The Ascension of Our Lord (10 May, 2018)

He'll Be Back

The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, "Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?" And he answered, "Yes, I know it; keep quiet."  Then Elijah said to him, "Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan." But he said, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So the two of them went on.  Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan.  Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground.  When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you." And Elisha said, "Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me."  And he said, "You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so."  And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.  And Elisha saw it and he cried, "My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.  And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.  Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying, "Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" And when he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.  Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him opposite them, they said, "The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha." And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.  2 Kings 2:5-15

A Psalm of David. The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool."  The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!  Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.  The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, "You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek."  The Lord is at your right hand; He will shatter kings on the day of His wrath.  He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; He will shatter chiefs over the wide earth.  He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore He will lift up His head.  Psalm 110

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up, after He had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen.  He presented Himself alive to them after His suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.  And while staying with them He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, He said, "you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."  So when they had come together, they asked Him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"  He said to 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."  And when He had said these things, as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight.  And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, "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."  Acts 1:1-11

Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and He rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw Him after He had risen.  And 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.  And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."  So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.  And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.  Mark 16:14-20

Then He said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."  Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of these things.  And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."  And He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands He blessed them.  While He blessed them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven.  And they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.  Luke 24:44-53

General MacArthur said it and did it.  The Terminator said it and did it (sorta).  Back To The Future teased the sequel with the phrase.  The wizard feared He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (aka Tom) would do it.  No one expected Gandalf or Aslan to do it.  Uncountable television and radio hosts implored their audience to "say tuned" since the show would do it.

Like all of these pop-culture figures, Christ Jesus promised to return.

As with the original Caesar, Jesus came and conquered.  Only His foes were not a mere occupying army or usurping monarch, but Sin, Death, and Satan.  These He vanquished.  But the earthly kingdom that some where waiting for was not to be.  Instead the conquering King returned to the Father.

And He will return, only this time, to stay.

In the mean time, the followers of the King were given assignments.  They had seen the Good News, now they needed to proclaim it to all.  Not just the news that Good had triumphed over evil, but that He would do what no other deity could do: come back.

And so our King leaves for His Father's throne, where He prepares a place for us.  Until His return, let us proclaim His victory!