Jesus ascension is a key event in the history of redemption. The ascension of Jesus is when he returned to heaven, and is recorded for us in Acts 1:1-11. In fact, his ascension into heaven is on par in importance with his death and resurrection. Without the ascension, redemption would be incomplete.

Why? Without the ascension we would not have a high priest in heaven who is praying for us. If youre not sure whether thats even necessary, Id encourage you to read through the Old Testament. It makes clear that we cannot approach God without a mediator. In the Old Testament the mediator was the high priest, and the New Testament declares that we have an even better High Priest in Jesus!

But the ascension raises some questions. What was supposed to happen after Jesus ascended into heaven? If Jesus was just going to be gone for a generation, or two, then it might not have been much of a problem. However, he left with no indication of when he would return. Moreover, here we are almost two-thousand years later and still no return.

Some in church history have tried to make up a kind of return. Some will say that he returned in 70 AD at the destruction of the Temple. Others pinpoint a specific date much later, like 1914. What is clear, though, is that none of these dates really line up with what Jesus said his return would be like (new creation, end of sin and sorrow, etc). Others have tried to argue that Jesus left the kingdom-building up to his disciples. This is where we get ideas like Christendom or attempts to make America into a Christian country.

It should be comforting to know that Jesus own disciples at that time didnt fully understand it all. In Acts 1:6 they come to Jesus and ask, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?

John Calvin famously says of this verse that there are more errors here than words. Throughout Jesus ministry, the disciples misunderstood what he had come to do. When he was rejected in a town, two of his disciples asked if they should call down fire from heaven to consume the people, reminiscent of Gods judgment against Sodom and Gomorrah. Jesus rebuked them.

When Jesus tells his disciples that he must suffer death, Peter tells him no. Jesus rebukes him with the stinging words, Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.

Just as in those instances, so here they do not fully comprehend what Jesus has told them. They display three errors: they think that the time is now; they think that it is geo-political kingdom that Jesus came to establish; and they think that the center of the Kingdom is in a particular land.

They still miss the point. They do not understand that Jesus is not just the fulfillment of the Messianic King but the fulfillment of all of Gods promises. He is the true Israel; he brings the kingdom. All of it centers on him.

What, then, should they do? Jesus tells 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. (Acts 1:7-8)

The first helpful part of this answer from Jesus is that his disciples are not supposed to worry about dates. Whenever you see someone predicting the return of Jesus, then, theyre doing something that theyre not supposed to do. Its not for them to know. God is working things according to his timetable, not ours.

What are we supposed to do then? If were not just to wait around for the kingdom to come, but were also not supposed to force the kingdom to come, what do we do? Jesus is just as clear here. They were to wait for the Holy Spirit (who comes in Acts 2) and then they are to be witnesses to Christ. That is, they were to begin the ordinary work of the church. This is the very thing that he commanded in the Great Commission. The church is to be active in spreading the Gospel of Christ. This is precisely what the book of Acts is all about.

Pastor Everett Henes, the pastor of the Hillsdale Orthodox Presbyterian Church, can be reached at pastorhenes@gmail.com.

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The task of the church - The Hillsdale Daily News