The difference that Jesus’ ascension makes
On Thursday, many churches commemorated Jesus’ ascension to heaven. Why? What is Jesus’ ascension? Why does it matter?
The Lord Jesus, after he rose from the dead, ascended to heaven (Acts 1:11). To ascend is to go up. Recently a rocket ascended to Mars. But Jesus’ ascension is more than just moving upward spatially. Prince Buthelezi helped me grasp this more clearly. I was listening to the eloquent, gracious prince speak on SAFM about how the new Zulu king will ascend to the throne – officially crowned and enthroned as king. Jesus’ ascension was his enthronement as King of the universe. After Jesus finished his earthly work of dying on the cross to bear the sins of his people (Hebrews 1:3), Jesus ascended to heaven’s throne where he sat down at his Father’s right hand, to begin his eternal reign. I hope you say ‘amen!’ to that. But what difference does it make to our lives?
To answer that, we should narrow the question to this – what could King Jesus begin to do for his people after he was enthroned as King that he could not do when he was resurrected but had not yet ascended to heaven? It was not until he ascended to heaven’s throne that he started to rule as King of all nations. We are in the bottom of Africa. You probably do not realize it because it is home for you, but we are really at the ends of the earth. Antarctica is the next land mass if you go south. When the risen Lord Jesus was on earth for the 40 days (Acts 1:3) after his resurrection, if you wanted to experience his presence, you would have to travel to where he was physically located.
But the ascension changes that. Since he ascended to heaven’s throne (and shortly after poured out his Spirit), we who trust his loving rule, can experience the exalted Lord Jesus’ presence, through the Spirit who unites us to him by faith. We do not need to fly from Johannesburg to Israel to meet God. If we did, it would do us no good anyway. The temple has been destroyed and, even if it was standing, it is no longer the place to meet God – Jesus is. Because of the ascension, King Jesus is now accessible as a global king – the global King. Anyone, anywhere can experience his presence as we understand the Bible and believe its message with the help of the Spirit. Much more could be written about the difference the ascension makes, but for now, why not take a moment to thank God that because Jesus died for your sins, rose from the dead, and has been enthroned as King, you can enjoy God’s presence through him at this very moment?
