Mark 16:14–20
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The resurrection of Jesus did not cancel out His crucifixion. It’s not as if Easter solves the problem of Good Friday. Good Friday was not a problem. Both days are the solution—the good and gracious answer from God for us. The only Christ is the Crucified One, the Living One, and the Ascended One.
It makes sense that we think of the Ascension closely connected to the crucifixion and resurrection—they all happened close together. But the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord is also a Feast of the Incarnation. Our God is a man. His name is Immanuel—God with us. And this is just as true on Ascension Day as it is on Christmas Day.
He is the Second Person of the Trinity, the Son of the Father, eternally and truly God with the Father and the Holy Spirit. And He is also a man, a real, regular man descended from Adam by way of Abraham, by way of David, by way of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our God has a human body and a rational soul. He’s got genetics, a mind, a will, emotions, reason, shins so real they would bruise if you kicked them. He’s like us. Yet without sin.
That shoots down one of our favorite excuses for sin, doesn’t it? You’ll often hear people say, “I’m only human.” No. You’re only a sinner! Christ is human, and yet He is not a sinner. Being human does not mean you’re off the hook for your sin. God created humans, and the Son of God even made that creation part of Himself. God’s human creation is good. But we are evil.
We’re not only human—we’re much worse than that. Sinners are enemies with God. We have not loved God with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. And this includes even our private sins that nobody else knows about. All our sins are a corruption of our humanity—a twisting and deforming of who God created us to be. And so every sin, even our secret sin, is an open rebellion against God our Creator.
We have no excuse for our sin. Stop trying to find one. It’s okay. Confess it. Get rid of it. Let God take care of it. The Son of God became human as humans are meant to be. And then He shed His blood and His body was laid in a grave, to save humans from their own self–inflicted evil; to forgive sinners; to justify them—to make them righteous; to make peace between God and His enemies; to make them truly humans like Him—good, holy, living forever.
By His death you can live with Him. By His resurrection you have peace with Him. And this then is finally why the Son of God became incarnate: to be one of us—to dwell with us. And so often we think, wouldn’t it have been wonderful to be with Jesus during His earthly life? We could have been so close to Him, kneeling by His manger or hearing Him preach, or staying with Him in Gethsemane, or sitting with the disciples when He appeared to them risen from the dead. How wonderful that would have been. But we are far away from all that. We are separated from those great events by some 6000 miles and some 2000 years. It might seem like a bit of a problem.
But now we come to the good news of the Ascension. The Savior, our true brother in the flesh, sits at the right hand of God and has opened heaven to all humanity! Just as the resurrection did not cancel out or solve the “problem” of the crucifixion, so neither did the ascension cancel out or solve the “problem” of the incarnation. Our God is still a Man. Jesus still has His body and soul, mind and will. And this Man who is God, holds all authority and receives all glory. As a Man, our Man, He rules the world. As a true Man, one like us, He is present everywhere, with us. Because this Man is at the right hand of God. And the right hand of God is not a place, but it means that He wields all of His divine power and authority for your good, for the good of His Church. The Crucified, Living, and Ascended One still has nail marks in His almighty hands, so you know He still loves you and forgives you.
Men of Iowa, why do you stand looking into heaven? Because your Lord has gone there? Yes. He has. But there is more. During His earthly days He walked among us, and yet He was further from us than He is now. We do not see Him with our regular eyes, but He is closer to us than physical sight. Now you behold Him by faith and you see just how close He is.
He promised to be with you always. But even more than that! Christians don’t just have a sense of God or a feeling that Jesus is nearby. The Divine Man, Christ Jesus, who hung on Calvary’s cross and stepped out of the grave, is close to you. He is as close as hands raised in blessing and even placed on your head. He is as close as Words ringing in your ears. He is as close as Body and Blood on your lips.
Why do you stand looking into heaven? Look here, at His altar. Taste, see, and know: He is with you, and you are with Him, now and forever.
Alleluia! Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.
