- Psalmody: Acts 1:11a, c; Psalm 47:1; Psalm 47:5; Psalm 68:17b–18a; Psalm 47:5; Psalm 68:32b–33a
- Lection: 2 Kings 2:8–15; Acts 1:1–11; Mark 16:14–20
In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
So then, after the Lord [Jesus] had spoken to [the disciples], He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God, that is, at the right hand of the Father, at the place of glory and honor, power and dominion. This event was to be expected considering from whence this Mighty One came. He was resuming the place rightfully His from all eternity. From thence He came, first descending so that you might ascend with Him. You are right to believe that into His nearer heavenly presence you shall ascend at your death, a truth which removes bite and sting from all threat and peril of this life. Yet, Christ’s ascension further establishes a blessed existence for all who are still earthbound in the sinful flesh. How He was in His ascension now gives you immeasurable share in His own great glory and joy; joy that is yours to have for all moments left between now and when you depart this earthly vale.
Oh, great festival day this is, for Christ the Victor over the grave has ascended to the Father’s right hand. Let us sing with Him and in Him great song of triumph, for He has done great things for us, yet the honor is all His. It was this great Son of God Who left His Father’s throne, came down from heaven, was made Man, and submitted Himself in full humiliation to man’s burdens, being born in lowly stable, fleeing to Egypt from murderous spite, growing in wisdom and learning throughout years of modest labor, journeying about the land serving many by word and deed, suffering unto death by hands He had formed, resting in the virgin tomb, bursting forth in victory laying death aside as slain guard, and finishing out this great terrestrial mission over 40 days in risen, glorified body. All things were complete. Salvation procured, sanctified Bride secured. The Father awaited with throne prepared, though Who it received was not like Him to Whom it once belonged. It’s not as if the Son of God could be added to in a way that shows Him to be insufficient before. No, what was added to Him He took upon Himself in great love and mercy. The Christ Who ascended was the One Who is now forever by His own grace and doing inseparably both God and Man. Man has ascended in Christ to the right hand of the Father and has been exalted. For the Lord Jesus to have accomplished this great feat is call for triumphant song and celebration. He is the One Who returns to the Father to give glorious account of what He has accomplished as God incarnate. He returns yonder in our flesh to show the Father that His work of salvation shall stand forever for us, and because of such, He is rightfully crowned King of heaven and earth.
The triumph song is ours to have as well, for it is our Brother Who now reigns on high, not some unknown or distant creature unlike us, but identical to us in every regard, yet without sin. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Our human nature now participates in high heavenly divine honor. Oh, how wonderful a reality this is for us all, once cast down into the pit of death and despair on account of our sin, now ascended in Christ to a place above which there is no other! If we have been united with Him in a death like His in our Holy Baptism, then we shall surely be united in a resurrection like His and now in an ascension like His. The Ascension, too, is ours to be had in great celebration, for pit-of-death-bound are we no more. We are no longer in bondage to the sin of this world and the prince of the power of the air lurking about. We are raised to new life in Christ, a new life that now reigns on high on the throne of power and majesty. In the preparation for the Holy Supper, we shall hear the words “in their sight was taken up into heaven that He might make us partakers of His divine life.” This is call for our own triumphant song, for in the ascended Lord we have been made partakers of a glorious kingdom of life that will have no end.
So, dear Christian people, rejoice in this great glory. Let your prayers, thoughts, deeds, words, and song ring true as you live them out. Do not sing our hymns with mind and heart detached from what comes from the mouth, but unite them in conviction and belief. On Christ’s Ascension I Now Build. Sing it, then truly seek to build on what we celebrate on this 40th day of Easter as we remember the God, the Man, Who ascended on cloud of glory to resume His glorious heavenly reign having gained the victory for you; Him in Body and Soul for you in body and soul. On Christ’s ascension truly build by also speaking not empty, repetitive words, but words retaining their meaning as you speak them by the voice and mouth this ascended One upholds by His mighty power. For, consider the regular response that you say in preparation for coming to the altar of the ascended One Who again descends to you in promise of Body and Blood for the forgiveness of your sins. I, as Christ’s servant and His celebrant, bid you every time to lift up your hearts. To which you respond, we lift them up unto the Lord. How is it that you lift them up? It is in remembrance of Christ’s ascension in the flesh you now bear; that you, hearing, knowing, believing that in Him you, too, have ascended that He might make you partaker of His divine life. The lifting up of the heart is to exalt will and desire that is plagued by sin up to the One in Whom they, too, have ascended already. If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. If you were raised with Christ in resurrection, if you were raised with Christ up from the fallen world to be with Him in true life that exists in mind and will conformed to His desires, then do this by seeking those things which are above, where Christ is. It is in such seeking, even as we tarry here below, that we truly live out an existence that is already in place in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Upon this, upon Him, let us build in every corner of mind, body, and soul.
In ✠ Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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