Thursday, October 05, 2006

Where is Jesus, and what's He doing?

When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy (Luke 24:50-52).

Jesus’ ascension into heaven meant triumph and joy for His disciples. Ordinarily, the earthly departure of a beloved leader brings sorrow and grief to his or her followers. We think of the great philosopher Socrates who, having drunk the poisonous hemlock, tried in vain to ease the despair of his grieving followers. Perhaps you can remember when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and how sad and bleak our nation was in the days that followed. Or recall the grief in England and around the world the day that Lady Diana Spencer was killed in a car crash.

Jesus’ return to heaven, however, was not an occasion for sadness. When Jesus left this earth, it was not an end but rather a new beginning. True, the disciples could no longer sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to Him as they had for the previous three years, but they no longer needed to—Jesus had given them everything that they needed to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And they knew that they were not really on their own as they went forth to do this critically important work, because Jesus had said be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:19-20).

We are not sad that Jesus has returned to heaven; we are joyful. While He was on earth, only a small group of people had access to Jesus at any given time; but enthroned as He is in heaven, our Lord is instantly available to us all, wherever we may be! Jesus promised, where two or three gather together in my name, I am there among them (Matthew 18:20). We are glad that Jesus is in heaven because of what He is doing for us there; Paul writes: Christ Jesus…is the one who died for us and was raised to life for us and is sitting at the place of highest honor next to God, pleading for us (Romans 8:34). Jesus is in heaven, listening to our prayers—and when we tell Him that we are sorry for messing up, He is where He needs to be to make sure that we are forgiven! In addition, Jesus said that while He is in heaven, He is going to prepare a place for you, and that He will come back and take you to be with Him (John 14:2-3). Our Master has gone ahead of us to heaven, but it is cause for rejoicing, not sorrow.

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