From City Pres Church Denver:
Ascension Sunday. Following his resurrection, Jesus appeared numerous times to his followers over a forty day period. At the end of this time he gathered together his original eleven disciples (minus Judas Iscariot) on Mt. Olivet and gave them his final instructions to “Go and make disciples of all nations.”
We call this the Great Commission. Then according to Luke’s account in Acts chapter 1, “he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.” Unlike Christmas or Easter, the Ascension of Christ receives very little attention, and is not celebrated in most Protestant Churches. But the Ascension can't be jettisoned without losing an essential part of the Christian story.
The Ascension marks the beginning of the Church—and anticipates the Second Coming of Christ at the end of the world. It requires us to think in Trinitarian terms, as Christ ascends to sit at the right hand of the Father, where he is our high priest, and promises the Spirit to the church. John Calvin pointed out that "Christ left us in such a way that his presence might be more useful to us—a presence that had been
confined in a humble abode of flesh so long as he sojourned on earth. ... As his body was raised up above all the heavens, so his power and energy were diffused and spread beyond all the bounds of heaven and earth." Christ's spiritual presence is with his people wherever they are, whether trauma centers or traffic jams or on troop transports. Now we always have Christ.
Calvin highlights at least three key benefits of the Ascension: First, Christ opens the way to the heavenly kingdom. His ascension inaugurates the kingdom of God. The "age to come" has come to Earth because Jesus has ascended to heaven.
Second, Christ has become our Advocate and Intercessor. Instead of looking on our sin, God looks on Christ's righteousness. We are received by God's grace in Christ as God's children because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Nothing can fill us with complete confidence more than knowing that Jesus supports us and mediates for us in the presence of God.
Third, Christ gives us his power. In his resurrection and ascension, Christ was raised victorious over the evil powers of sin and death. As Paul wrote, "When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive" (Eph. 4:8, NRSV). Christ now sits on high, writes Calvin, "transfusing us with his power" while he "daily lavishes spiritual riches" upon his people.
