the world of God’s saving love.
Do you know God’s saving love? I don’t know how your faith journey is going. Perhaps things have gone a bit cold or perhaps you feel you seem to have lost that first love for the Lord. Perhaps life has been challenging and God seems ‘absent’ leaving you with a feeling of abandonment. Perhaps other distractions have got in the way of your relationship with Jesus. It does happen. It doesn’t mean you’ve done something wrong. Sometimes we might experience what’s called the ‘dark night of the soul’ when God seems especially absent and we don’t know what to do.
If any of the above strikes a chord with you, then the good news is that Jesus never gives up on us. He relentlessly pursues us because he loves us.
And so, the first thing to do is to check if we’re ‘plugged’ in. By which I mean draw close to God in prayer and ask him to fill you again with his life-giving Spirit. Take time to wait on him. Remind yourself of his precious promises in the Bible. Hold on to Him even when you don’t understand and life doesn’t make sense.
God has not given up on you. He is faithful to his promises and we can be confident and secure in his love towards us. And so may the Holy Spirit testify to our spirits that we are God’s children in whom he delights and whom he will empower, equip and enable to witness to his saving love.
Amen.