Jesus' ministry on earth came to an end when, while speaking to His apostles, "he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight" (Acts 1:9). The explanation given by the angels was: "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11). What can we learn from this awesome event?

Did the Ascension Really Happen?

Before considering specific lessons, it is necessary to confront skeptical views of the ascension.1 Some object to the credibility of the ascension because Matthew and John, who were eyewitnesses to the event, do not give an account of it in their Gospels. Only Luke and Mark, who were not eyewitnesses, record the event. The credibility of the ascension, however, is easily understood when one realizes the nature of inspiration. The New Testament was written by the inspiration of God (2 Tim. 3:16-17) and is therefore authoritative and inerrant. Also, one can know that the ascension is true by asking, "What became of the body of Christ?" Surely, if the body of Christ did not rise out of this world, His enemies would have produced it and discredited His name. Although John certainly alludes to the ascension (Jn. 20:17), Matthew and John omit it because their Gospels end with Jesus in Galilee. Mark and Luke mention it because they both conclude their Gospels with Jesus in Jerusalem, on the day the ascension took place. Luke would also have a special reason for giving an account of the ascension; namely, because the speeches and discussions he writes in Acts contain constant reference to Christ's ascension and glorification.

The Ascension Proves Jesus Is Real

First and foremost, the ascension, along with other events, proves that Jesus is real-He literally walked this earth (Acts 10:38); He really died for our sins (Heb. 9:24-26); He actually arose from the grave (1 Cor. 15:4-8); and He truly ascended to the right hand of God! Paul summarized magnificently: "It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us" (Rom. 8:34).

The Ascension Shows That We Have Work to Do

The church of Christ must fulfill its mission. The "these things" that Jesus had spoken before He ascended clearly referred to the commission He gave to the apostles (Acts 1:9 cf. 1:3-8). While Christians today are not witnesses in the same sense as the apostles, the Great Commission still applies (Mt. 28:19-20; Mk. 16:15-16). The ascension inaugurated the Spirit age of the church (cf. Acts 2:16-41). Jesus promised the apostles miraculous power from the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5, 8), yet that power could not come until after Jesus left this world (Jn. 16:7). It is through that same power that the word of God stands written today (cf. Jn. 14:26; 15:26; 16:13). Though Christ ascended, His presence and authority permeate the entire Book of Acts. With Jesus being gone from this earth, now more than ever, He relies on His church to carry on His teaching. "All that Jesus began both to do and teach" must be continued by the church of Christ!

The Ascension Motivates Us to Faithfulness

The ascension ended the earthly ministry of Christ. Throughout His entire ministry, including the forty days after His resurrection, Jesus went about doing good and teaching "the things pertaining to the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:3 cf. Acts 10:38). When He was crucified, the world thought it was victorious, but "up from the grave He arose"! He stayed the course, becoming the "author and finisher of our faith," and serving forever as the example of faithfulness (Heb. 12:1-3). Because of our relationship to Christ, we are "raised up together" and made to "sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:6). This happens spiritually the moment we are baptized into Christ (Rom. 6:3-5), and if we continue faithful unto the end of our lives, we will be raised in the resurrection to spend eternity with the Lord (Rom. 8:11; 1 Thes. 4:13-18; 1 Jn. 3:2).

The Ascension Gives Hope

Until Jesus returns, the Christian's life is a life of hope (Rom. 8:24-25), lived with the assurance that the ascended Lord is with His people always, "even unto the end of the world" (Mt. 28:20). Part of the reason why Jesus went back to the Father was to "prepare a place for you," and as He declared to the apostles, "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (Jn. 14:2-3). Because Jesus is on the right hand of God, we know that He will intercede on our behalf (Rom. 8:34 cf. 1 Tim. 2:5), and we know that He will make "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Rom. 8:28).

The Ascension Assures the Second Coming of Christ

The ascension gives assurance that Jesus is coming again-"this same Jesus...shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11). Jesus came the first time to save the world from sin (Lk. 19:10; Jn. 3:16-17; 12:47). He will come the second time to judge the world (Jn. 5:28-29; Heb. 9:27-28). Since the faithful Christian knows the Lord is coming back for His own, he or she must live in a constant state of readiness, knowing that "there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing" (2 Tim. 4:8). Doing His will is the only way to be truly prepared, no matter when He may come again (Mt. 24:42-51).

Although one of the least studied events, the ascension declares that Jesus reigns. One day He will deliver "the kingdom to God...when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" (1 Cor. 15:24-26). Will Jesus count us as friend or foe on that last day? Let us heed the testimony of the angels and be ready, through obedience to the Gospel, for the Lord to return from where He ascended.

End Notes

1 Adapted from J. W. McGarvey, New Commentary on Acts of the Apostles (Delight, AR: Gospel Light 1982) 8.