Mark 16:19-20, Luke 24:50-53, Acts 1:9-12
John Macarthur on the Ascension of Jesus – Luke’s
gospel began with the story of the Lord Jesus
Christ’s arrival on earth, and ends with His
departure from it.
His life began with condescension and ended with
ascension;
it began with incarnation and ended with
exaltation;
it began with expectation and ended with
consummation;
it began with the Son of God being born of a virgin
and descending to earth, and ended with the Son of
God being born from the dead and ascending to
heaven;
it began with hope unrealized and ended with hope
fully realized;
it began with a promise and ended with a
fulfillment and a new promise;
it began with the praise of Mary, Zacharias,
Simeon, Anna, and the angels in anticipation of
Messiah’s arrival, and ended with the worship and
praise of those who witnessed Messiah’s departure.
Last week we celebrated the resurrection of Christ from
the dead.
Today we are going to discuss His ascension into heaven.
The Bible has three accounts of Jesus’ ascension.
Mark 16:19-20, Luke 24:50-53, and Acts 1:6-12.
We are going to read all three and talk about their
similarities and differences.
Let’s take a moment to pray for God to speak mightily
this morning and for us to hear exactly what He wants us
to hear so that we can put His word into action as we
walk out the doors.
Allow me to provide some context.
After His resurrection Jesus appeared to His disciples and
many others over a period of 40 days.
10 days later the Holy Spirit would descend on them at
Pentecost. The Scriptures we are studying this morning
happen at the end of the 40 days.
Mark 16:19-20
Luke 24:50-53
Acts 1:9-12
Mark and Acts mentions Jesus speaking to the disciples.
Luke says that Jesus blessed them.
What did Jesus actually say to them?
The blessing or words that He spoke to them was actually
the great commission.
The Great Commission is not just for the 11 disciples!
We are all called to spread the good news.
Let’s look at the context of the verses around the
ascension of Jesus.
Look at Mark 16:15-16 “And he said to them,
“Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the
whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized
will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be
condemned.”
Now, look at Luke 24:45-48 “Then he opened their
minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to
them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should
suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and
that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should
be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning
from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these
things.”
Finally, Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when
the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be
my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Jesus didn’t leave His disciples, nor does He leave us with
no direction or purpose in life!
I’ve said it before that if Jesus didn’t have a reason for us
to be on earth after our salvation then He would just
bring us to heaven as soon as we asked Him for
forgiveness of our sin.
But He has work for us to do.
He wants us to spread the gospel message far and wide
so that everyone can hear the truth and be saved.
All the Scriptures mention Jesus being taken up to
heaven.
Of course we know that God is the one who raised Jesus
from the dead and also the one who brought Him back to
heaven where He has been with God for all eternity.
Mark mentions what Jesus does when He gets to heaven,
He sits down at the right hand of the Father.
Acts tells us there were two angels there reminding them
that Jesus had gone to heaven but that He is coming
back in the same way He was taken up – in a cloud.
We know that Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 that
believers will be caught up together with the dead in
Christ to meet the Lord in the air.
Now let’s look at the response of the disciples to Jesus’
ascension into heaven.
Mark tells us that they went out and preached
everywhere and the Lord confirmed the message with
accompanying signs.
Luke tells us that they worshiped Him and returned to
Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the
temple blessing God.
Isn’t it incredible that they went out with joy after their
mentor, savior and friend had just departed?
Many of of us feel great sorrow when a loved one
departs.
But they had hope that they would see Him again. And
that brought them joy.
Acts goes on to describe the coming of the Holy Spirit
and the incredible sermon at pentecost. They certainly
fulfilled the Great Commission and many lives were
transformed.
There are 6 reasons Jesus Ascended into Heaven.
1.To allow the Holy Spirit to come
John 14:16-21 “And I will ask the Father, and he
will give you another Helper, to be with you
forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world
cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor
knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you
and will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans;
I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world
will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I
live, you also will live. In that day you will know
that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
Whoever has my commandments and keeps them,
he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be
loved by my Father, and I will love him and
manifest myself to him.”
2.To sit at the right hand of God
Luke 22:69 “But from now on the Son of Man shall
be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”
3.To prepare a place for believers
John 14:1-2 “Let not your hearts be troubled.
Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s
house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I
have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
4.To Serve as High Priest
Hebrews 4:14-16 “Since then we have a great high
priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus,
the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For
we do not have a high priest who is unable to
sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in
every respect has been tempted as we are, yet
without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near
to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy
and find grace to help in time of need.”
5.To Equip believers to serve Him and do His will
Hebrews 13:20-21 “Now may the God of peace who
brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the
great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the
eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything
good that you may do his will, working in us that
which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ,
to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
6.So He could come back for the church
John 14:3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again and will take you to myself, that
where I am you may be also.”
It was God’s plan for Christ to come to earth.
It was God’s plan for Christ to suffer and die and be
raised again on the third day.
It was God’s plan for Jesus to ascend back into heaven
and sit at the right hand of the Father until such a time
as the Father allows Him to come back for His children.
APPLICATION
How should we respond to the ascension of Jesus?
We should respond in the same way the first disciples
did.
Worship Him We should worship Christ as a lifestyle.
He is the author of our salvation and the giver of all good
and perfect gifts.
He alone is worthy of our worship.
How can you worship Him throughout your day?
Witness about Him as I mentioned earlier, the Great
Commission is for all believers. No one gets a pass.
God wants to use us to reach the lost with the good
news.
Who do you know that is unsaved?
Are you praying for them?
Meredith told me a cool story while she was home for
Easter.
She told me that she had been asking God in prayer to
start a Bible study on campus but she received a no.
She said she then asked God to send her someone she
could invest in and make a difference in their life.
The next day her and her roommate were studying their
Bible’s and a girl came up and asked if they were having
a Bible study. She told her they were just reading and
then talking about it.
The girl sat down and joined them and they had a great
conversation about the Lord.
God answers prayers and God wants us to be available to
spread the Good News.
How can you witness to others about Him in your
community?