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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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The Ascension of Christ |
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Acts
1:1-11 Sunday
After Ascension May
4, 2008 Most of the people in this world know why Christians celebrate Christmas. Most of them know why we celebrate Easter. Many even know about things like Advent and Lent. But ask these people why we commemorate Ascension Day and you may get blank stares. Even most Christians don’t keep Ascension Day, or know why others do. Yet Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, who, as most of you know, was responsible for gathering the majority of material that became the Book of Common Prayer, kept Ascension Day as a special day of worship, and many others believe it should be given the same emphasis we give to Christmas and Easter. What is it about the Ascension of Christ that made a man like Cranmer attach such importance to it? The Ascension validates Christ’s claim that His Kingdom is not of this world. All through the years of His ministry people wanted to make Jesus the king of a worldly empire, similar to that of Rome. Even on the day of His Ascension His disciples asked Him if He was going to restore the kingdom to Israel at that time. In other words, now that He has gotten this nonsense about the cross and the resurrection out of His system, would He now do something important and lead Israel in battle to drive the Romans out of their land and conquer the world for them? And all through the years of His ministry Jesus steadfastly refused to be that kind of Messiah. He had come to give His life as the ransom for our sins. He had come to establish a kingdom without borders, for people of all races, all times, all nations, and tongues; a Kingdom in which all the things that separate us are crucified in Christ and all the things that unite us are born again in us. In this Kingdom, all of His people can live together in peace and love. And all any person has to do to be a citizen of that kingdom is to just walk in. Just enter by the door of the sheep, Jesus Christ. That means to trust Him as Lord and Saviour. It’s that simple. He rules this Kingdom that is not of this world, from a throne that is not of this world. He rules from Heaven. The Ascension is the vindication of all that Jesus taught and stood for. Even more than the resurrection, the ascension vindicates Jesus. It is His victory parade, His “Via Triumphalis.” The devil did his very worst to Jesus. He resisted Him, perverted His teachings, turned His own people against Him, and finally killed Him. But Jesus rose again and ascended forever to a place where death can never touch Him. He won. He is vindicated. The Ascension is the exaltation of Jesus. Matthew 23:12 says whoever shall humble himself shall be exalted, and no one ever humbled himself more than Jesus. The eternal Lord and God left the glories of Heaven to live as a poor man, despised and rejected by His own people, and finally to be executed in the most cruel and torturous method imaginable, by the very creatures He came to save. None of us can imagine the humiliation of the Eternal God becoming a helpless child, completely dependent upon a human being to feed and care for Him, even to change His diapers. But even this is nothing compared to allowing these creatures to beat Him, spit on Him, reject Him, and nail Him to a cross. But if He was humiliated in these things, He was exalted in the Ascension. Philippians 2:8-11 says, “being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” So we need to see the Ascension as the exaltation of Christ. The Ascension is the Coronation of Christ. He has ascended to His throne in Heaven where He shall rule until every enemy is vanquished and all things are put under His feet (Eph.1:20-22). He rises to the clouds as a monarch ascending the stairs to his throne, to assume his place as King. You will remember the coronation of the Pevensie children in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. “Aslan
solemnly crowned them and led them to the four thrones amid deafening
shouts of . ‘Long live King Peter!
Long live Queen Susan! Long
live King Edmund! Long live
Queen Lucy!” “So
the children sat on their thrones and scepters were put into their
hands.” In the movie version, I believe Aslan says something like, “I crown thee King Peter the Magnificent,” and “I crown thee Queen Susan the Gentle.” In the Ascension of Christ, Jesus is being crowned King Jesus the Saviour, The Most High God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and He shall reign forever. Amen. All of these things are what the Ascension means to Jesus, but what does it mean to us? For one thing it means Jesus is not lying around in Heaven eating grapes and listening to harp music. He is reigning there. He is ruling His Kingdom, that is, His Church. He is leading us in the continuing war with the forces of sin and death and hell. Revelation chapter 19 shows this so well, picturing Christ leading the armies of Heaven, that is, the Church, as He rides a White Horse ruling and conquering the world with the sword that comes out of His mouth. That sword is the Word of God (Heb. 4:12), the Gospel of life and peace and hope in Jesus Christ. All who surrender to that sword find they are conquered by love and peace, and all who willingly “die” under that sword live forever in paradise. Furthermore, He is interceding for us before the Father. Hebrews chapter seven tells us of Jesus functioning as our great High Priest. In that sense we should see His Ascension as His Consecration to the Ministry of the High Priest and Bishop of our souls, (1 Pt. 2:25). Assuring us that “He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him,” Hebrews 11:25 says, “He ever liveth to make intercession” for those who live by faith in Him. How wonderful that One who knows the temptations and pains of living and dying, yet is without sin, stands before the Father Almighty seeking mercy and help for us who still live among the trials and sorrows of earth. The Ascension of Jesus shows to us that another dimension exists. A spiritual realm exists, that we can’t see except through the eyes of faith. A visitor has come from that realm. The Crown Prince of that realm has come and has revealed it to us. He has given us a glimpse into its glory. And when His work here was done, He miraculously returned to that realm to take His rightful place there again. And we can now face life with all its trials and sorrows, and we can even face death, for we know this world and this life are simply the starting point, not the end, and that the “sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us,” (Rom. 8:18). We know that the One who came to reveal that other dimension to us, also came to secure a place for us there. And even He, Himself will come for us to take us there to be with Him, (Jn. 14:1-6). As He has ascended into Heaven, even so shall His people also ascend there. Thanks be to God. The story of Christ does not end with the Ascension. He who came in humility will come again in glory. He will come again and complete the work begun in His first Advent. He will decisively and finally defeat all the powers of sin and death and evil. He will gather His people home to live with Him in a land where sin and death have no more power. Christ Himself will dry every tear, and there will be no more sorrow, loss, or grief. On that day His Glorification and Coronation and Consecration will be complete, and every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Christ is Lord. Finally, His Ascension is incomplete if He has not been invited to ascend to the throne of your own heart. It does you no good if He is crowned Lord of all by the Father, but you have not crowned Him Lord of your life. It does you no good to know He is the Great High Priest and Bishop of souls if you have not made Him your own High Priest and willingly placed your soul under His care. Let us all ensure that today our own knees gladly bow, and our own tongues happily confess Him as our own Lord and Christ, and Saviour, and God. O Lord Christ, High God and King and Bishop of our Souls, live and reign in us, and shepherd our souls forever. Amen. Let us close with the collect for Ascensiontide, found on page 177 of the Book of Common Prayer; “Grant,
we beseech thee, Almighty God, that like as we do believe thy
only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into the heavens;
so we may also in heart and mind thither ascend, and with him continually
dwell, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God,
world without end. Amen.” The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
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