In the Western Church, Ascension Day, the Thursday 40 days after Resurrection Sunday, is meant to commemorate and celebrate Jesus’ ascension into Heaven after rising from the dead (see: St. Augustine, Sermons, page 266). The following is a brief collection of commentary on the Ascension and its profound significance to our faith.
Luke 24:50-53 (NASB 1995)
And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.
Acts 1:6-9 (NASB 1995)
So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.
Augustine – Sermons
Now, however, how great is his glory, as he ascends into heaven, as he takes his seat at the right hand of the Father! But we can’t see this with our eyes, just as we didn’t see him either hanging on the cross,’ nor observe him rising from the tomb. We hold on to all of this by faith, we behold it with the eyes of the heart. We have received praise, because we haven’t seen, and yet have believed. After all, even the Jews saw Christ. It’s not a particularly great thing to see Christ with the eyes in the head, but it’s a great thing to believe aboutChrist with the eyes of the heart.
– Sermon 263: ON THE FORTIETH DAY, THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD
Calvin’s Institutes
The resurrection is naturally followed by the ascension into heaven. For although Christ, by rising again, began fully to display his glory and virtue, having laid aside the abject and ignoble condition of a mortal life, and the ignominy of the cross, yet it was only by his ascension to heaven that his reign truly commenced.
Works of Jonathan Edwards, Volume One
Christ’s ascension into heaven was, as it were, his solemn coronation, when the Father set him upon the throne, and invested him with the glory of that kingdom which he had purchased for himself that he might thereby obtain the success of his redemption in conquering all his enemies: Ps.110:1. “Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” Christ entered into heaven, in order to obtain the success of his purchase, as the high priest of old, after he had offered sacrifice, entered into the holy of holies with the blood of the sacrifice, in order to obtain the success of the sacrifice which he had offered. See Heb. 9:12. He entered into heaven, there to make intercession for his people, to plead the sacrifice which he had made in order to the success of it, Heb. 7:25.—And as he ascended into heaven, God the Father did in a visible manner set him on the throne as king of the universe. He then put the angels all under him, and subjected to him heaven and earth, that he might govern them for the good of the people for whom he died, Eph.1:20-22.—And as Christ rose from the dead, so he ascended into heaven, as the head of the body, and forerunner of all the church; and they, as it were, ascend with him: so that we are both raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ, Eph. 2:6.
– SECT. II. How Christ was capacitated for effecting his purpose
R.C. Sproul
The Lord Jesus reigns right now as the King of kings and the Lord of lords in Heaven. That is what the ascension was all about. But in the meantime, like His disciples, we yearn for the day when His kingdom is manifest, when He consummates it, bringing the new heaven and new earth and the kingdom to its fullest consummation. We still look forward to that even to this day. Every day, we say, “Lord, are You now going to do it?”
“The Ascension” November 2, 2003
“Rejoice Ye Pure in Heart”
Jesus, the Savior, reigns,
The God of truth and love;
When He has purged our stains,
He took his seat above;
Lift up your heart,
Lift up your voice!
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
–Vs. 2, Written by Charles Wesley
