1. After His resurrection our Lord remained here on earth for forty days. During these days He repeatedly appeared to His disciples; He showed Himself alive to them by many proofs. He convinced them that He was not dead, but lived. He spoke to them about the kingdom of God, His kingdom. He finally gave them His great command or commission, to go out into all the world and preach the Gospel of their living Savior to all men. Acts 1,3.
2. On the fortieth day when the apostles were assembled in Jerusalem, the Lord appeared to them again. He told them: "Behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high." Luke 24,49. He commanded His disciples to remain in Jerusalem until they had received the gift of the Holy Ghost, that in His power they might be His witnesses unto the uttermost parts of the earth. Then our Lord led them out to Mount Olivet, as far as to Bethany. And there He lifted up His hands and blessed them. While He blessed them, He was parted from His beloved apostles and carried up into heaven. While the disciples looked on He was taken up higher and higher, until a cloud received Him out of their sight. Luke 24,50.51; Acts 1,8.9. In this manner our Lord was received up to His heavenly glory Visibly, before the eyes of His disciples, He ascended on high and entered into the glory of His Father.
3. Christ ascended into heaven, and He did so for our sake. He ascended up on high as the triumphant Victor over all His and our enemies. His entrance into heaven assures us that He has opened heaven again for us through His sufferings and death. Before His death He gave His apostles the promise: "In My Father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you." John 14,2. This promise He has fulfilled. He went up to heaven to prepare a place in His Father's house for all who believe in Him, their Savior.—Our Lord ascended into heaven, and where He is, there shall we, His friends and disciples also be. He will not leave us behind in this world. As truly as Christ went up to heaven, we, His own, will follow Him to His and our Father's house. "Where I am, there shall also My servant be." John 12,26. Our Lord prayed for us before His death upon the cross: "Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me." John 17,24. "Mighty Lord, in Thine ascension we by faith behold our own."—Remember: Our Treasure, our Lord and Savior, is in heaven, and where our Treasure is, our hearts and hopes should also be.
4. "He was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God," thus we read Mark 16,19. We, therefore, confess that our ascended Lord now "sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty." What does this mean? It does not mean that in heaven, at the right hand of God the Father, there is a special throne, prepared for our Lord, the God-man Jesus Christ, upon which He is now seated in divine glory, adored and praised by all the heavenly hosts, and that, because He is sitting on that throne, He is far away from us, His own. It means—and so our Catechism explains it—that our dear Lord, after being raised from the dead, "lives and reigns to all eternity." It means that Christ, though He was dead, lives and is alive forevermore, that our living Lord is with us and reigns over us as our gracious King to all eternity. He is, and will be, according to His almighty power, our King forever and ever.
5. Christ, indeed, ascended into heaven. He now is in heaven, in the glory of His Father; but He is not far away from us. He is with us. We cannot see Him, as His apostles saw Him, but He is with us invisibly in His Word, His Gospel. When we read or hear His Gospel or think about it, our Savior is always at our side. He Himself has promised us: "I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you." John 14,18.— Our Lord lives and reigns to all eternity, that is, He rules and governs us, His own, His disciples. He leads and protects us against all our enemies. Out of His almighty hand no enemy can pluck us. Our mighty Lord on God's throne is our Good Shepherd, who leads us in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Ps. 23.—Christ's resurrection, His ascension, and His sitting at the right hand of God assure us of the fact that He is indeed our Lord, and will be our Lord and King to eternity; and in His kingdom we shall live and Him we shall serve in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.
REMEMBER:—
1. Christ, our Savior, ascended into heaven as the triumphant Victor over all His and our enemies. He entered into heaven, into the glory of His Father, there to prepare a place for us.
2. His ascension assures us that the gates of heaven are open to all who believe in Him, that we shall be where He is to see His glory.
3. Our Lord sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, that is, He, the God-man, lives to eternity, lives, and is with us in His Word, and reigns over His own with His almighty power forever and ever.
MEMORIZE:—