He Parted from Them | Luke 24:44–53 | The Ongoing Work of Our Ascended King

Watch This Sermon on the Ascension

What difference does the Ascension of Jesus make? In this sermon on Luke 24:44–53, Pastor Mark Groen reflects on the forgotten significance of Ascension Sunday. With warmth and clarity, he unfolds the blessings that flow from Christ's heavenly session—His ongoing intercession, the promise of the Spirit, and the assurance of our future resurrection. The Ascension isn’t just a departure story; it’s a triumph that fills God’s people with great joy.

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As we journey further away from Easter during the church year, we are to that place that moves us from the empty tomb of Easter to the outpouring of the Holy spirit at Pentecost. Now, situated nicely between the two is an observation that is largely forgotten. We read about it in our gospel text this morning. It's the Ascension. Now, I'm guessing that you don't have many significant memories of Ascension Sunday services. Perhaps like me, you can remember the major parts of the year. Easter, Christmas, Advent is usually a pretty big deal. We put the candles up, and Lent is very well and easily remembered, and maybe even Pentecost. But Ascension Sunday? Nothing really stands out to me personally. In fact, as I was stewing over this topic mentally to prepare a sermon on these Ascension texts, I didn't really have any memories of my own. In fact, the only memory I have is from someone else. A pastor I worked with in Ohio for two years. He was an interim pastor at the church I worked at. His name was Jerry Bauer, and he was a good friend and mentor. I learned a lot from him, but he always told this story about Ascension Day.

When he was in seminary in Columbus, Ohio, at Trinity Seminary, he and some friends acquired a small to medium-sized plastic lawn testament of Jesus. And somehow, in their mischievous ways, they found a way to propulse this Jesus statue. And so as everyone was going to Ascension Day services in Chapel, they had put this Jesus figurine back behind the bushes. As everybody was walking in for Ascension Day service, and I'll do my best impersonation of Jerry Bauer as I can here, as everyone was walking in to Ascension Day services, they shot the Jesus figurine into the air. Now, unlike Brenda's balloon, it did come down. I don't know many more of the details, whether they got in trouble or anything that happened, because whenever Jerry told me that story, which he told me many times, at this point in the story, he started laughing so hard I could not understand him. But my point is, when it comes to Ascension Sunday, that's all I got. But it's pretty significant in the story of the church. All I have is this humorous image of these people walking into chapel at seminary wondering who in the world did that.

That's all I've got. So the question I found myself asking was, isn't this more significant, more than just this humorous anecdote? I mean, in my entire library, I have one book that is specifically addressing the theology of the Ascension. What is it about the Ascension that maybe we don't seem to think is that important? Are we afraid of it? Do we fail to really understand what it is? I'm relatively certain I could have chosen a different passage this morning, and few, if any of us, including me, would have noticed that Ascension Sunday came and went. So what is the significance of the ascension? Do we even really understand why it is significant, or is it just our excuse for why we can't go to see the resurrected Jesus here on Earth? A few weeks ago at Brown Bag Bible Study, around the time of Easter, Larry Brower told us a story about his great-grandson. He had gone with his... If I have the story correct, and remember it correctly, his great-grandson had gone to a Bible study with his mother. There was a children's portion where they learned about the crucifixion. He came and told his grandfather that Jesus was dead and there was some concern.

Well, aren't they going to teach about the ascension? And so I'll just wait and see. Well, a week later, lo and behold, went to the Bible study again, and they learned the rest of the story. So he went to his grandfather excited, Jesus is alive. I don't know where he is, but he's alive. Now, I tell that story because I think in so many ways, that's our answer. I know it describes me. I know Jesus is alive, but what is he doing now? What difference does it make? What does it mean for us? What's the practical application of the fact that Jesus has ascended? With that in mind, we parachute into our text at the end of Luke 24. It's a bit important that we go back and understand our context here. Luke 24 tells us of the resurrection and Jesus appearing to two people on the road to Emmaus, and he unfolds for them how he was the center of scripture. Then he continues to appear to the disciples, and they are certain that they're seeing a spirit. But Jesus shows them that he's not merely an apparition, but that he has actually resurrected in the flesh.

These two things, Jesus at the center of the scriptures and the physical resurrection of the body, are the two big themes that are going on in this text as we get to this idea of the ascension. As we start out with verse 44, we see Jesus doing some more explaining about the scriptures being centered on him. It's important that we note that Jesus talks about the fact that he told them this stuff before. He had been teaching them this, but they didn't understand prior to the crucifixion and resurrection. It tells us that Jesus then opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he gives them this imperative that they are to proclaim the message of repentance and the forgiveness of sins to all nations. Now, that is no small task. Even in our day and age, with technology that allows us to communicate with people all over the world and then travel there in a matter of hours and days instead of weeks and months, we still have difficulty accomplishing this task. If I were with the disciples on that day, I think I would have been overwhelmed. But at the same time, I would have been confident.

This Jesus, this Jesus I follow, he's going to be there for us. I mean, it'll be tough and all to proclaim this message to the whole world. But I mean, Jesus is clearly God. Look at him. He's resurrected in the flesh. He's here with us. He's got our backs. Even his execution on a Roman cross didn't stop him. Now, everybody is going to listen to him. Maybe, just maybe even those pesky pharisees. I don't think they'll handle it very well, but maybe they'll listen now that they've seen he's resurrected from the dead. Personally, I don't think I would handle the news that followed this, that he was leaving us very well. As we look back at the way that the disciples behave through the Gospels, and particularly how they behave after the crucifixion and before the resurrection, and even after the resurrection, what we see here at the end of Luke is a bit surprising. How in the world do the disciples who were confused about the need of the Messiah to suffer and die just a few chapters ago, how do they become these disciples that we read about here in this text? Luke describes them as exhibiting great joy as they go back to Jerusalem after Jesus has left them.

What happened? Who are these guys? As I look at this, I want to understand. Even after Jesus had been raised from the dead, John tells us the disciples went out fishing. They don't seem to have any grasp at all what going to happen. Yet after the ascension, we get joyous disciples who are in the temple continually blessing God. If I'm honest, I don't get this. Maybe you are different than me, but in my sin and unbelief, I want a Jesus who is here. I want proof. That would give me great joy, not him leaving. How is the physical absence of Jesus better? How is the message of repentance and forgiveness of sins that requires human agents to take it out to the world better than Jesus setting up shop in Jerusalem and showing everyone that they need to get in line and do what he says? I guess what I'm driving at is that I'm realizing in my sin and unbelief, I am just like the pre-crucifixion disciples. I've always looked down on them and wondered how they could be such dolts. But at the root, my sin and my doubt are exactly like theirs.

The solution to their doubt was to see the crucified and risen Christ and to be reminded that the thrust of scripture points us not in on ourselves for moral and self-improvement, but instead points us outside of ourselves to the gospel, the message of the gift of repentance and forgiveness of sins because of the finished work of Christ. That's what it points us to. And the solution to our struggles with sin and unbelief are the same as the solution was for the disciples. We need to hear of what Christ has done for us. That transforming message of the cross is not only good for those who do not believe, but it's good for those of us who believe the message, too. Through it, God reminds us of the gift of repentance and the forgiveness of sins. Through it, we are built up in faith. And when we remember what he has done, we can understand how the disciples who were fearful and all out of sorts became those men who returned to Jerusalem after the ascension filled with great joy. It's important, very important to note that Luke makes it clear that Jesus revealed to them how he was the fulfillment of what they knew so well from the Old Testament.

Jesus let them know how he fit in with the story, how he was the promised seed of the woman from Genesis 3, that snake crusher who would destroy the work of the serpent. He taught them that he was Jacob's ladder, that he was the rock in the wilderness that water came from. Jesus told them that he was what the tabernacle, the temple, and that entire sacrificial system pointed to. He's David's offspring, the promised one who would sit on the throne forever. And the disciples return to Jerusalem in joy because they're no longer looking for the Jesus they wanted. That Jesus they wanted was the one who would come and remove the Romans. Give them the boot. Get them, Romans, out of here. Instead, now they understand for the first time who Jesus really is. That Jesus is so much better than the one they were expecting. It's not normal for us to say that we are better off for a loved one to leave us. If it is better for them to be away, it needs to be for our benefit. There needs to be a good and distinct reason that their absence from us is better for us.

And that's what the disciples understood. Understanding what Jesus was doing by ascending, understanding what this whole story means. But now we can talk about Jesus being absent, being better, and how the disciples had great joy all we want. But what is the benefit? Why is this good? Why is it better that Jesus is seated at the right-hand of the Father than being here with us on earth? This is a question that I have spent a lot of time pondering, but I don't think that I could sit up here and explain it as nearly as well as the Heidelberg Catechism does. Question 46. Ask, How do you understand or what do you mean by saying he ascended to heaven? That Christ, while his disciples watched, was lifted up from the earth to heaven and will be there for our good until he comes again to judge the living and the dead. Now, the key phrase that stands out to me here is continues there for our good. Jesus did not ascend into heaven, as we confess in the Apostle's Creed, because he didn't want to be here on Earth, because, say, we weren't good company. That's not why he did it.

He ascended into heaven for our benefit, for our good. The most quoted verse in the New Testament is Psalm 110:1, which is the beginning of what our Old Testament lesson for this morning was. It said, The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right-hand until my enemies are made a footstool.' Jesus quotes it. Many, many other New Testament writers quote it after the ascension. In total, that verse is referenced more than 30 times in the New Testament. In other words, this idea of Jesus being at the right-hand of the Father, again, it's something we confess all the time in the Apostle's Creed. It's a big deal. It's important. But why is it important? Why is this such a major theme in the New Testament? And question 49 answers this. How does Christ's ascension to heaven benefit us? First, he pleads our cause in heaven in the presence of his Father. Second, we have our own flesh in heaven, a guarantee that Christ, our head, will take us, his members, to himself in heaven. Third, he sends his spirit to us on earth as a further guarantee. By the spirit's power, we make the goal of our lives not earthly things, but the things above where Christ is sitting at God's right-hand.

Now, there's a lot to unpack there, but it gives us three reasons to be joyful that Christ has ascended. Let's quickly look at all three, and I'm going to start with the third one. Jesus makes it clear that if he does not go, the spirit will not come. Without remembering the ascension, we don't have Pentecost. Pentecost not only means that the disciples receive the Holy spirit, but it means that we receive it also. Without the Holy spirit giving us the gift of faith, we are dead in our trespasses and sins. Without the Holy spirit, we do not have his sanctifying power working in us. Without the Holy spirit, we do not have the assurance and seal of faith to give us comfort in this life. The Holy spirit comes because Christ left. Secondly, we have our own flesh in heaven. Jesus ascended bodily into heaven and remains there to this day. Jesus did not rise from the dead only as a spirit, but he ascended, he resurrected bodily, and he did the same thing in his ascension. In Christ's ascension, we have an assurance that these bodies of ours will be resurrected and restored.

Just like Job testified, In my flesh, I will see God. The ascension is a promise of a restored body, of a resurrection from the dead, not merely a spiritual but a restoration of us completely and wholly. Lastly, the ascension benefits us because it assures us that we have an advocate, a mediator in heaven, who pleads our case to the Father. I think this is the one that is the most easy to forget. A few years ago, I was in my systematic theology 2 class, and we were discussing some research about the beliefs of modern teenagers. As we were discussing this, we realized that while there was a lot that was wrong with what these teenagers believed from this sociological study, we stopped at a moment and realized that this idea of having an advocate or a mediator is what was primarily missing from what they believed about God. They thought that everything was all right between them and God. They could go before a Holy God on their own. God was approachable without someone to be between them. I would suggest that this is not only a problem for modern teenagers. To some degree, I think we all forget this important fact.

We cannot go before God on our own. The Bible is clear we need a mediator. We need someone between us and God because he's holy and we're not. In the Old Testament, the people had priests and sacrifices to satisfy the wrath of God for their sin. But in the new covenant, in our standing before God, we understand that Jesus is our priest. He bore the wrath of God in our place. When it was finished, the veil at the front of the temple was torn. No longer do we have priests and sacrifices to go before God, but instead, Christ was our priest and was our sacrifice, one who shares our flesh, who is human like us. And he did not only do it one Friday afternoon, some nearly 2,000 years ago. He's doing it now. He continues to go before God as our advocate, as our priest, and as our sacrifice. Honestly, the news doesn't get much better than this. The ascension of Christ really rounds out the entire gospel narrative. Christ not only worked for us in his life, death, and resurrection, he is also still working for us at the right-hand of the Father right now.

This is why the disciples could be filled with joy as Jesus departed from them. We share in this joy when we understand our sin and misery before a holy and just God. When we realize this, we know that we have no place to turn but to the deliverance that God gives us in Christ. He is our advocate, our mediator, the one who ascended into heaven and is seated at the right-hand of God, the Father Almighty. We've said that so many times, saying the Apostle's Creed, but have you ever thought that he ascended into heaven for you, for your benefit? You see this creed we confess. These words that we've said over and over, some of us since our childhoods and now some of us in our childhoods. These words are not just words or dead doctrine. They are really relevant to our lives, more relevant than we even know because they help us to understand just how free we are in Christ and how glorious this gospel story is. So as we remember Christ's ascension today, may this good news build up our faith, build up that faith in our hearts that God has given us so that we can have joy knowing that Christ is not passively sitting at the right-hand of the Father, but instead, he is actively at work there each and every day of your life, and he's there for you.

Amen.

Continue Reflecting on the Ascension

Looking for more teaching on what it means that Christ is ascended and reigning? Watch another Ascension Sunday message from Luke 24:44–53:
👉 Great Joy | Luke 24:44–53 | The Disciples Understood at Last