The Ascension of Christ

Acts 1:9-11 is the primary narrative account of the Ascension. It follows the forty-day period during which the risen Jesus appeared to the disciples, "speaking about the kingdom of God" (1:3), and ends with his commission (1:8) and departure.

"And when he had said these things, as they were looking on (blepontos auton, present participle: they were actively watching), he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight." Three features deserve attention:

(1) The cloud: in biblical theology, the cloud consistently marks the presence of YHWH, the pillar of cloud in the wilderness (Exodus 13:21), the cloud covering Sinai (Exodus 19:9), the cloud filling the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-35), the cloud at the Transfiguration (Luke 9:34-35). The cloud that receives Jesus is the divine glory-cloud, the Shekinah. He is not going into the sky; he is entering the divine presence.

(2) The two angels (1:10-11): "And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.'" The angels rebuke the disciples for looking up, not because the Ascension is not significant, but because the ascended Christ is not absent. He reigns, the Spirit comes, and he will return "in the same way" (meta ton tropon touton, with this manner: visible, bodily, in glory).

(3) Daniel 7 background: the cloud in Acts 1 echoes Daniel 7:13, "with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man... and to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom." Jesus had applied Daniel 7:13 to himself before the Sanhedrin (Mark 14:62). The Ascension is the fulfillment of that claim: the Son of Man ascending to receive the everlasting kingdom from the Ancient of Days.

The New Testament's theological development of the Ascension is the doctrine of Christ's "heavenly session", his ongoing reign at the right hand of the Father:

Hebrews 4:14: "Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens (dielethylota tous ouranous, a completed past action with continuing state), Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession." The imagery is the Day of Atonement: the high priest passed through the outer courts and the Holy Place to enter the Most Holy Place with the blood. Christ, having passed through the visible heavens, has entered the true heavenly sanctuary, not the earthly copy, with his own blood (Hebrews 9:11-12). His Ascension is also his High Priestly entry.

Hebrews 10:12-13: "But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet." The sitting is theologically significant: the Levitical priests never sat down in the tabernacle, there was no chair, because their work was never done. Christ sat down because his sacrificial work is finished (tetelestai, John 19:30, "it is finished"). The session is the posture of completed work.

Ephesians 1:20-23: "he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." The Ascension is the installation of Christ's universal lordship, "far above all rule" puts every power structure in the universe under him.

Philippians 2:9-11: "Therefore God has highly exalted him (hyperypsosen, hyper + exalted, beyond-exalted) and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." The exaltation is the answer to the self-emptying (2:7 ekenosen, he emptied himself). The descent precedes and grounds the ascent.

The Ascension is not a gap between the Resurrection and the Second Coming. The ascended Christ is actively present and active now:

(1) He intercedes: Hebrews 7:25, "he always lives to make intercession for them." Romans 8:34, "Christ Jesus is the one who died, more than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us." The prayer of the exalted Christ is the standing defense of every believer before the throne.

(2) He sends the Spirit: Acts 2:33, "Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing." The Spirit's coming at Pentecost was the gift of the ascended Christ. The presence of the Spirit in the church is the presence of the exalted Lord through the Spirit.

(3) He governs the church: Ephesians 4:7-11, the ascended Christ distributes gifts to his church. "Therefore it says, 'When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men'", Psalm 68:18 applied to Christ. The gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd, teacher flow from the exalted head.

(4) He will return: Acts 1:11, "in the same way as you saw him go." The visible, bodily, glorious return of Christ is the shape the Ascension has marked. He who ascended in a cloud will descend in the clouds (Revelation 1:7, Matthew 24:30, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

The Sanctum holds that the Ascension is as essential to the gospel as the Resurrection. Without it, there is a risen Christ who does not yet reign. With it, there is a Christ who is "Lord of all" (Acts 10:36) right now, not eventually, not symbolically, but actually. The mission of the church is carried out by the community of the already-enthroned King, who sends his Spirit, intercedes for his people, and governs the whole cosmos for the sake of the church that is his body.