Ascension Day is transferred forward to this weekend.
What Jesus says to His disciples in two successive verses makes no sense at first hearing. First he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. Then he said to them, Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Huh. First the disciples get a good tongue lashing for not believing what Jesus told them all along would happen. Then He turns around and gives them the mandate to preach the gospel and to baptize. Huh. Did He just do what we heard Him do? Yes, He did. Is Jesus crazy? No, He isn’t. To the world He looks crazy but our Lord knows what He is doing contrary to what we might think.
Left to our own way of doing things, I doubt we would set up the New Testament Church the way Jesus sets her up. If you want something done right, you will do it yourself because you know the right way you want it done. So you probably wouldn’t leave the proclamation and propagation of the gospel into the hands of men who don’t even believe the message their Lord told them about how He will accomplish the world’s salvation. Got any better ideas?
The better idea would be for Jesus not to ascend to His Father and our Father in heaven. Why not stick around and widen the circle beyond the Holy Land? The world will listen to you. After all, Lord, you have the wounds in Your hands and side to prove it. You’ve been to hell and preached to the souls in prison there. You walked with two men on the road to Emmaus and broke bread in their presence. This time, though, you shouldn’t disappear like you did then. Stay with us, Lord, for it truly is evening among us and our day is almost over. You’ve left the blossoming of the Church into our hands for long enough. Look what a mess we have made of her! Maybe, just maybe, if you stay, then the blind and deaf world will see and listen to your witness.
If Jesus doesn’t ascend into heaven and sit Himself at the right hand of the Father, then the Holy Spirit will not descend among the disciples. Then Jesus’ promise that He will always be with us will be void. But it shouldn’t be void as Jesus staying put means there’s no need for the Holy Spirit. What about all the teaching we’ve heard the past few weeks that prepares His disciples for the descent of the Spirit? Shall our Savior go back on His word? He must ascend. He must send the Spirit among His people. They will be His witnesses, beginning in Jerusalem and continuing in ever-widening circles into the whole world.
Of all the miracles our Lord performed in His earthly ministry, perhaps the greatest, yet least considered, miracle is that of the spreading of the Gospel after His ascension. The odds seem to be against us. Jesus ascends. His disciples see Him no more. They are even upbraided by two men in white who tell them, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. Not really what you would call a vote of confidence for the eleven, soon to be twelve apostles as they watch and pray for the coming of the promised Spirit.
The Spirit does come, and, boy, do things take off. 3,000 people are baptized after Peter’s sermon following the Spirit’s descent. Pretty soon some of the apostles will be sent to the Jews and others, including the new kid in town named Saul, also known as Paul, will be sent among the Gentiles. The circle widens. The Word of the Lord grows, just as He promised them. But He is not physically present; He isn’t doing all the talking anymore. These men once rebuked for hardness of heart and unbelief, now do all the talking, telling of the great wonders of God in Christ Jesus, especially His resurrection from the dead.
The proclamation of the Gospel continues today even here in Arlington, Wisconsin. The Lord has sent preachers into your midst for 115 years to tell you the Good News of Jesus Christ and sins forgiven and death swallowed up in victory. The one constant thing about all these men sent into your midst is that not one of them was or is perfect. Not one of them was or is named Jesus Christ. All of them were and are sinners. Perhaps you had a personal preference which one was your favorite. Regardless of who was here, when they were here, or who you liked or didn’t like, they were sent to tell you the Good News about Jesus. In spite of their failures and foibles, the Word of the Lord grew and continues to grow in this place.
It’s a miracle when you think about it. Rare should the word “miracle” be used but in this case it is appropriate. Left in the hands of sinners the spreading of the Good News should be a miserable failure. It would be far better to have Jesus Himself come into our midst and tell us about Himself and what He did for us rather than some middleman. Why couldn’t we have Bibles drop from the sky so we can take them home and come to saving faith by reading about what happened. That has to be a better way than letting some sinful man who doesn’t have his act together tell us about the God-man Jesus.
115 years here and over two millennia around the world, the Word of the Lord continues to grow in spite of ourselves. Maybe that’s the point. Saint Paul does say that the message of the cross is folly to the Gentiles but to those who are being saved it is the power of God unto salvation. That’s one reason why we cover up our pastors with vestments. It’s best to listen to the words from their mouths than to focus on who they are and what they wear. Whether plain or fancy, whether simple-minded or gifted with words, whether jovial or taciturn, the Word of the Lord grows when and where He wills. By God’s grace His Word grows here, again, in spite of the man in the preaching office.
Ascension Day is a principal high feast of Christ. It’s a day of joy, not of sorrow. We have joy today because the same Lord Jesus we hear ascending to His Father in heaven will appear descending before the entire world on Judgment Day. Until then, His messengers continue to go forth into the world to prepare creation for Christ’s return. That’s the way our blessed Lord set up His church. It makes you want to shake your head and wonder what Jesus was thinking when He, on one hand, rebuked His disciples for unbelief and hardness of heart while, on the other hand, mandates them to preach and baptize. Then again, look at yourself. You live in that tension as much as any preacher does. A person of little faith one minute and a forgiven child of God the next. Such is life this side of Paradise. Such in the church this side of Paradise, too. Redeemed sinners watching, waiting, eating, drinking, praying, praising, and giving thanks for the mercy of God in Jesus Christ.
Thus we shall always be with the Lord.
Media Vita In Morte Sumus 