Taken Up Before Their Eyes | Acts 1:1–11 | The Gospel Goes Forth

Listen to This Sermon on the Ascension

In this Ascension Sunday sermon from May 28, 2017, Pastor Mark Groen preaches from Acts 1:1–11, addressing the often-neglected but vital doctrine of Christ’s ascension. The message challenges believers to consider not just where Jesus is now, but why it matters. The ascension of Christ marks the continuation of God's redemptive plan as Jesus sends His Spirit and His church into the world to proclaim salvation to the ends of the earth. Rooted in scriptural clarity and theological conviction, this sermon calls the church to stay on mission: to proclaim Christ and Him crucified until He returns.

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Where is Jesus now? This is really a very important question. As we've journeyed through the church year thus far, we have encountered all the stuff that's really pretty easy for us to wrap our minds around. With Advent, we understand that there's great anticipation about the coming of Jesus. At Christmas, we then see his arrival. God in human flesh has arrived. It's the fulfillment of all these promises of the Old Testament. During Epiphany, we understand the time after Jesus' birth where the Magi visit him. We can easily wrap our minds around the idea of the baptism of Jesus because the idea of Jesus going to John the Baptist is something that we can visualize, we can imagine it in our minds. I think we understand that pretty well. Then we get to the temptation in the desert and the 40 days of Lent. Again, these are things that we can picture in our minds and we understand. Then we get to Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter, all events that we know very well. Chances are that most of us even have significant memories of different church services we've attended around these important events in the life of Christ and in the church year.

We also know that those things—the life, the death, the resurrection of Jesus—are essential to the message of the gospel. The good news of the Christian faith is centered, it's rooted around the death and resurrection of Jesus. We get this. But then I think it's easy for us to encounter a little bit of a problem. We know the other events of the life of Jesus so well, and the resurrection is the key to our assurance of salvation. But if Jesus is alive and resurrected now, where is he? This is an important thing for us to have an understanding of. This past Thursday was actually Ascension Day, but we don't have an Ascension Day service on a Thursday, and so we commemorate this important idea on the Sunday following Ascension Day. While we center around Christ and Him crucified, what we're remembering this week with the Ascension and then next Sunday with Pentecost is also very important. Without the Ascension and without Pentecost, we don't have the church. There isn't a church throughout the ages to spread this message of the gospel. As we look at our lesson this morning in the Book of Acts, we see Christ sending out his disciples and telling them to take this message into the whole world.

Now, last year, our focus on Ascension Sunday was on the work of Jesus for us at the right-hand of the Father. But this year we're in Acts, and our text really helps us to see how this ascension is essential for the spread of the gospel and the birth of the church. There really are a limited number of passages that describe the ascension. This morning we have Luke giving us the story in the Book of Acts. Now, Luke also gives us an ascension story. We looked at it last year, of the ascension, but that's a really short version. It's the condensed version. We don't get much other than the disciples praising God after Jesus ascends. Really, if we stop and think about it, that doesn't make much sense to us. We assume that the disciples should be disappointed that Jesus left them. Instead, what they're doing is they're praising God. They're praising God that the savior left them? The gospel that they preach in Acts is about the life and the death of Jesus, but also about his ascension, about his going forth. In Luke, we see that story central, and then in Acts, we see how that message is preached.

With this ascension, the information is given as a part of this story that tells us why these Apostles are doing this witnessing about Jesus. Luke's focus in his gospel is about ending the story of Jesus' ministry and his life and what that gospel means. But now here in Acts, Luke is giving us more information because the story that he's telling is a different story. It's completely different. He's telling the story of the church. Without the ascension, we really can't understand the church. We land here in Acts with verse one. It says, In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving instructions through the Holy spirit to the Apostles he had chosen. And both the gospel of Luke and Acts are addressed to this person named Theophilus. And Luke tells us that his gospel was about what Jesus began to do and to teach. Now we're getting some new details and we get some insight into what went on in that time between the ascension. Jesus instructed the disciples and then was taken up into heaven.

Luke also gives us some other details about what happened in that time between the resurrection and the Ascension. He says, After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke about the Kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command, 'Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised,' which you have heard me speak about. Now, notice, Luke is really deliberate about the fact that Jesus suffered and died, and then that Jesus gave them many convincing proofs that he was alive. Jesus was sure to show his disciples that he was actually alive. He was not a ghost or a figment of their imagination. Luke wants his readers to know that this idea of Jesus being alive after having suffered at the hands of the Romans was not some hopeful hallucination by his disciples. Luke wants his readers to know and understand that Jesus is alive for real. He's really alive. In over 40 days, he appeared to them and he taught them regarding the Kingdom of God.

There's also one other clue that Luke gives his readers about the fact of this real resurrection of Jesus. He was eating with them. Ghosts and spirits don't eat. Now, it seems like a throwaway phrase, but we see it multiple times in the New Testament. The writers give details about the resurrected Jesus that they wouldn't necessarily need to give us. He breathes on them. Spirits don't breathe. He eats with them. Again, spirits and ghosts don't need to eat. Luke could have simply said, he gave them a command. But he's deliberate to let us know that Jesus did living human things in the 40 days after the resurrection. This is the point at which we really have to ask the question about why Jesus is ascending into heaven then. Here Jesus is, alive and powerful. Instead of taking over and getting rid of all the earthly powers and all the evil in the world, he's teaching? Let's think this through a little bit. God the Son went through all this to leave heaven. He took on human flesh. He lived a perfect life. He suffered, he died, and he rose again, victorious over the grave. All of that.

Now, he's leaving. Why? Wouldn't it be better if Jesus stayed on earth? Why go through all of that and literally just up and leave? But we get the beginning of an answer to this question in verse 5. Jesus says, For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy spirit. Soon the disciples are going to be baptized by the Holy spirit. We're going to celebrate this next week with Pentecost. In John 16:7, Jesus told his disciples that it would be better that he leaves because then they're going to receive the Holy spirit. It's better for them to have the Holy spirit because the Holy spirit indwells us. The Holy spirit works in us to make us holy. It's also better to have the Holy spirit because as we will see in this passage and in the passages we read next week, the message of the gospel is not for a small group of people in Israel. Instead, this message that Jesus is talking about is for everyone. That is something that we see the disciples really struggling with here in this passage. We actually see them struggling with it for a while as we read the Book of Acts.

Let's look at what their focus was with the question they asked Jesus. They gathered around him and asked him, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the Kingdom to Israel? It's clear here that after all this teaching, all this time with Jesus, oh, the disciples, they still just don't get it. Think of everything that has happened to them. They have been with Jesus for three years. They've heard him teach. They've experienced miracles. He was crucified, died, and was buried. Now he's been resurrected, and they still think that this is all about getting rid of the Roman government. It's easy for us to look at this state of affairs and think, how daft were these guys? I mean, really? They had such unbelievable tunnel vision. They truly thought that the mission of the Messiah was to set up an earthly kingdom, that he would come and he would restore things to the way they were back in the good old days. A son of David would be on the throne and everything would be back to the way it was. The problem is that when we look at the history of the Old Testament and the nation of Israel, let's be honest, there really weren't any good old days.

The people were in bondage in Egypt and God delivered them out. That was great. But the people rebelled against God, and they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Much worse. Over those years of wandering, they left the bodies of an entire generation buried in the wilderness. As that rebellious generation died out, well, then they finally go into the land and God gives them miraculous victories over their enemies again and again. But soon we see rebellion. The Book of Judges is full of God delivering the people from their enemies and then unbelief and idolatry take over again, and God has to rescue them again. But finally, things seem to be looking up. God lets them have a king, but then it's Saul. Saul is not a godly king. But then David, right? David, he's anointed. But even when he finally comes to the throne, his reign as king is tainted by adultery. It's tainted by attempts to be overthrown by his own son. Then Solomon, after David, amassed a fortune and a high status for Israel around the world. But his heart was divided between all his wives and their gods and between the one true God. And so God divided the kingdom into Judah and Israel, north and south.

I could continue with more kings from both the northern and Southern Kingdom, but the point here would be the same. There really was no good old days for the people to go back to. What is missed in this desiring for the return of the Kingdom of Israel is the root of all of these problems. The sin and unbelief that started in the garden and has been passed down to all of us from our first parents, Adam and Eve. Sin and unbelief is the reason that an entire generation of Israelites did not go into the promised land. Sin and unbelief is why the people followed after idols. Sin and unbelief is why the seemingly successful Kingdom of Solomon was split into two. Sin and unbelief is why the people were judged by God and taken into captivity by other nations. And while it's easy for us to look at the disciples and see that maybe they're a little bit daft in all this and wonder what they were thinking, in many ways, our sin and our unbelief does the same thing with God. We think that it's God's job to give us what we want. We believe that God is at our disposal to bless us in whatever ways we think are the best for us.

Thankfully, there's good news. There's something that comes and breaks our expectations, and it destroyed the expectations of the Apostles because it's so much better, so much better. Jesus informs them that they do not know the time or dates. That doesn't matter that the Father has to fulfill these Old Testament promises of the last times. That wasn't going to be the point of their mission. It wasn't the point of Jesus's mission, and it isn't the point of their mission either. We see Jesus say in Acts 1:7-8, he said to them, It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. The Holy spirit is going to come to the disciples and they're going to be the witnesses of Jesus. Notice the progression of where they're going to be witnesses to? Jerusalem, where they're at, all Judea, the region they're in, Samaria, an area with people they aren't even really very fond of because they're mixed blood, and then to the ends of the earth, to the Gentiles.

They're to go out with the message of the gospel, not just in their little local area, but to all the ends of the earth. And so what were they witnesses to? The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. That's the message that they proclaim. If you keep on reading through the Book of Acts, the message was Jesus Christ and him crucified for their sins and then resurrected that they might be saved. They witnessed to this fact throughout the Book of Acts, and we read how God brought people to faith through the proclamation of that message. People in Jerusalem, people in Judea, people in Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth, all people. This is good news. Because that message takes care of the real problem, our sin and unbelief. It was the real blessing of God that we needed. We are sinners in need of redemption. The disciples and all people needed that more than a Jesus who would fulfill all the political aspirations that they had for him to restore the kingdom. We need a savior, and that's who Jesus is. So who was this message for? I've drawn it out before.

All people, all the people groups. Before, the story was about God and a small ethnic minority in the Middle East. But now it's going out to all people. And this is such good news because it solves our sin problem, all of us, every last one of us. And not only that, but it makes us righteous before God. Therefore, it's news that must leave their little local area and go into the regions around them and even beyond that. This is why the ascension is so important. No longer are the people of God to travel to Jerusalem for festivals and religious rituals like they used to. Instead, now the message is going out to the people. If Jesus had remained on Earth, the people would have had to come to him. But instead, because he is ascended, the message goes out to people, and then the Holy spirit comes and indwells the people where they are at. The story is of God coming to us, not us having to go to him. No longer are the people of God those who are of a particular ethnic heritage. Instead, the people of God are those who have been given the gift of faith and have been indwelled by the Holy spirit.

Interestingly enough, this is why the sections of the Gospels, Matthew 24, Luke 21, and I think Mark 13, there Jesus prophesied that the temple would be destroyed within a generation. Why? Because the temple wasn't needed anymore. Jesus is the once and for all sacrifice for sin. And so the blood of animals no longer needs to be shed for our sins. The temple was the location where sacrifice occurred. And in the Holy of Holies, there God dwelled. But we don't need that anymore. That's why the temple was destroyed in the year 70 AD. There was no more need for sacrifice. And the worship of God was no longer centered in Jerusalem, around where God was in a Holy of Holies. Instead, Christ had ascended into heaven, and we can worship him anywhere. And God comes to us by the Holy spirit. No longer would people flock to Jerusalem to be closer to the presence of God. Now, through the Holy spirit, God dwells in and among his people and works through the proclamation of the word to bring people to faith in Jesus Christ. And so Jesus went to the right-hand of the Father so that the message could go to the ends of the earth by the word of his witnesses.

This proclamation of the word is how all believers come to faith in Jesus Christ. When we hear and God gives us the gift of faith to believe the good news, we don't go to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage because there's something holy there or because Jesus is there. Instead, we stay where we are and we do the same thing that the people who brought the message to us did. We proclaim the gospel that others may hear and believe the good news. So as we think about what the ascension of Jesus means for us, I think it's important that we remember that this is the beginning of the Book of Acts. The disciples did not stay standing around and stare at the sky waiting for Jesus to come back. They got up. They obeyed the command of Jesus. They went and they waited for the Holy spirit to come upon them. And when the Holy spirit did come upon them, they proclaimed the message of Christ and him crucified. They were faithful to that mission that they were given. God took the proclamation of that word to take the message of salvation through Christ alone to the ends of the earth.

As we think about our mission and the future of our church, it's important that we remember that message. That message of Christ and Him crucified is the message that we need to be faithful to. It's tempting to be distracted by the things that we want or the ideas that are popular in our age. But the message of the cross is our message. It's the means that God has ordained to bring people to faith in him. Just as we see in the Book of Acts, God brings people to faith in him, and he saves them, and he does it through the proclamation of the gospel. If we are to be his witnesses and continue this mission of Jesus Christ, we must stay on mission by proclaiming the good news of the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ so that people will hear and believe that Christ has saved them. Amen.

Looking for More on the Ascension?

This message from Acts 1 is part of our long-standing reflection on Christ’s heavenly reign. For a different angle on this same passage, watch the sermon:
He Was Lifted Up | Acts 1:1–11 »