Luke 24:44–53

May 9 2013 Ascension Sermon

⁴⁴Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." ⁴⁵Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, ⁴⁷and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high." ⁵⁰Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. ⁵¹While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. ⁵²And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, ⁵³and were continually in the temple blessing God.

This is the homecoming! The prodigal son left his home and his father and went to a far away country. There he squandered his fortune, was abandoned by his friends, and perished in a famine. Jesus left his home and his Father to come to a far away country. He did away with his fortune and power and status, he was abandoned by his friends, and perished on a cross. But the prodigal son returned home and was welcomed by his father who placed the signet ring on his finger, gave him back his status as a son, and celebrated with a banquet because his son who was dead was now alive. The Ascension of Jesus is the return home of the Son. Jesus, at his ascension, we welcomed home by his Father, who placed the signet ring on his finger giving him of all authority in heaven and on earth, and who made a great banquet for his Son who had died and was now alive. Today is the homecoming of the Son.

The ascension of Jesus is recorded five times in the Bible, that means it is an event of extraordinary importance to our salvation. Let's read what is recorded of his ascension:

St. Luke records in our gospel reading today: he said, "repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in my name to all nations." Then he lifted up his hands and blessed them and parted from them and was carried up into heaven.

St. Matthew records: Jesus said, "All authority is given me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations."

St. Mark tells us: Jesus said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."

St. John records: Jesus breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld."

Luke tells us in the book of Acts: Jesus said, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth," and when he said these things he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight.

Notice the unified themes, all power and authority is given to him and therefore, in every instance the stress was on spreading the gospel message to all the world. The message of forgiveness of sins and salvation by faith in Christ to all nations. The Holy Spirit would come upon them and they would be witnesses and take the gospel of Jesus to all peoples, starting in Jerusalem. Up to that point salvation had come to the Jews. But now, it is to include foreigners like us. If it were not for the ascension, we would not be included in salvation. Your parents would not have brought you to baptism and to the church. You would not have had a Sunday school teacher to teach you about Jesus, you would not have been confirmed, or have a church to attend, or a pastor to forgive your sins and offer you the sacraments. If it were not for the ascension, Jesus would not be present with us today. You would have to go to Jerusalem to receive his forgiveness and offer your prayers. The ascension is not about Jesus going away; but that he is now present with us wherever we are in all the world, his death avails for all people, the sins of all people are forgiven. If he had not ascended into heaven, he would not be here with us today and no one would have heard the gospel of Christ. But his ascension means he is with us here, wherever the Word is preached and the sacraments administered, there is Jesus. Where two or three are gathered together anywhere in the world, around his word and sacrament, there is Jesus.

When the Father welcomed the Son home, he made a great celebration for him, for his Son was dead, but was now alive. And the sound of the celebration is heard around the world. The sound of singing, dancing, music, and celebration is the sound of the gospel being proclaimed around the world. It is the sound of missionaries preaching, the sound of evangelists evangelizing, of teachers teaching about Jesus, it is the sound of pastors forgiving sins in every nation, race, tongue and language. That's the sound of the celebration banquet.

Let's take a glimpse at the welcome home celebration. Here on earth the disciples watched as Jesus was taken up into the clouds. That is what they saw, Jesus standing there, then being lifted up into the sky and enveloped in the clouds till they could no longer see him.

But in heaven the scene was different. It was the triumpg of Jesus. It was his triumphal entry home, as victor. You have seen in the movies the triumphal entry of a general or king returning home after a successful military campaign. This was the scene in heaven when the Father welcomed him home. He entered in triumph, ate the shout of praises and halleluiahs. The ascension of Jesus is recorded for us in the Book of Revelation chapter 5: "I saw a scroll in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne, sealed with seven seals. And there was no one in heaven or on earth who was found worthy to open the scroll or look into it. So I wept loudly. Then one of the elders said to me, 'weep no more behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.' And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain. And he went and took the scroll. And the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb and they sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.'" The Lamb returned home and took the scroll with the seven seals. He was given the signet ring of the Father, showing that all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to him and he took his seat on the throne at the right hand of the Father. The singing was a new song, a song of praise for the Lamb who had died but was not alive. Worship of the Lamb who had ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. The music and singing we loud, so loud that they are heard still today in all nations by every tribe and language and people.

Jesus came to this distant, far away land to die for all mankind. His death is not just for the Jews. Nor is if just for us. However much we may think we are the only ones who will be in heaven, he died for the whole world. "For God so loved the world..." He ransomed people from every tribe, and language, and nation. Yet, we so often get focused only on ourselves. We seem to be turned inward on our self, our own little family and group of friends, or our own little community of believers. We become short-sighted and can't see out past the doors. Our world becomes our own little group of people and our own interests, activities, and survival. For those outside our fellowship we have little care, little love, and see them as outsiders and intruders. We're not here for them, we tell ourselves. Like the prodigal son who squandered his wealth on himself, we do as we please with what God has given us and serve ourselves, our own interests, our own needs.

But the ascension of Jesus tells us just the opposite. The only reason we are here is for those who are in need of Christ's love around the world. The ascension of Jesus calls us to repent of our sin of looking inward. Martin Luther describes our sinful nature as being turned inward on ourselves. That is the true essence of sin. The ascension of Jesus calls us to repentance. It requires us to set our vision outward, on the world, to all nations. Starting in Jerusalem, which means right here at home, and going out to Judea, Samaria and to the furthest parts of the world. Jesus died for all, and his people live to serve all sinners everywhere. The ascension of Jesus turns our focus outward. Jesus ascended into heaven, but that does not mean he left the world. Rather it means that he goes into all the world. He came to us in a far away land. He comes to us even after 2000 years have gone by. He comes to make us his brothers, and sends us to make other disciples for him.

And He will one day come again. The angel said, "Brothers, as you have seen him go, so shall you see him return." He is coming again to take us home, all who repent of their sin and believe in him. Because he went home and was received by his Father, he will also come for us and take us home with him, that we too might be received by the Father. Amen.