Ephesians 1:15-23 | The Right Hand of God
Ascension Day | May 9, 2024
We are here today to celebrate Ascension Day. Forty days after Easter, it’s a Thursday night, you’re not used to being in church, you might feel like you have better things to do. After all, Ascension Day is a holiday many people in our world don’t know about – even many Christians don’t celebrate it. And because we don’t talk about it much, I don’t think many people know what the ascension was or what is means.
When we do think about it, our human minds tend to picture the ascension in a very earthly way. Jesus ascends into heaven like a bird flies into a tree.1 When Jesus was hidden by the cloud as he went up, that’s just because it was a cloudy day, and he actually kept going – he flew past Mars and Jupiter and Saturn. And if the disciples had a telescope, they could have looked though it and watched Jesus going up and up and up. And at some point, Jesus passed into the heavenly dimension, flew through the pearly gates, and sat down next to God.
But if that’s how you think of it, then Ascension Day is actually pretty disappointing. If Jesus is just moving from one location to another, that means we’re celebrating the fact that Jesus has left us.
And that thought can put a lump in your stomach. Because there’s a lot of evil on earth. There’s a lot of powerful people on earth doing evil things. Wouldn’t it be so much better if Jesus were still with us? We could ask him questions. We could overcome all our doubts just by talking to him – in fact, we could bring all our unbelieving friends and show them that Jesus is alive. It’s so easy to say, “You blew it Jesus. Life would be so much better if you were here.” It’s no wonder nobody celebrates Ascension Day.
But remember: all that assumes that Jesus’ ascension was like a bird flying into a tree. And that is not what Jesus’ ascension was like. Paul gives us a description of Jesus’ ascension in the epistle reading for today. I’m going to read it again – I want to you to listen for how the ascension is different from how our human minds often picture it.
For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
How do we picture the ascension rightly? The ascension is when Jesus goes to be seated at the right hand of God.
This is not, as many think, simply a change in location. It’s not like Jesus is a bird that just flew into a tree. The right hand of God does not designate a physical location, and it never has.
The term, “The right hand” was a term used in Old Testament times for a position of power and authority. We still use this concept when we say something like, “you’re my right hand man.” It means that you are able to do things for me, you’re how I get things done, you’re like my right hand. My power and authority are your power and authority. The right hand is a position of power.
And Jesus had this position of power from the beginning. He was the true Son of God, “in the form of God” the Bible says, but he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. He emptied himself… by taking the form of a servant and being born in the likeness of men. Jesus stopped using some of his divine powers so that he could be like you and me. He learned in school and grew in wisdom and stature. He humbled himself in these ways so that he could suffer for your sins and die in your place. The Bible says that he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross [Philippians 2:6-8].
Once his work was done, once your sins were paid for, Jesus did not need to remain in his humble position. To the contrary – he needed to proclaim his victory to everyone. And so he proclaimed his victory over Satan when he descended into hell. He proclaimed his victory on earth when he rose from the dead. And finally, he proclaimed his victory in heaven, among all the angels and before God the Father. He returned to the position he had from the beginning – fully glorified, highly exalted, no more lowly humility. He’s got the scars to prove he was there, but now even his scars are glorious because they prove that God is at peace with man. To say that Jesus is at the right hand of God is to say that he has taken up all of his divine powers once again in a position of total glory and exaltation.
And so the right hand of God is everywhere. It’s not a physical location that Jesus is bound to. It’s not like God the Father sits in one chair, and Jesus is stuck in the chair next to him. No, the right hand of God is God’s power, Jesus’ position of power and glory. And it is everywhere.
Just think about how that changes the meaning of the ascension! It means that Jesus isn’t far away! Jesus didn’t fly up into heaven like a bird and now he’s stuck there until the last day. Jesus is ruling even here and now with all power and authority.
This is even better than when he walked on earth, because now with all of his divine powers, he can be in more than one place at once! He can live in your heart and in the hearts of all Christians. He can work in your life. You don’t have to take a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to find Jesus, you just have to go where the Holy Spirit points you: to God’s word. To the sacraments. To church.
You can know that Jesus is with you because he’s not stuck up in heaven at some place called the right hand of God. He’s been fully exalted and glorified by God the Father. He’s reigning exactly as he was before.
Or is he? The truth is, Jesus is not at the right hand of God exactly as he was before he humbled himself. Before he humbled himself, he was God and only God. In the ascension, Jesus takes his human nature up to the right hand of God. The Bible says that in Jesus, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily [Colossians 2:9].
That’s why the ascension is such a big deal. If it was just God putting his Son at his right hand, then it’s nothing special, that’s where you’d expect him. But it’s not. The ascension is where God puts a human being at his right hand. The ascension is where God gives a human being his power and honor and glory. The ascension is where your human flesh – the stuff you’re made of – is exalted and glorified in the person of Jesus. Your flesh is now immortal.
And that is something to celebrate. Just think about it – how can God ever stop loving you if he’s put your flesh on his throne? The person on the seat of power is your brother. If you are in Jesus, and Jesus ascended into heaven, then you can know that you will follow him. Jesus’ ascension is sign and seal of your ascension.
You should also celebrate the ascension because it means that angels, authorities, and powers are subject … to a man [1 Peter 3:22]. At the name of Jesus, Satan himself will bow down to human flesh [Philippians 2:10]. And likewise, he will bow down to your flesh when you invoke the name of Jesus. If Satan is under Jesus’ feet, you can know that on the last day, God … will … crush Satan under your feet [Romans 16:20]. Someday, you will rule as Jesus does.
You should also celebrate the ascension because it shows how Jesus can give you his body to eat. Because Jesus’ body has been filled with the divinity, it can be present in more than one place at once. It can be on altars across the world every Sunday because it’s not bound to one location in the land of Israel. And it’s certainly not bound to some place in heaven called the right hand of God. Jesus’ ascension shows you how you can receive life through his living and glorified body and blood.
Ascension Day shows the immeasurable greatness of God. What other god puts human flesh on his throne? What other God joins himself to his creation so that they might reign with him [2 Timothy 2:12]? This is the immeasurable greatness of God for you, in Jesus.
So don’t forget Ascension Day. I know it’s a Thursday night, I know there’s lots of things you could be doing. But this is the immeasurable greatness of God for you. Let’s continue with the Magnificat, and we’ll close tonight with a hymn I think we all should memorize about the immeasurable greatness of Jesus’ ascension.
Chemnitz, Enchiridion, 125.