Download Luke 24:50-53 Christ`s Ascension as the Blessing High Priest

CHRIST’S ASCENSION INTO HEAVEN AS THE
BLESSING HIGH PRIEST.
Luke 24: 50 – 51
An Ascension Day Sermon by:
Rev. L. Roth
PUBLISHED BY THE
PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE
OF THE
FREE REFORMED CHURCHES OF NORTH AMERICA.
(April 2008)
LITURGY:
Votum
Psalter 368: 1, 2, 3, 5
Scripture Reading: Luke 24: 36 – 53
Text: Luke 24: 50 – 51
“And He led them out as far as to Bethany, and He lifted up His
Hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while He blessed
Them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.”
Confession of Faith: Lord’s Day 18
Psalter 415: 2, 4
Congregational Prayer
Offerings
Psalter 183: 1, 2, 3
Sermon
Psalter 303: 1, 2
Thanksgiving Prayer
Psalter 58: 1, 2
Doxology: Psalter 183: 4
2
Luke 24:50-51
Christ’s Ascension as the Blessing High Priest
Beloved Congregation.
We are gathered together here this night to remember a special event, namely, the
ascension of the Lord Jesus into heaven.
From the Lord’s perspective, this was a
beautiful homecoming into His Father’s House. Already in the Council of Peace, He had
declared His willingness to come to this sin cursed world to perform His Father’s will.
And as Psalm 40 reveals, He delighted to do His Father’s will; His Law was within His
heart. And now that He has performed that perfect will, even to the point of having given
His life as the one and only sacrifice for sin, in the words of our text we read of His
glorious return into heaven.
Well now, let us consider the words of our text under the following theme,
CHRIST’S ASCENSION INTO HEAVEN AS THE BLESSING HIGHPRIEST. In
the first place let us consider The Way to this Departure. Secondly let us regard The
Manner of this Departure. Thirdly let us look at The Blessedness of this Departure.
In the first place let us consider The Way to this Departure. The opening words
of our text tell us, congregation, that the Lord Jesus led His followers out as far as
Bethany. These are indeed remarkable words. For that seems to suggest that they were
spoken in the Upper Room in Jerusalem. Now, obviously, this did not take place
immediately after the Lord’s appearance to His followers on the day of His resurrection.
Several weeks have passed in which the Lord made other appearances to individuals and
groups as a whole. 1 Corinthians 15 even tells of an appearance to over 500 people at
once. But now forty days have passed. And so we see a small group of people probably
making their way from the Upper Room to Bethany. That way, congregation, was
through the Kidron Valley through which the Lord Jesus and His disciples had traveled
3
the evening before the Lord’s crucifixion. Then it was dark. And when they
think of this, the disciples’ hearts must have been filled with shame. At a certain place
they had fallen asleep; another area is where they ran away in fear. Each step is a
reminder of the faithfulness of the Good Shepherd for His sheep. And now, nothing
deters the Lord from going this way again. The first time it was to lay down His life.
Now it is to enter into glory.
But, in some senses, nothing changes. For, at this time the disciples ask a most
trying question. Wilt Thou at this time restore again the Kingdom unto Israel? Acts 1:6
Here we see how that disciples are still so earthly minded. And by this fact we need to
ask the question, How do sinners learn to stop looking out for themselves? How are they
brought from the throne of their own making? Only when they are brought to see,
congregation, the need to deny themselves; only in this way will they ever follow after
the Lord. And that requires the grace and mercy of the Lord. For a true disciple of the
Lord Jesus must be ready to deny his own flesh and blood. As Paul says in one of his
letters, we must be crucified with Christ so that all our hopes might be placed in Him.
And so the Lord does not really go all that far in responding to His followers’
question except for to say, It is not for you to know the time or the seasons which the
Father has put in His own power. For, the Lord Jesus is on His way to the Mount of
Olives. He is going higher up! From the depth of His humiliation the Lord is now
ascending the steps of His exultation. Before, when leaving Jerusalem He was brought to
experience the depths of hellish torments upon the accursed tree. And now, from the
same Holy City He is ascending the steps to glory. His heavenly Father calls Him and
the heavenly hosts await to sing His praises. And so when the Lord leads His followers
from Jerusalem, He is guiding them into the mysteries of His Kingdom.
Yes, the Lord leads His sheep as the Good Shepherd step by step so that they may
learn to see that their citizenship too is in heaven.
4
Yes, congregation, Christ’s ascension teaches us that all those whose lives are hid
in Christ Jesus have a habitation reserved for them with God in heaven. And when that is
true of us, that means that we have become pilgrim travelers upon this earth. Then the
earth is no longer really and truly your home. Then you are like an adopted child whose
paperwork has been completed and who has not been brought home yet to his father’s
house. From this perspective the Apostle Paul was able to write, But the Jerusalem
which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. Yes, when God’s people are taught
from above, then the heavenly Jerusalem becomes the desire of a longing soul.
And so the Lord Jesus led His disciples out as far as Bethany. That way was also
through Gethsemene. And there already, the Lord Jesus experienced the beginnings of
hellish torments, causing to sweat great drops of blood. And with that precious blood He
had bought His bride. First in Gethsemene. Then on Golgotha when He shed His
innocent blood upon the accursed tree. Yes, the Lord Jesus paid the ultimate price by
shedding His innocent blood. And now He reaches the Mount of Olives with His bride,
congregation, as it were, before the portals of the Father House of God. And just beyond
the Mount of Olives lies Golgotha. These two cannot be separated from one another.
There, He descended into hell when He was completely forsaken by His Father. But here
now, the Lord of glory is being exalted. For, on the third day He arose from the grave
victorious over death and hell. And so the Lord is about to ascend into heaven.
And so there is a unity in the Surety’s work of exaltation and humiliation. Have
you already understood that, my friends? Has that become your comfort and strength?
That He, Who figuratively descended into hell, is the same one Who ascends up into
heaven. On these two vital truths must your and my faith gain a real foothold. For the
safety of the Church depends on this, namely, that Christ suffered humiliation, the Just
for the unjust. But also…….that He experienced the state of exaltation wherein He has
become the highly exalted One, bearing the name above all other names.
5
These two pillars provide a security for the soul. For, not only has the Lord Jesus
paid the ultimate price for sin with His precious blood, but He has also gained victory
over the powers of darkness. Through His substitutionary death He has bruised the head
of the serpent. And as a result, all power has been given to Him in heaven and upon
earth. At Golgotha, the Banished One of God the Father died. On the Mount of Olives
the Victorious One is readying to ascend to the mansions of glory in full honor.
Well now, congregation, have your eyes been opened to see something of the
infinite worth of the crucified Savior Who has not only arisen from the dead but Who has
ascended up into heaven as the exalted Lord? The very fact we read in our text that
Christ led His followers unto Bethany before ascending into heaven reveals that the Lord
Jesus lives! Did He not say in High Priestly prayer already, And now, Father glorify
Thou Me with Thy own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.
I have glorified Thee upon the earth; I have finished the work Thou gavest Me to do.
Yes, the Lord Jesus spoke these words and He performed them too, completely!
Consequently the Lord has the power to give new life and strength to all Who seek His
favor and His grace. May you be given to see something of the great cost at which the
Lord has purchased the salvation of His people. For He has shed His life’s blood as the
one and only sacrifice for sin. But may we also be given eyes to see the victory which He
has gained over death and grave and the powers of darkness itself. As a result He is able
to do exceedingly abundantly above all that you and I ask or think. However great your
burden of sin is, the Lord is able to remove it. Whatever trial or difficulty confronting
you, the victorious Lord is able to meet it. He became as one of us in all things. He is
able to associate with our weaknesses and frailties. As the heavenly High Priest He is
able to meet them all out of His fullness. Let us therefore look unto the Lord from
whence all your help must come. He is able to supply every blessing as we hope to see
from our second thought, The Manner of Christ’s Departure.
6
The Lord Jesus has arrived at the Mount Olives with His followers. Perhaps He
gives them further instructions to prepare them for His departure. We do not know all
that the Lord said. However, as we read in verse 8 of Acts 1, He mapped out for them the
schedule for the proclamation of the Gospel. First they were to preach in Jerusalem, then
Judea, to Samaria and then to the uttermost parts of the earth. But, at a certain moment
the Lord Jesus raises His arms. For what purpose? Who had expected that? Well, my
friends, did the Lord not have the right to raise His arm and point His finger against
mankind?
Could the Lord not righteously have clenched His fists and cursed that
“pious”, godless people who had mocked with Him, who had woven a thorny crown and
pressed it down upon His head and who had nailed Him upon the accursed tree? Yes, the
Lord could have sought just retribution.
And so we read that the Lord raised up His arms. And…..He demolished all His
adversaries. For He has gained victory over death and hell! But no, that’s not what we
read, no. Instead, listen, listen carefully in awe and holy wonder at the words of our text.
And He lifted up His hands, yes, beloved, those nail pierced hands, and He blessed them.
Blessed them. Yes, His sheep; that little flock. Oh, we cannot imagine, congregation,
what went through the heart and soul of the Lord Jesus. He had said during His ministry,
Fear not little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. And
now here in our text the blessed Savior stands at the Portals of Heaven, so to speak, as He
is about to depart from His own, those sheep for whom He has laid down His life.
Now then, when the Lord lifts up His hands, they are not stretched out to the Lord
God His Father in anticipation of being received into the mansions of glory, oh no. But,
His faithful Shepherd’s eyes, beloved, are directed to the sheep of His flock, to a Peter
who denied Him so grievously, to a Thomas who said except I put my finger in the nail
prints and my hand in His side, I will not believe, to a Philip who said, Show us the
Father and it sufficeth us; then we will be content. And so with uplifted hands He looks
solemnly around upon all the faces of that little flock.
7
From the account given in Acts 1, then, it seems, He declared, And ye shall be
witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the
uttermost parts of the earth. In this way, the Lord has His heart set upon His sheep. He is
about to leave them. And yet in a sense, He wishes to remain close by, with them. Yes,
He desires to bestow His blessing upon them. And so we see that God the Father’s care
and love shines as it were upon two mountains. Upon the one, Golgotha’s Height, where
the curse has been borne. Upon the other, the Mount of Olives, where divine blessing
will be received as a blessed fruit of that work.
Oh, what a wonder of grace that hell worthy sinners may receive the Lord’s
blessing. It is beyond our thought. That the Lord has a sea full of blessing to bestow is a
miracle of grace. His sinners’ love is as wide as the ocean. And therefore, even upon
this Ascension Day, while your sins testify against you, and the Law of God accuses you,
you and I may plead His grace. Yes, the Lord invites sinners to seek shelter under His
blessed hands. For His work is the end of the Law to all those who trust in His name.
Through His blessed and perfect obedience to the Law of His Father, sinners may find a
righteousness which is able to free them from the curse due to sin. How great and
glorious is that perfect obedience of Christ, beloved. As a result, sinners may find shelter
under His wings.
Have you already found a place of refuge there, my dear friends? Have you
already seen that you are worthy of eternal damnation on account of your trespasses and
sins? As a result, perhaps unbelief plagues your heart. And it is precisely this sin which
shall ultimately condemn you except you repent. And therefore, pray God the Holy Spirit
that He discover you to see the real danger of your condition and the errors of your ways.
Plead His grace, that He lead you to find shelter under those blessing, nail pierced hands
of the Lamb of God. Dear friends and all who are gathered here with us tonight, there is
still room for you under the shadow of Christ’s wings. Do not tarry. Do not wait for a
more suitable time. But seek the Lord’s favor and grace today, even this night.
8
For that grace alone is able to satisfy a hungry and thirsty soul.
Yes, people of God, by the grace of the Almighty you have sought and found
refuge under the blood of Jesus.
And that is all due to the Lord’s mercy, His
condescending love. How precious that love of God in Christ Jesus then becomes. It’s
an ocean of love so deep and so wide, unfathomable. But someone asks, How do I know
whether I share in that blessed electing love of the Lord? When the Lord comes over to
you through His Spirit, congregation, then you will know it. Remember how that Christ
said to His disciples, When the Spirit of Truth shall come, He shall take of mine and
show it unto you. Allow me to use a small illustration to try and reveal how the love and
mercy of God may function in His peoples’ lives. You know, when a dear loved one, say
your parents pass away upon a death bed, then sorrow is experienced in the heart. And
when you perhaps see your dear father or mother with hands folded, then the thought may
come up, Oh how loving those hands have been! How hard have they worked in my
behalf to provide all that I needed through my years growing up. Yes, perhaps those
hands have worked to the bone, so to speak, for your good. Those same hands may have
wrestled at the throne of God’s grace on your behalf. That may be one of the reasons
why you were so attached to your father or to your mother.
Well now, that is but a weak illustration of what the Lord Jesus’ hands have
performed in behalf of His own. Those hands have blessed little children and still do so
to this very day. Those hands break the bread to supply the physical needs of more than
5000 people. Those same hands have opened the eyes of the blind and raised sinners
from the dead! And… those hands which were always stretching out to bestow blessings
became nail pierced hands. In the fullness of time the Lord Jesus stretched out His hands
to the enemy to be bound and led away as a lamb led to the slaughter. And then the
hands of the Savior were nailed upon the accursed tree, the cross.
9
Behold the Lamb of God, congregation, which taketh away the sins of the world.
See Him, hanging there upon the cross, bleeding and dying. But….Also then with
outstretched hands. Yes, congregation, very remarkably, when the Lord Jesus laid down
his life as the only sacrifice for sin He did so with outstretched hands. And yet mankind
did not want to receive Him. Away with Him! Away with Him! And heaven was closed
to Him. And so the Lord Jesus experienced the torments of hell when He was utterly
forsaken by the Father and the terrors of hell raged against Him. In this way, the dear
hands of the Savior have brought blessing to a world of darkness utterly lost and forever
damned to hell except it repent. And therefore, once again, have you found shelter under
the blessed hands of the Savior, beloved? Have you found refuge under the wings of the
Almighty? Then you will also be convinced and convicted of the fact that it was your
sins and my sins that have driven the nails through those blessed hands of the Savior.
Your sin and guilt and mine have nailed the Lord of glory to the accursed tree. But
thanks be to God those hands did not remain there. But as we see in our text, they have
become blessing hands. They are hands which distribute the bread of life, which extend
the cup of blessing, representing His blood.
Do you believe this, my friend? Do you? To use the words of the Prophet, why
then do some of you give out money for that which is not bread? Why do you labor for
that which cannot satisfy the needs of your soul?
Why are you still hanging so
tenaciously to the world and all that it stands for, unwilling to let go? Why do you
treasure your bosom sins and hold on to your idols? Why are their some, who perhaps
hang on to their Christian service and their piety, yes their own self righteousness
perhaps? It is nothing more than a filthy rag, my friend, worth nothing, doomed to be
burned in the fire of God’s holy wrath. Oh, my dear friends, while all these things are
true, your hopeless case, your lost cause is in good hands when it has been committed
unto the Savior. For those hands have become forgiving, blessing hands through His
merits. Those hands have become Priestly hands ready to bless. Those hands have
become Royal hands of a King, able and ready to support and to guide.
10
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the
door, I will come in to Him, and will sup with Him, and he with Me. Oh, to experience
tender communion with the Lord, His blessing, is better than life. Which brings us to our
third thought, The Blessedness of Christ’s Departure.
What a tremendous and awesome sight that must have been, congregation! That
the Lord Jesus began to ascend up into heaven physically, while in His followers’
presence. That must have been a most moving event. The Lord Jesus, their Master was
taking His final leave of them. He will not appear to them again as He had in the last five
to six weeks. Surely, sadness fills their countenance. Surely they will make their way to
the homes sorrowing and cast down. But no, that’s not what we read. In verse 52 we
read, And they worshipped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. Why? How
can that be? Because, congregation, the Lord was making all things new. The Lord had
to some extent opened their understanding as we read in verse 45 of our text Chapter. He
had breathed on them as we read in John 20:22 saying, receive ye the Holy Ghost. And
yet that was not all. But as we see in our text, while the Lord Jesus was taken from their
midst He was blessing His followers with uplifted hands.
So the picture that is given to us is this: The Lord is taken up from the earth with
outstretched hands over the sheep of His flock. And while He ascends higher and higher,
He continues to rise with outstretched, nail pierced hands until, as Acts 1 tells us, a cloud
hides Him from their view. This means, congregation, that the Lord Jesus departed into
heaven in the act of blessing His people. And so Christ’s separation from His flock did
not break that which they were receiving at this very moment. But precisely because the
Lord Jesus’ departed into heaven in this way, this indicated that He would continue to
bless His people. For…. He has entered heaven as the heavenly High Priest of all His
own. This departure with outstretched blessing hands tells the disciples ‘I will always
remain with you’. And this was in actuality true because the Lord always will remain
with His people through His Spirit.
11
Well now, that is the comfort of the militant Church here on earth also today. The
Lord Jesus is in heaven as the heavenly High Priest. He intercedes for His people. From
there He blesses them with divine blessings. The Holy Spirit bears witness of the Lord’s
finished work. He takes of His merits and reveals them unto God’s children. And
especially when that people can feel so down and forsaken so that God’s grace seems so
far removed from them, then, as the still soft dew, the voice of the Lord may come to
them through the Scriptures, or through God’s providential dealings, Do not fear, for I
Thy Savior am near. You see, congregation, though the Savior may at times seem far
removed from His people, He is not far from them. As the Lord Jesus told His disciples
in the Upper Room, I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you. Yes, the other
Comforter will abide with you forever, the Lord said. The Lord will never leave nor
forsake the works of His own hands. That is why David could also pray to the Lord after
sinning so grievously, Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
Yes, dear friends, as the Lord God also has said through His servant the Prophet, I
have loved thee with everlasting love and therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn
thee. Is that also true of you by the Spirit’s grace, beloved? Would you not seek the
riches of His blessing under the comfort of His blessing hands, whether for the first time
or by renewal? Truly, in and through the Savior’s blessed atoning work alone is life, life
everlasting in all its fullness with perfect peace. Therefore do not ignore His finished
work. For whoever ignores the blessing hands of Christ in this life, will nevertheless fall
into the hands of the living God one day. And as the Scriptures teach us, It is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Therefore seek refuge under the shadow of
the Lord’s wings today; seek shelter under the blood of the Lamb to the saving of your
soul. For His blood cleanses to the uttermost; in the blessed Savior is perfect rest and
peace found. Amen.
12
13