Sermon: Ascended & Reigning
Scripture Text: Ephesians 1:17-23 and Acts 1:1-11
Quotes for Reflection
N.T. Wright, Acts for Everyone
In the world of the first century, when someone was enthroned as king, that new authority would take effect through heralds going off throughout the territory in question with the news, ‘We have a king!’ That was always proclaimed as good news, because everyone in the ancient world (unlike many in the modern world) knew that anarchy is always worse than authorized government. Governments may be bad, but chaos is worse. So the heralds, the messengers, would go off to the far reaches of the kingdom (imagine, for instance, a new Roman emperor coming to the throne, and heralds going off as far as Spain to the west, Britain to the north, and Egypt to the southeast), to announce that Claudius, or Nero, or whoever, was now the rightful king, and to demand glad allegiance from supposedly grateful subjects. And that is what Jesus is telling them they must now do.
Michael Reeves, Delighting in the Trinity
The life the Spirit gives is not an abstract package of blessing; it is his own life that he shares with us, the life of fellowship with the Father and the Son. Thus the Spirit is not like some divine milkman, leaving the gift of “life” on our doorsteps only to move on. In giving us life he comes in to be with us and remain with us. Having once given life, then, he does not move on; he stays to make that life blossom and grow.
F.F. Bruce, The Gospel of Luke
From the earliest times in Israel, God was acknowledged as king (cf. Ex. 15:18). His kingship is universal (Ps. 103:19), but is manifested most clearly where men and women recognize it in practice by doing his will.
Application Questions
1. What is one thing you hadn’t considered before about the meaning of Jesus’ ascension?
2. What does it look like for you to live in the tension of the “already, but not yet” after the ascension—or the bodily absence of Jesus, but the presence of his kingdom and Spirit?
3. How may God be calling you to “not stand around looking up,” but instead to engage with his work in the world around you?