Together with the resurrection, the ascension constitutes the physical — and visible — exaltation of Jesus.
Luke gives us a narrative account of the event itself, first in brief compass at the close of his Gospel, then at greater length as he opens the book of Acts.
‘The gospel declaration — “Jesus is Lord” — is a declaration of Jesus ascended.’
The Two Accounts
Following forty days of appearances we read:
‘And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven’ (Luke 24:50-51).
‘So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 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.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven”’ (Acts 1:6-11).
Notice the last words spoken to them. Not a farewell but a promise of return — and a gentle rebuke for standing there staring.
Not a Scene Then Forgotten
The ascension is far more than an episode narrated twice and left behind. It becomes a settled conviction woven through the rest of the New Testament witness.
‘This portrayal of the ascension echoes Daniel’s vision of the Son of Man in Daniel 7, coming/going on the clouds to the Ancient of Days: it is a moment in which authority is bestowed on Jesus, a crowning moment.’1Michael P. Jensen and Robert C. Doyle, ‘The Ascension of Jesus Christ and Present Heavenly Session.’ Unpublished Lecture, 1.
Although only two passages describe the details of the event (Luke 24:50-51; Acts 1:9-11), its reality and significance receive rich reflection throughout the rest of the New Testament.
No fewer than eleven documents by seven different authors refer to this feature of the gospel about Christ (Matt 26:64; John 6:62; 13:3, 33; 14:28; 16:5, 10, 17, 28; [possibly 17:24]; Acts 2:33-35; 3:21; 5:31; 7:56; [implied in 13:30-37]; Eph 4:8-10; Phil 1:23 [implied]; 2:9; 3:20; Col 3:1; 1 Thess 1:10; 4:14-16; 1 Tim 3:16; Heb 2:9; 4:14; 6:19-20; 7:26; 9:24; 10:12-13; 12:2; 1 Pet 3:21-22; Rev 1:13; 5:6; 14:14; 19:11-16; 22:1).
Run your eye down that list. This isn’t a doctrine assembled from two proof-texts. It’s assumed everywhere.
Why It’s Everywhere
That pervasive attention is no accident, because the ascension stands at the heart of the church’s earliest preaching about who Christ is and what he has accomplished.
As one source puts it: ‘The exaltation of Jesus to the right hand of the Father is a basic component of the NT preaching of the Person and work of Christ. In fact, the gospel declaration — “Jesus is Lord” — is a declaration of Jesus ascended: that the story of Jesus did not finish with his bodily resurrection but is ongoing, for he reigns.’2Jensen and Doyle, ‘The Ascension of Jesus Christ and Present Heavenly Session.’ Unpublished Lecture, 1.
That’s worth reflection. Every time a Christian says ‘Jesus is Lord,’ they are saying something about the ascension whether they realise it or not. The confession assumes a throne, and a throne assumes someone got there.
What the Ascension Means
The significance of Jesus’ ascension lies in this: it raises him to sit at the Father’s right hand, where he assumes his proper role as Leader and Saviour (Acts 5:31) — the sovereign and supreme Lord over all (Acts 2:33-36; Eph 1:19-23).
Through his ascension into heaven, the crucified one who had ‘humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death’ (Phil 2:8) is lifted by God not merely from the grave, but to the highest possible place of executive authority and government — wielding a gracious power and dominion extending across the cosmos.
Seated, and Still Waiting
This session — his sitting — marks an ongoing state of dignity and glory far surpassing that of any creature, for ‘he is seated at the right hand of the throne of God’ (Heb 12:2).
There he will remain ‘until the time for restoring all things’ (Acts 3:21).
As Bavinck summarises: ‘A Priest-King is seated on the throne of the universe and is still looking forward to his greatest exaltation when he comes again for judgment.’3Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, 2:447.
There’s something arresting in that. Even the one seated on the universe’s throne is looking forward to something. The story isn’t finished for him either.
Seccombe captures the scope of the commission with precision: ‘The new thing we discover in the gospel is that God has committed the execution of his plan entirely to his now-human Son, raising him up both to sit at his right hand, and to “fill the universe” [Eph 4:10], subjecting everything in the universe to his control.’4Seccombe, The Gospel of the Kingdom, 230.
Catch the phrase ‘his now-human Son.’ The plan of God for the universe has been handed to a man.
Down, Then Up — Paul’s Version
This same pattern of humiliation followed by exaltation governs Paul’s account in Philippians.
As Messiah, King and Saviour, the one whose humility extended to ‘even death on a cross’ was afterwards exalted into heaven and thereupon given ‘the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow — in heaven and on earth and under the earth — and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father’ (Phil 2:8-11; cf. Eph 1:19-21).
As Daniel Treier observes: ‘For Jesus to share in the name that is above every name exalted a human life to inaugurate our promised participation in God’s reign.’5Treier, Lord Jesus Christ, 283.
That last clause is one to carry away. His exaltation isn’t only about him. It inaugurates something promised to us.
—
- 1Michael P. Jensen and Robert C. Doyle, ‘The Ascension of Jesus Christ and Present Heavenly Session.’ Unpublished Lecture, 1. ↩︎
- 2Jensen and Doyle, ‘The Ascension of Jesus Christ and Present Heavenly Session.’ Unpublished Lecture, 1. ↩︎
- 3Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, 2:447. ↩︎
- 4Seccombe, The Gospel of the Kingdom, 230. ↩︎
- 5Treier, Lord Jesus Christ, 283. ↩︎