Speaker 1: What is Jesus doing now? I want to answer that
Speaker 1: question for you. I hope it will be enlightening, as
Speaker 1: it was for me many moons ago. I still remember
Speaker 1: sitting in my first year of seminary in a class
Speaker 1: on theology in which the professor was pontificating beautifully on
Speaker 1: the glorious ascension of Jesus, and being completely undone by it,
Speaker 1: because I recognized right then and there that I was
Speaker 1: completely ignorant of the details of the ascension, the significance,
Speaker 1: the theological significance. I had grown up as a Presbyterian boy,
Speaker 1: going to church every Sunday, going to church camp and
Speaker 1: learning things, and I could not explain the ascension to anyone.
Speaker 1: And I felt so well humbled and at the same
Speaker 1: time so excited, so enthused, in lumened encouraged by learning
Speaker 1: the truth about Jesus' ascension.
Speaker 2: I thought, how could I have reached this point.
Speaker 1: I was in my mid twenties, I guess early twenties,
Speaker 1: then early twenties, and I had never really understood the
Speaker 1: theological significance of the ascension, I thought, really looking back,
Speaker 1: the ascension took place forty days after the resurrection. The
Speaker 1: resurrection took place on Kitriyaki, the day of the Lord.
Speaker 1: Sunday ascension falls on a Thursday. Presbyterians don't go to
Speaker 1: church on Thursday, because, like most Protestants, we had scrapped
Speaker 1: the ecclesiastical or liturgical calendar.
Speaker 2: We went to church every Sunday.
Speaker 1: But if something significant, like the ascension of Christ to Heaven,
Speaker 1: something of immense significance sealvific significance, well it fell on
Speaker 1: a Thursday, forty days after the resurrection, and since we
Speaker 1: didn't keep the calendar, we didn't go to church on
Speaker 1: those days. This is a consequence of my Protestant experience.
Speaker 1: The ascension is the window to which to understand what
Speaker 1: Jesus is doing now, not what he has done to
Speaker 1: save us, not his incredible incarnation, his humble, canotic descent
Speaker 1: to become a human being without ceasing to be God's son,
Speaker 1: to become the theanthropos. We know the great love that
Speaker 1: drove him and the great humility that drove him to
Speaker 1: become a man in order to rectify human nature, to
Speaker 1: cure us from our diseased and sinful condition, taking humanity
Speaker 1: upon himself, establishing it by his righteous life and its
Speaker 1: correct orientation. In natures, then as the god Man, defeating Satan,
Speaker 1: crushing sin, overcoming death, his precious Cross. All of those
Speaker 1: things he's done in the past. But what is he
Speaker 1: doing now? What is Christ doing now? And where did
Speaker 1: he go when he ascended? I want to tell you
Speaker 1: an answer to that question and four simple points. The
Speaker 1: first is that the ascension is the glorification of our
Speaker 1: Lord Christ. Just before he went to the cross and
Speaker 1: his magnificent high priestly prayer recorded in the seventeenth chapter
Speaker 1: of Saint John's Gospel, Jesus said, this, Father, the hour
Speaker 1: has come. Glorify thy son, that the son may glorify THEE.
Speaker 1: I glorify THEE on the earth, having accomplished the work
Speaker 1: which thou hast given me to do.
Speaker 2: Now, Father, glorify.
Speaker 1: Me together with thyself, with the glory which I had
Speaker 1: with THEE before the world was. The ascension is the
Speaker 1: glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ the humiliation came to
Speaker 1: an end, having humbled himself to the very lowest point
Speaker 1: and loved us to the end, giving his very life
Speaker 1: for us on the precious Cross. His father raised him
Speaker 1: from the dead, and then after forty days Jesus ascended
Speaker 1: from the mouth of Olives and was glorified before the
Speaker 1: eyes of his disciples, taking humanity where humanity has never gone,
Speaker 1: blowing through the atmospheric heavens that had been previously dominated
Speaker 1: by Satan and the demons that Saint Paul call the
Speaker 1: Prince of the power of the air. Now humanity is
Speaker 1: taken right through that domain and planted in heaven. Now
Speaker 1: the dust of the earth, which is what we are,
Speaker 1: the dust of the Earth, is enthroned on the King
Speaker 1: in the Kingdom of Heaven number two. It is his
Speaker 1: coronation as the King of kings. It is the fulfillment
Speaker 1: of the prophecy of the exaltation of the King of
Speaker 1: the Great Christ, the Messiah at the right hand of
Speaker 1: the Father. As such, it is the greatest, most significant
Speaker 1: political action that has ever taken place. All other enthronements
Speaker 1: of earthly kings, who are sinners, as glorious as they
Speaker 1: may be throughout human hand, are nothing compared to the
Speaker 1: glorification and enthronement of the Lord Christ, who is the
Speaker 1: King of all living kings and the Lord of all
Speaker 1: living lords, the one who holds all providential power and
Speaker 1: government in the world, all authority in heaven and on
Speaker 1: earth has been given to him, and the success, the
Speaker 1: rise and fall of nations depends upon their orientation to him.
Speaker 1: This is what the Psalms tell us, right. Just think
Speaker 1: of Psalm too. Do homage to the Sun, yet, kings,
Speaker 1: lest he become angry with you and you perish in
Speaker 1: the way. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Speaker 1: The Lord laughs at those who oppose him. That Psalm says,
Speaker 1: those who rise up against him are no threat to
Speaker 1: his rule, not at all. Or think of that incredible
Speaker 1: text Psalm one nine or one to ten if you're
Speaker 1: reading it in a typical Western Bible, not number into
Speaker 1: the ALEXX to the septuagen.
Speaker 2: Psalm one O nine.
Speaker 1: Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine
Speaker 1: enemies a footstool for thy feet. This is the most
Speaker 1: quoted Old Testament text in the New Testament. Four times.
Speaker 1: It's quoted in the New Testament, applied to Christ, the
Speaker 1: Father speaking to the son, Sit thou at my right
Speaker 1: hand on the throne prepared for you, until I make
Speaker 1: thine enemies a footstool for thy feet. That's a lens
Speaker 1: through which to understand all of human history. It is
Speaker 1: the process of Jesus extending his loving reign, conquering the
Speaker 1: enemies of the human race, until every last enemy, every demon,
Speaker 1: every sin, is made a footstool for his feet. And
Speaker 1: then comes the end, and God is all and in
Speaker 1: all number three. The ascension is the prelude to Pentecost.
Speaker 1: It is the necessary movement and step. Now that Christ
Speaker 1: is glorified, now that he is enthroned in heaven as
Speaker 1: the Lord of lords and the King of kings. He
Speaker 1: said as a coronation gift, as a great love gift,
Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, ten days later,
Speaker 1: without the glorification of Christ, no outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1: This is exactly what Jesus promised, that he would ascend
Speaker 1: to his Father, and he would send the other comforter.
Speaker 2: Christ, of course is our comforter.
Speaker 1: But he prophesied that he would pour out upon the
Speaker 1: disciples him who would be the other comforter, the peraclet,
Speaker 1: who would bring great, empowering, consolation, joy, beautiful fruits to
Speaker 1: his church. That's the significance also of the ascension. It
Speaker 1: was the prelude to the outpouring, the democratization of the
Speaker 1: Holy Spirit in the church. It's the Holy Spirit being
Speaker 1: poured out as the means by which Jesus's presence is
Speaker 1: realized in each believer and in the corporate Church. And then, lastly,
Speaker 1: but not least, the ascension is the movement of Christ
Speaker 1: up into the Holy of Holies in the great Heavenly
Speaker 1: Temple that was revealed by God to Moses when Moses
Speaker 1: was on the top of the Mount Sinai, and where
Speaker 1: Christ now has gone as our forerunner, as our great
Speaker 1: High Priest, to stand before God, as the eternally slain
Speaker 1: but standing living Lamb of God, who sacrifice has made
Speaker 1: atonement for the sins of the whole world, who stands
Speaker 1: before his Father constantly pleading and interceding for the good
Speaker 1: of his Church, as our great High Priest, the one
Speaker 1: whose priesthood is shared with those ordained to the sacred
Speaker 1: priesthood on the earth, who speak not for themselves, who
Speaker 1: minister not for themselves, but function as Saint Paul says,
Speaker 1: as the stewards of the mysteries of God, representing Christ.
Speaker 1: This is why we priests are our clothes we are
Speaker 1: we hide ourselves. We all dress the same way. We
Speaker 1: have beards and chassocks and hold the True High Priest
Speaker 1: on our chests, because we stand as his representatives, his stewards,
Speaker 1: in his house, the Church. He is the Great High Priest,
Speaker 1: constantly making intercession for us Hebrew seven twenty five.
Speaker 2: He is able to save to the uttermost.
Speaker 1: Here that emphasis on the present outworking of our salvation,
Speaker 1: not just a past event. He is able to save
Speaker 1: to the uttermost those who come to Him to God
Speaker 1: through him, since he always lives to make constant intercession
Speaker 1: for us. Dear ones, praise the name of our Lord,
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. Glory and honor, dominion and power be to
Speaker 1: him forever and ever, because he hasn't just conquered all
Speaker 1: of our enemies in the past, but he ever lives
Speaker 1: and is presently serving us, presently being glorified, presently ruling,
Speaker 1: King of kings and Lord of lords. He's the one
Speaker 1: who poured out the Holy Spirit and through whom through
Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit, is governing the Church now. And he
Speaker 1: is the one who is interceding constantly in the Great
Speaker 1: Heavenly Temple as our Great High Priest, saving us, guiding
Speaker 1: the church, bringing to pass his wonders until the whole
Speaker 1: world is full of the glory of God. As the
Speaker 1: waters cover the sea. May it come to pass. May
Speaker 1: we all be wise to do what the Psalmist says,
Speaker 1: all of us believers, all those who are outside the church,
Speaker 1: all rulers and governors. May we kiss the sun. May
Speaker 1: we bowed down before his footstool, voluntarily, voluntarily or involuntarily.
Speaker 1: All will do so, and He will be all in all,
Speaker 1: God be with you. Hey everyone, I hope you've downloaded
Speaker 1: the Patristic Nectar app on your phone. It is a
Speaker 1: treasure trove of soul nourishing content, and I hope you'll
Speaker 1: consider becoming a regular donor to Patristic Nectar today.