“If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place I am going.” John 14:2-3
Today marks the fortieth day after the resurrection of Jesus. In those forty days following his rising back to life, Jesus stayed on earth. In the words of Luke, “After his suffering, he presented himself to them (the apostles) and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).
When those forty days were over, Jesus took his disciples to the Mount of Olives and, right before their eyes, his feet left the ground as Jesus rose higher and higher into the sky. The book of Acts reports quite thoroughly on this event, including both the wonder of Jesus’ ascension and the humor of the disciples’ response. Verse 9 says, “He was taken up before their eyes and a cloud hid him from their sight.” And then, in verse 10, we see the disciples’ reaction. “They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going.”
I can imagine eleven men clustered on the hillside shielding their squinting eyes from the brilliant sunlight with their mouths all hanging open. Speechless. Marveled. Maybe even a little bit disappointed.
While they were still staring at the sky, two men dressed in white stood with them and asked why they were looking into the sky. “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). The angelic message rings with the same confidence and celebration as the one delivered on that quiet Easter Sunday morning in the garden. “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here. He has risen! Remember how he told you …” (Luke 24:5-6).
I wonder if the angels at the tomb that morning are the same ones present with the disciples when Jesus ascends to heaven. In a way, their message is bittersweet. It says to the disciples that life won’t be the same as it was before Jesus died and rose again. And now, forty days later, another change has come. Life for sure will never be the same again now that Jesus has left them.
This time of year, just days before Pentecost, I like to ponder this scene from the viewpoint of one of the disciples, especially Peter. Jesus had declared him a rock, the foundation on which the new church would get built. But Peter stands here staring into an empty sky as clueless as the rest of them.
After the angels appeared, Acts reports that the apostles returned to Jerusalem. The trip back to town has the same feel as the intervening time after Jesus’ death until Peter recognizes him on the shore one morning while out fishing. Well, OK. So that was that, Peter must have thought. He may have returned to Jerusalem a bit let down, like a runner with high hopes for setting a record who ended up finishing last.
Acts doesn’t say which disciple asks the question, but it doesn’t surprise me if Peter was one of them who blurted out, “Lord, at this time are you going to restore the kingdom of Israel?”
Behind the question we can hear the exasperation. The disciples left their jobs, followed Jesus through thick and thin, put up with political tensions, and suffered the agony of watching their Teacher and leader endure torture. So now that he’d come back to life and proven he was the real deal, maybe he’d finally get down to serious business and accomplish what the Jews had been waiting on for hundreds of years.
Wrong. Again. They’d asked before, but like this time, Jesus doesn’t answer the question. Instead he poses one of his own with the words, “It’s not for you to know.” Trust me, Jesus asks of them. Believe in God the Father and his power and authority. That is what really matters.
So now Peter is left behind with nothing but questions floating on the wind. He’d heard the angels. He’d seen the miracles. He’d had his feet washed. And now Jesus is gone.
The verse quoted at the beginning of this devotional was spoken by Jesus on the night of the Last Supper. During that meal, Jesus had modeled servant leadership, spoken of betrayal, promised the Holy Spirit, and comforted the disciples with the promise that he would prepare a place for them and then come back to take them with him to his Father’s eternal home.
I wonder if in those moments following Jesus’ ascension Peter remembered the day at the tomb of Lazarus, or the walk to Jairus’ house, or Mary Magdalene’s outrageous story. Jesus’ ascension was the crown and climax of his resurrected life. A whole new dimension of vitality and power awaited him in the place where he was going.
Those words from the Last Supper may have made Peter’s list of memories that day. If Jesus was going to heaven, and when he got there would begin work on a place for Peter, then that meant Peter would join Jesus there ruling and serving, loving and praising, in perfect health and perfect unity forever.
Peter’s promise is our promise. Jesus is already at work preparing a place for us. He is someone like us, a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, able to empathize with our weaknesses, as Hebrews 4 says, pleading our cause in the presence of his Father in heaven. He will send his Spirit to us on earth so that in his power, we make the goal of our lives the things above where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand.[1]
Because of Jesus’ ascension, we have a new home.
Because of Jesus’ ascension, we have an audience with the King of Heaven.
Because of Jesus’ ascension, we have the power to look beyond our earthly circumstances.
Because of Jesus’ ascension, the things of heaven are ours. As Paul encourages in Colossians 3, let’s set our minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Prayer
Almighty God, whose only begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven: May our hearts and minds also there ascend, and with him continually dwell. King of glory, do not leave us comfortless, but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.[2]
[1] Heidelberg Catechism question #49.
[2] Collects from the Book of Common Prayer for Ascension Day and the Sunday following.
