The Ascension
Why the (too often overlooked) ascension of Jesus matters
Hello Substack,
I am attempting a new outlet for writing. As a pastor, I have the privilege of developing fresh content weekly due to the Sunday sermon. Writing fresh content week to week is fun, fulfilling, and incredibly demanding. Substack is another outlet for this. But if I’m being honest, there are plenty of weeks when I struggle through prepping a sermon, and then think to myself, “There’s no way I’ve got anything good to write on Substack.” Nevertheless, I do not want this to fall to the wayside. This discipline has made me a better thinker, writer, and pastor. Additionally, the community of Christian thinkers I have come across on this platform is an incredible and unexpected gift.
Therefore, to solve the struggle of coming up with fresh content for Substack in addition to the weekly sermon, I want to bring the two together. This might not be a weekly post. But when I feel like the previous Sunday’s sermon resonated, and to conserve mental strain, I will write my sermon in a Substack-adapted form with a link at the end of the post to the sermon for anyone who is curious.
Citing My Sources
Before going any further, I want to share that much of this content was inspired by L. Michael Morales’s book Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord?, which is quite academic, but so much fun to read!
The Overlooked Event
The ascension of Jesus is the overlooked yet consummate moment of his time on earth. Rarely do we experience a Sunday worship service focused on the ascension (unless one worships in a tradition that follows the Church calendar). It is often forgotten. Yet, its significance cannot be understated.
For this post, I want to answer two questions: Why does the ascension of Jesus matter? And what does it have to do with our lives?
To answer these crucial questions, we must situate the ascension of Jesus within the grand story of the Bible.
Ascending to God
The story begins with the Creator desiring to make a home to dwell in with humanity. God creates and places the humans in the sacred space, commissioning them to extend the boundaries of God’s sacred space that his glory may fill the earth.1 This sacred space was called the Garden of Eden. This garden was on a mountain. We know this because four streams of water flow out of the garden (Genesis 2:10), and later biblical texts describe Eden as such (Ezekiel 28:14).
The humans disobey God. The good order of creation is infected with chaos. Sin enters the story. And the driving dilemma God faces in the Old Testament is this: how can God, compelled by divine love, reconcile this desire for fellowship with sinful humanity while maintaining purity from sin and enact judgment for evil? The driving question is this: “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?”2
What is this mountain of the Lord? What is this holy place?
In the imagination of the ancient communities, mountains were seen as the dwelling places of the gods. In Greek mythology, the gods lived on Mount Olympus. In their imagination, the higher up you are, the closer you are to the deity’s dwelling place. This motif is found throughout the Scriptures. On Mount Sinai, YHWH holds council with Moses several times. Mount Zion is described as God’s chosen place of dwelling (Psalm 74:2, Joel 3:17). Jews journeying to worship at the house of God in Jerusalem, which was situated on a mountain, would recite, pray, and sing Psalms 120-134, which are known as the Psalms of Ascent, as they ascended up the mountain.
While meeting with God on Mount Sinai, Moses receives instructions for a holy tent as a make-shift dwelling place of God: the tabernacle (and later the Temple). This structure was a call back to the Edenic mountain dwelling place of God, as well as a foreshadowing of God’s intention for humanity: to be brought back home to God’s presence.
In essence, the tabernacle was the mobile mountain of God—God’s dwelling place as a shadow of Eden.
The daily worship practice for the people of God was instituted in Leviticus 9. In this chapter, Moses instructs Aaron, the high priest, to offer three sacrifices: a sin offering, a burnt offering, and a fellowship offering. These three sacrificial offerings were by no means random. They were intentionally communicating a story that the high priest, Aaron, enacted. The sin offering signified the people of God being cleansed of sin. Once they are purified, they are worthy to ascend up the mountain via the priest into the tabernacle. The next sacrifice, the burnt offering, was a symbolic ascension to God’s presence. As smoke arises to the heavens (the sky), the people, via the human representative, can ascend. Who can ascend the mountain of God? The answer: “The one who has clean hands and a pure heart.”3 After this burnt offering, there was the fellowship offering. This was the whole goal: that God and humanity can fellowship together! But what’s required for sinful humanity to be in the presence of the Holy One? Purity and ascent up the mountain.
Jesus—The Great High Priest
So what does this have to do with our lives?
Well, we are still not done answering the first question concerning why the ascension of Jesus matters. Jesus, who descended to sinful humanity (Ephesians 4:9, cf. Philippians 2:7), was then raised from the dead and seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Ephesians 1:20). In essence, he ascended to the Father into the heavenly realm. This heavenly realm is described as the true holy place that the tabernacle/temple’s most holy place was a foretaste and shadow of (Hebrews 8:2, 5). Jesus, therefore, is the true great high priest.4
A Blessing and Ascension
In Leviticus 9:22, after performing the three sacrifices, Aaron, the high priest of the people of Israel, lifts his hands and blesses the people.5 He then, with Moses, enters the Tabernacle. In essence, he blesses, then ascends up the make-shift mountain to the presence of God. Aaron and Moses both come out of the tabernacle and bless the people a second time. Then the glory of the Lord appears to the people. The people respond in reverent worship.
In Luke 24:50-53, we see the same pattern. Jesus, after making purification for sin on the cross and rising from the dead, takes his disciples to a place near Bethany (Luke, in Acts 1:12, specifies this place as the Mount of Olives). He lifts his hands and blesses his disciples. As he blesses them, he ascends to the throne room to be seated at the right hand of the Father. What is the response of the disciples? They worship (Luke 24:52).
What do we learn from this?
The ascension is not simply “Jesus going up into the sky far away from us.” The ascension is our great high priest (Jesus) entering through the curtain (his broken body, per Hebrews 10:20) into the most holy place, seated at the right hand of God. He has gone before us, that we may be where he is, and join in on the delight and fellowship of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
So, what does this mean for us?
It means we can draw near with boldness (Hebrews 10:19-22). The Hebrew root word for “offering” is “draw near.” The sacrificial offering has been made. Therefore, we can ascend up the mountain to God. For the dilemma of how a holy God will dwell with sinful people is solved in Jesus—the holy one, the sacrificial lamb, who rose from the dead, and ascended to Father. He is our great high priest who goes before us, and invites us to ascend up the mountain to fellowship with God.
To watch the sermon from which this post comes, click below.
This is what scholars see in the mandate given in Genesis 1:28.
Psalm 24:3, Christian Standard Bible.
Psalm 24:4.
Hebrews 2:17, 3:1, 4:14–16, 5:1–10, 6:19–20, 7:1–28 (specifically verses 26 and 28), 8:1–6, 9:11–12, 10:19–22.
Likely, the words of this blessing are the priestly blessing in Numbers 6:24-26.