0:00 What is Jesus doing now? I want to answer that question for you. I hope it will be enlightening as it was for me many moons ago. I still remember sitting in my first year of seminary in a class on theology in which the professor was uh pontificating beautifully on the glorious ascension of Jesus and being completely undone by it because I recognized right then and there that I was completely ignorant of the details of the ascension, the significance, the theological significance. I had grown up as a Presbyterian boy going to church every Sunday, going to church camp and learning things and I could not explain the ascension to
0:46 anyone. And I felt so, well, humbled and at the same time so excited, so enthused, illumined, encouraged by learning the truth about Jesus's ascension. And I thought, how could I have reached this point? I was in my mid-20s, I guess early 20s then, early 20s, and I had never really understood the theological significance of the ascension. And I thought, really, looking back, the ascension took place 40 days after the resurrection. The resurrection took place on Kyriaki, the day of the Lord, Sunday. Ascension falls on a Thursday. Presbyterians don't go to church on Thursday >> [laughter] >> because like most Protestants we had scrapped the ecclesiastical or liturgical calendar. We went to church
1:33 every Sunday, but if something significant like the ascension of Christ to heaven, something of immense significance, salvific significance, well, it fell on a Thursday, 40 days after the resurrection, and since we didn't keep the calendar, we didn't go to church on those days. This is a consequence of my Protestant experience. The ascension is the window through which to understand what Jesus is doing now, not what he has done to save us, not his incredible incarnation, his humble kenotic descent to become a human being without ceasing to be God's son, to become the Theanthropos. We know the great love that drove him and the great
2:19 humility that drove him to become a man in order to rectify human nature and to cure us from our diseased and sinful condition. Taking humanity upon himself, establishing it by his righteous life and its correct orientation and natures, and then as the God-man defeating Satan, crushing sin, overcoming death, his precious cross, all of those things he's done uh in the past. But what is he doing now? What is Christ doing now? And where did he go when he ascended? I want to tell you an answer to that question in four simple points. The first is that the Ascension
3:04 is the glorification of our Lord Christ. But just before he went to the cross in his magnificent high priestly prayer recorded in the 17th chapter of St. John's Gospel, Jesus said this, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son that the son may glorify thee. I glorified thee on the earth having accomplished the work which thou has given me to do. Now, Father, glorify me together with thyself with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." The Ascension is the glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ. The humiliation came to an end. Having humbled himself to the very lowest point and loved us to the end, giving his very life for us on
3:52 the precious cross, his father raised him from the dead and then after 40 days Jesus ascended from the Mount of Olives and was glorified before the eyes of his disciples taking humanity where humanity has never gone. Blowing through the atmospheric heavens that had been previously dominated by Satan and the demons that St. Paul calls the prince of the power of the air, now humanity is taken right through that domain and planted in heaven. Now the dust of the earth, which is what we are, the dust of the earth is enthroned on the king in the kingdom of heaven. Number two, it is his coronation as the king of kings. It is the
4:37 fulfillment of the prophecy of the exaltation of the king of the great Christ, the Messiah, at the right hand of the father. As such, it is the greatest most significant political action that has ever taken place. All other enthronements of earthly kings who are sinners, as glorious as they may be throughout human history, are nothing compared to the glorification and enthronement of the Lord Christ who is the king of all living kings and the lord of all living lords. The one who holds all providential power and government in the world. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. And the [clears throat] success,
5:23 the rise and fall of nations, depends upon their orientation to him. This is [clears throat] what the Psalms tell us, right? Just think of Psalm two. Do homage to the son, ye kings, lest he become angry with you and you perish in the way. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. The Lord laughs at those who oppose him, that Psalm says. Those who rise up against him are no threat to his rule. Not at all. Or think of that incredible text, Psalm 109 or 110 if you're reading it in a typical Western Bible, not numbered according to the LXX, to the to the Septuagint. Psalm 109, "Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies a footstool for thy feet." This
6:09 is the most quoted Old Testament text in the New Testament. Four times it's quoted in the New Testament, applied to Christ. The Father speaking to the Son, "Sit thou at my right hand on the throne prepared for you until I make thine enemies a footstool for thy feet." That's a lens through which to understand all of human history. It is the process of Jesus extending his loving reign, conquering the enemies of the human race until every last enemy, every demon, every sin is made a footstool for his feet, and then comes the end, and God is all and in all. Number three, the ascension is the prelude to Pentecost. It is the necessary movement and step, now that
6:54 Christ is glorified, now that he's enthroned in heaven as the Lord of lords and the King of kings, he sends forth as a coronation gift, as a great love gift, the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, 10 days later. Without the glorification of Christ, no outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This is exactly what Jesus promised, that he would ascend to his Father, and he would send the other comforter. Christ, of course, is our comforter, but he prophesied that he would pour out upon the disciples him who would be the other comforter, the Paraclete, who would bring great empowering consolation, joy, beautiful fruits to his church. That's the significance also of the ascension. It was the prelude to the outpouring, the
7:40 democratization of the Holy Spirit in the church. It's the Holy Spirit being poured out as the means by which Jesus' presence is realized in each believer and in the corporate church. And then lastly, but not least, the ascension is the movement of Christ up into the holy of holies in the great heavenly temple that was revealed by God to Moses when Moses was on the top of the Mount Sinai and where Christ now has gone as our forerunner, as our great high priest, to stand before God as the eternally slain, but standing, living lamb of God, whose sacrifice has made atonement for the sins of the whole world, who stands
8:27 before his father constantly pleading and interceding for the good of his church as our great high priest, the one whose priesthood is shared with those ordained to the sacred priesthood on the earth who speak not for themselves, who minister not for themselves, but function, as St. Paul says, as the stewards of the mysteries of God, representing Christ. This is why we priests are are clothed as we are. We hide ourselves. We all dress the same way. We have beards and cassocks and we hold the true high priest on our chests because we stand as his representatives, his stewards in his house, the church. He is the great high priest constantly making intercession
9:13 for us. Hebrews 7:25, he is able to save to the uttermost. You hear that emphasis on the present outworking of our salvation, not just a past event. He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to him, to God through him, since he always lives to make constant intercession for us. >> [laughter] >> Dear ones, praise the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Glory and honor, dominion and power be to him forever and ever because he hasn't just conquered all of our enemies in the past, but he ever lives and is presently serving us, presently being glorified,
9:58 presently ruling as King of kings and Lord of lords. He's the one who poured out the Holy Spirit and through whom, through the Holy Spirit, is governing the church now. And he is the one who is interceding constantly in the great heavenly temple as our great high priest, saving us, guiding the church, bringing to pass his wonders until the whole world is full of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. May it come to pass. May we all be wise to do what the psalmist says. All of us believers, all those who are outside the church, all rulers and governors, may we kiss the Son. May we bow down before his footstool
10:45 voluntarily. Voluntarily or involuntarily, all will do so and he will be all in all. God be with you. Hey everyone. I hope you've downloaded the Patristic Nectar app on your phone. It is a treasure trove of soul-nourishing content and I hope you'll consider becoming a regular donor to Patristic Nectar today.
