Today is Ascension Day, a religious festival that seems to sneak past most of us every year. It marks the ascension of Christ into heaven, as detailed in Acts 1. I feel like it deserves a bit more recognition than it gets. It’s a significant moment.
The ascension of Jesus marks the start of something quite spectacular. He leaves so that the Comforter can be sent. Ascension Day bleeds into Pentecost; you cannot have one without the other, and it’s with good reason that we make a big deal about Pentecost (or at least we should). This is not just Jesus moving on, as though he were catching a flight home after his summer holiday. This is setting up for a seismic spiritual shift. The ball starts rolling towards that time when God will be present, in power, with each and every believer at all times. I don’t think Satan likes Ascension Day one single bit.
But that’s not all. The relevant line in the Apostle’s Creed is ‘He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the the right hand of the Father.’ At first this may seem like the answer to a question that nobody asked: Where is Jesus now? But even this is glorious. The New Testament repeatedly drip feeds us this idea that Christ is now at God’s right hand (Acts 7:55-56, Romans 8:34, Ephesians 1:20 and others). What’s the significance of this? Well, apart from the connotations that this is a place of power and authority, there is something else I want to remind you of today.
You can find it in the Romans verse mentioned above. Paul doesn’t just tell us where Jesus is, but what he’s doing: Christ is at the right hand of the Father interceding for us, his brothers and sisters, while we go about our business. What are God and Jesus talking about at this moment? Us. You.
When I think about this, I think of another moment in God’s Story. Jesus is talking to Peter, breaking the bad news to him that Satan is going to kick him while he’s down, and that his immediate future involves failure. And then in Luke 22:32 Jesus drops this line: “But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers and sisters.”
Jesus prayed for Simon Peter, and look what he did with his restored life. Even if our own lives are pockmarked with failure, redemption and restoration are always an option, because Jesus is at the right hand of the Father interceding for each of us.
And, just think, you wouldn’t get any of this without Ascension Day.
