Good morning, and a most blessed Thursday to you.

Today marks a very important day in the life of the Church. Forty days after Easter—after Jesus Christ was resurrected from the grave, having won the victory over our sin and having had His sacrifice accepted—He appeared to His disciples. He appeared to people for forty days. And on that fortieth day, on that final day, He ascended into heaven and took His place at the right hand of the Father.

The Ascension can be a rather heady topic. There is so much we could ponder, ask about, think through, and wonder over—and we only know so much. Many people far wiser than I have shared deep insights on it. But today, you and I get to share this time of devotion together. So we’ll simply sit in awe of the majesty, glory, and goodness of our Lord, and reflect on what the Ascension means for us.

Today, I want to share with you from the Book of Acts, an account of the Ascension. In Acts chapter 1, all of His disciples—His apostles and others—had gathered together. When they came together, they asked Him, "Lord, is this the time when You will restore the kingdom to Israel?"

I love the beginning of this Ascension narrative. The disciples had witnessed the death of Jesus Christ on the cross—so gruesome, so humiliating, so torturous, and terrible. They lived in fear for three days. Then they went to the tomb—and the tomb was empty.

They met the resurrected Christ. They saw the marks in His hands, the wound in His side. They ate food with Him. Everything He had said would happen had come to pass. For forty days, they saw Him appear among them.

And finally, on that fortieth day, they gathered on the mountaintop and asked, “Is this when You’re going to restore Israel?”

How small their thinking was. How narrow their mindset. After all the power they had seen displayed before their very eyes, they still imagined the smallest possibility: the restoration of Israel’s political standing. But that was not what Christ had in mind. Praise be to God.

We continue reading:

He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When He had said this, as they were watching, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight. While He was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven.”

In the Gospel of Matthew, we’re told that Jesus said He would be with His disciples “to the very end of the age.”

As He ascended and they gazed upward, do you think the thought crossed their minds: How are You going to be with us if we can’t see You? But again, that reflects their limited understanding. They didn’t yet grasp how great and powerful Jesus truly is—seated at the right hand of the Father—or what that would mean. They didn’t understand the power of the Holy Spirit, God’s own Spirit, working in and through their lives. They were about to begin the adventure of a lifetime, and they had no idea what was coming.

In the Ascension, Jesus Christ made a transition in His relationship with the Church. The Ascension does not mean that He went far away to be a distant God. It means that He is now seated at the right hand of the Father, with complete rule, authority, and dominion—not only over matters on this side of heaven, but over everything. Everything created and uncreated is under His authority.

Because He ascended to the Father, He can now be present for each and every one of us. There is no limitation. He is no longer bound by the finite constraints of human form. He is able to be in all, with all, and present for all.

Martin Luther once said in a sermon on the Ascension that Christ ascended so that from there He could do His best work for the Church and exercise His dominion. If He had remained on Earth in physical form, He could not have been present with all people, in all places, at all times. But seated at the right hand of the Father, He can be in touch with all, reign over all, preach to all, be received by all, and be with all.

Luther said the very opposite of Christ being far from us is true: While He was on Earth, He was far from us. But now, He is very, very near.

In the Ascension, a promise is fulfilled: the promise that Jesus Christ will be with us until the end of the age. The promise that He has complete sovereignty and authority over all. And the promise that He will come again.

He will gather all who believe in Him, and we will see Him face to face.

Until that unknown day, rest in the promise that He is with you. Receive Him through His Word. Receive Him in the body and blood, the bread and wine of Holy Communion. Receive Him every time you hear the words, “Your sins are forgiven”—for it is He who forgives. It is He who will come again. And it is He with whom we will live, face to face, eternally.

Let us pray:

Heavenly Lord,
We thank You so much.
We thank You that You have complete authority and power, that You are seated at the right hand of the Father.
We thank You that our sins are forgiven.
We thank You that You will indeed come again.
We thank You that You are already with us—that You walk with us, that You hold us close, and that You will never leave us.

Until the time when You return and call us to Yourself, Lord, keep us.
Keep us ever mindful of You, ever mindful of Your grace, and ever mindful of the love with which You have loved us—
To the point of death, in the victory of the resurrection, and under the power of the Ascension.

We lift this prayer to You in the blessed name and power of Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Have an amazing rest of your week, and I look forward to worshipping with you this Sunday.
God bless.

Pastor Malinak