After + Math – “Ascension and the 3 Gifts”

When a family brings their first baby home, everything changes, and their lives become focused on how to move forward in their new reality. The aftermath of the Resurrection had much the same feeling for Jesus’ disciples as they tried to figure out what was next – knowing that their lives, and the entire world, had changed completely. And then the resurrected Jesus disappeared…

1.  The Ascension is the Beginning of a New Era (Acts 1:9-11; Luke 24:51-52) 

• We can read the account of Jesus’ Ascension and think that perhaps he left the earth like a rocket ship – “lifting off” and going higher and higher into the sky until he could no longer be seen as he departed to somewhere far away. That image fixes “heaven” as somewhere physically (very) distant from us.
• But Jesus’ departure wasn’t to a place far away – it was to an entirely different realm, a realm that is among us but isn’t bound by time or space. The symbolism of the Ascension, therefore, is that Jesus was “ascending” to the throne of both heaven and earth as their rightful King – at God’s right hand.
• Because Jesus didn’t go “far, far away” when he ascended to heaven’s throne, his power is now available to everyone, in every place, at any time. He’s no longer bound by the constraints of physical time and space – he is everywhere among us. The Holy Spirit is the power of Jesus that is now available to all people when they choose to trust Jesus. As he did for the disciples, Jesus promises to send his Spirit to dwell inside each of us who chooses to trust him with our lives.

2. Three Gifts of the Ascension
   
   1. A Patience with People (Including Myself) (Acts 1:6-7) – We, as humans, are generally impatient with other people’s imperfections – and we’re often just as critical with ourselves. But in his response to the disciples’ (really dumb) question in Acts 1:6, Jesus shows great patience once again – and reminds us that God works through our imperfections. It’s not about our strengths or abilities, it’s about his power – so we can relax a bit and trust that he can use us just as we are.
   2. A Prophetic Voice to the World (Acts 1:8) – 
      
      • Jesus told his disciples (very clearly) what their job was going to be after he ascended (and once they received the power of his Spirit): to live their lives as a testimony to his name. The same mission applies to us – which takes all of the pressure off, because we can focus our lives on making his name great, not on making our name great (which takes a LOT more work…). 
      • The power of the Ascension is that it draws each of us (as Jesus’ followers) into his Kingdom Story, giving us a clear purpose and mission for our lives: to show and tell others about him.
   3. A Posture of Confidence (That Doesn’t Demand Perfection) (Acts 1:11; Romans 8:1; 8:33-34) 
      
      • After Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples were given a specific promise for the future: that Jesus would one day return to earth in physical form and rule a “heaven-on-earth” kingdom forever. In Romans 8, Paul points out the significance of that: because Jesus has conquered death, and because his power is now available to everyone who claims his name, “there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.”
      • Because we are “in Christ Jesus” as his followers, God sees him when he looks at us. No critic, however powerful, can take that away from us – no matter how imperfect our lives may be.

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE

These passages may provide additional insights related to the subject of this week’s message. All verses are NLT unless otherwise noted.

Luke 23:39-43; Luke 24:45-49; John 16:7-15; Acts 17:24-25; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8; Philippians 1:22-26

Video of the Week: God by the Bible Project

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

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1. Prior to this week’s message, was your concept of the Ascension similar to young Pastor Ben’s – i.e., that Jesus “took off” and flew a great physical distance away from earth to get to “heaven”?  Explain your answer.

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2. Read Acts 1:1-3 again. Why do you think Jesus stayed on earth for just 40 days after the Resurrection? Why not stick around longer so that more people would see him and believe in him?  

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3. “The Trinity” can be a VERY confusing concept for most of us – i.e., God as one being who exists in three distinct ‘persons’, all with the same power and glory. What’s your best understanding of how that works?  (Note: This week’s video might help with this…)

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4. Jesus could have chosen anybody to be his original 12 disciples. Why do you think he chose the ones he did – men who would deny, desert and even betray him, and who seem at times to be really slow to get what he was trying to teach them?

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5. If, as Acts 1:8 tells us, our “one job” as Jesus’ followers is to show and tell the world about him, what should that look like in our everyday lives?

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6. How does the truth from Romans 8 that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” free us to live out that purpose (our “one job”) more confidently?

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