He Ascended Into Heaven

For Meditation

I once read about a memorable service at an Episcopalian seminary on Ascension Day, which is celebrated the fortieth day after Easter.  At the conclusion of worship, the properly robed deans and faculty led the assembly out of the chapel singing a stirring hymn, but unbeknownst to them, a student had planned a surprise ending.  Exploding out of the bushes, a plastic statue of Jesus attached to a bottle rocket shot up into the sky, dispersing the procession before finally landing on a nearby roof.  In defense of his “Rocket Jesus”, the seminarian claimed he was merely demonstrating his belief in the reality of the ascension! 

This week in our study of the Apostles’ Creed, we come to the phrase “he ascended into heaven.”  It’s a phrase that many of us gloss over without giving it much thought, but what a strange mystery we proclaim that Jesus was taken from the earth by clouds lifting him up to the skies (Acts 1:6-11).  To modern ears, it sounds fictional.  We don’t have to shoot a rocket of Jesus into the sky to demonstrate our belief in the ascension, but we do have to know why believing in the ascension matters. 

Jesus told his disciples many times that he would be leaving the world to return to his Father but that it would be to their advantage for him to go away so that God could send the Holy Spirit (John 16:7).  And Jesus is, right now, sitting at the right hand of God, constantly interceding for us before the Father (Romans 8:34).  The Heidelberg Catechism affirms these biblical truths as benefits we receive because Jesus ascended into heaven.  As you prepare for worship this week, read the account of the ascension in Acts 1:1-11 and contemplate how the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the intercession of Jesus benefit you to live with certainty and faithfulness, even when the world around us is so uncertain.

Acts 1:6–11

6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here 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 2:32–36

32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
    “Sit at my right hand
35 until I make your enemies
    a footstool for your feet.”’36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

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Play along from home this week!

We’ve created parts for band and orchestral instruments, so you can play along to some of our worship songs this week! Find the parts here.