The Ascension of Our Lord
Hymns: 212, 296, 216, 217
Acts 1:1-11 — “Lord, in this Time Are You Restoring the Kingdom to Israel”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you all from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Today we are observing the Festival of the Ascension of our Lord and the appointed Epistle reading is Acts 1:1-11:
The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, 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.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Introduction
The Festival of the Ascension of our Lord falls during the week when we think that we are too busy to stop and observe it. Thus, we have moved it to this day, in place of Exaudi Sunday. The ascension of our Lord is an exceedingly important event. It most certainly is worthy of remembrance in our life of worship. It prepares us for the coming of Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all of the saints. Thus, today we ponder the testimony recorded for us by St. Luke regarding this blessed event.
I. Lord, in this Time Are You Restoring the Kingdom to Israel
Luke begins this accounting as a continuation of the Gospel account that he previously recorded. In the opening verses of this first chapter of Acts, Luke gives a very brief reminder of what he had previously written and then expands the accounting of the ascension of the Lord Jesus into heaven.
The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
With this accounting we gain a better understanding of the reason that the Lord Jesus had to ascend to heaven to rule on our behalf. We gain a better understanding of why the gift of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was necessary for the continuing work of the ministry of preaching the Gospel in all the world. Apart from the gift of the Holy Spirit, the apostles did not understand. They could not understand, for these things are revealed by God and not through one’s own reason and strength. These things are spiritually discerned and can only be rightly perceived by the regenerated spirit who is led by the Spirit of God.
And so, even after the Lord Jesus explains that the kingdom of God comes through the gift of the Holy Spirit and Baptism, still the minds of the apostles are closed to what this means so that they asked: “Lord, in this time are you restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
What they failed to understand is that with the birth of Jesus the kingdom already was restored to Israel. The real question should have been whether or not Israel was being restored to the kingdom? People today seem to be just as blind as people were then concerning the true nature of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom. It always has been a spiritual kingdom. When the Scriptures speak of the saints reigning on earth with the Lord Jesus, this reign and this authority is established through the preaching of the Gospel. As the Holy Spirit comes and works through the means of grace, sinners are converted into believers in the righteousness of God in Christ. Their hearts and minds and spirits are transformed and thus their bodies and lives are subjected to the rule of the Gospel. The Gospel takes hold on them and their lives reflect the fact that they are no longer children of the world but have been regenerated to be sons of God and heirs with Christ of everlasting life and all the blessings of the kingdom of heaven.
Even though according to the Old Testament the kingdom of Israel included earthly kings and territory, the kingdom was nevertheless always a spiritual kingdom. God’s people needed a land in which to dwell safely until the Christ should be born. Thus God brought them to the land of promise, the land that was promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Even though the people often lost sight completely of this fact and treated the kingdom as a worldly kingdom, the Lord preserved His remnant and brought forth His Son into the world in the appointed time through gentle Mary.
The Magi knew of this through the Scriptures that had been circulated on account of Daniel in Babylon. They knew of the one who was to be born King of the Jews and they looked for His star and when it appeared, they rejoiced and traveled far to worship Him. With the birth of Jesus, the King had come to His people and the kingdom was fully restored to Israel.
Jesus grew to be a man, was baptized by John and announced and anointed by the Father and the Holy Spirit, and began to preach and teach and heal and perform many wondrous signs among the people of Israel. To those who had eyes to see and ears to hear, the kingdom of God had come and was restored to Israel, even as dear Simeon and Anna proclaimed in the Temple courts when they encountered the baby Jesus. John proclaimed the same even as he baptized and preached in the wilderness.
The problem for the apostles was that they still did not grasp the fact that Israel is a spiritual kingdom that is manifested physically through the body of Christ, into which those whom the Holy Spirit converts are incorporated. The Church is the physical manifestation of the kingdom of God, the body of Christ. Where the King is, the kingdom is. And the King declares that He is present wherever two or three are gathered into His name.
II. Not Yours to Know Times and Seasons . . . But, Ye Shall Be to Me Witnesses
When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
After the ascension and the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost, the apostles never again asked about an earthly kingdom apart from the kingdom that the Spirit of God creates through the means of grace. After these miracles, the apostles no longer referred to Israel as merely the bloodline of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now they understood the Israel of God to be of the faith of Jesus, sons born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:13) They understood now that the Israel of God is born through the regeneration of water and Spirit, through the faith that the Holy Spirit works and nurtures and maintains through the pure administration of the means of grace. Thus, they understood and proclaimed that the kingdom of God comes not through observation, but that it comes continually to those whom the Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies.
This is what the Lord Jesus means when He says: “it is not yours to know times and seasons which the Father did place in His own authority.” The kingdom of God is God’s kingdom, not ours. It is ours in the same sense as we call our father’s house and property ours. It is ours according to our position of dependence upon our fathers and all that our relationship as their children includes. So also with our heavenly Father.
Thus, even as God is spirit, so we are His spiritual children in His spiritual kingdom. His kingdom includes all the universe, but His kingdom comes to us and we enter into His kingdom not by what we do, but by water and Spirit. And so the kingdom of God rules even this physical world, for the physical world shall be finally judged and dissolved, revealing the truth that those who are of God by the working of His Spirit are the true princes in the world. They seek not the things of the world but the things of the kingdom of God, for they have been born of God.
In these present times and seasons, the kingdom of God appears to be pressed down and restricted by the many agencies of the kingdoms of the world. But this is because those who see only the physical are entirely blind to the true rule of God in the world. His saints live out of faith, not sight. They walk in His grace and are ruled by His peace.
And furthermore, the Lord Jesus declared to His apostles that they would be witnesses unto Him. They had been with Jesus throughout His earthly ministry. They received from Him the institution of the New Testament in His blood. They witnessed His betrayal, His false condemnation, His persecution, His suffering and death and burial. They witnessed the fact of His resurrection, seeing Him in the flesh. They ate and drank with Him after His resurrection from the dead. They now would witness His ascension into heaven where He now rules with all authority and power over all things. Of all these things they would be firsthand witnesses to the world. They would begin in Jerusalem and move onward into all of Judea and into Samaria and finally to the very end part of the earth through the witness that they would give through the preaching to the fledgling Church and also through their written testimony.
III. Why Stand Ye Gazing up into Heaven
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, 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.
At the empty tomb God did the same thing. Jesus had risen. The followers of Jesus kept looking for Jesus where they had last seen Him. He was not there. Instead, God sent holy angels to remind them of what Jesus had already told them but they were too distracted to hear and believe. So also at the ascension. Jesus told them to go to Jerusalem and to await the promise of the Holy Spirit. But all that they could do was to stand looking for Jesus where He told them that He would not be. Thus the angels were sent to remind them gently of what Jesus had told them.
“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.” They had not been abandoned. They had not been left alone. Jesus sent His holy angels to say so. The angels came and they comforted the apostles. The apostles heard and believed. They went into Jerusalem and waited for the Holy Spirit.
According to the Old Testament, Jerusalem was the place of gathering for the saints of God. Now God would use this as the starting place for the spread of the kingdom into all the world. The fulfillment of the times and seasons had begun in accord with the Father’s authority. The apostles went to Jerusalem and they gathered together in the name of Jesus and they waited and prayed and asked of the Lord to appoint an apostle to take the place of Judas the traitor. No longer did they look backward. No longer did they cower in fear. No longer did they imagine that the work of the kingdom was of their own making. They turned together in the unity of the faith, asking of the Lord what He would do. They waited for the command of Jesus to be fulfilled with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Their witness unto the Lord Jesus had begun. They did as their Lord commanded. They waited together in Jerusalem.
Conclusion
And this is the witness of the Church today, as well. Just as they were commanded to wait, so also are we. Just as they were told to gather together in the name of Jesus and await His coming, so also are we told. As St. Paul writes, “For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup ye do show the Lord’s death till He comes.” This is the witness that we have been called to give unto the Lord for the sake of all who look for His coming and for the foretelling of the Gospel in all the world.
This is why we dare not allow the gathering to be compromised. The gathering must be a congregation that the Holy Spirit calls to partake of the pure and unadulterated means of grace. For if our witness is to be true, so then our gathering must be true. We desperately need to examine ourselves to be absolutely certain that we are being gathered into the name of Jesus and no other name. We need to be certain that the communion of which we partake is truly the communion of Christ’s body. For no one else can give us what we need. No one else can rescue us and set us free from our bondage to sin, death, and the power of the devil.
But as we gather into the true communion of Christ’s body and partake together of His body and blood administered for us, then we truly receive the relief and salvation that we cannot obtain through any other means. Then we are truly united by His body and renewed in the forgiveness and life of His blood. Then we truly give witness unto Him to one another and to all who observe our congregating together into His name. This is the way that the kingdom comes to us and we are incorporated and preserved in God’s kingdom. It is all by God’s doing and decree. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus forever. Amen.
The Ascension of Our Lord
Hymns: 212, 296, 216, 217
The Introit (Acts1:11, Ps.47:1)
P: Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?C: Hallelujah!
P: 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.
C: Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
P: Oh, clap your hands, all ye people;
C: shout unto God with the voice of triumph.
The Collect
Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that like as we do believe Thine only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to have ascended into the heavens, so may we also in heart and mind thither ascend and with Him continually dwell; who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.
The First Lesson Isaiah 57:15
For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
The Gradual (Ps.47:5, Ps.68:18)
P: Hallelujah! Hallelujah!P: God is gone up with a shout:
C: the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Hallelujah!
P: Thou hast ascended on high:
C: Thou hast led captivity captive. Hallelujah!
The Epistle Acts 1:1-11
The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, 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.
The Holy Gospel St. Mark 16:14-20
Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
Acts 1:1-11 — “Lord, in this Time Are You Restoring the Kingdom to Israel”
Introduction
I. Lord, in this Time Are You Restoring the Kingdom to Israel
II. Not Yours to Know Times and Seasons . . . But, Ye Shall Be to Me Witnesses
III. Why Stand Ye Gazing up into Heaven
Conclusion
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