[AI translation] My Christian Brothers and Sisters! The Reformed theologians of old distinguished two states in Jesus' life on earth: humiliation and exaltation.His humiliation began when, on the night of Bethlehem, the angels of Christmas sang their joyful song, when the eternal and everlasting Word, the Logos, became incarnate in the earthly person of Jesus - and lasted until the last word was uttered on Jesus' lips on the cross of Calvary: "Father, into your hands, I commend my soul.
And the state of exaltation lasts from that first Easter morning until eternity. In this state of exaltation, the day of Christ's ascension, Holy Thursday, is one of the most triumphant feasts of Christianity. On this day, Jesus once again occupied the throne at the right hand of the Father, which is the throne of dominion over all creation.
Until then, Jesus had been poor, with nowhere to lay his head, his enemies could do what they wanted with him, a humble, simple teacher whose friendship was shamed before the mighty chief priests, even by his best friends. There was also a period in his life when, in the words of Isaiah, he was hated and despised by men, one from whom we turn our faces.
This humble, suffering-servant, Messiah-figure still discourages many from following him today. In fact, let us admit, his figure would be more popular in our own minds if we could know him as a triumphant leader, a mighty reigning king. A leader who rules without limit is more popular than a poor misunderstood teacher.
Well, Brothers and Sisters, on Holy Thursday, Jesus became what many of us in this world would like to see Him become: a leader, a ruler, a king who rules the whole world. The situation has been reversed: there is now nothing to be ashamed of, and indeed the highest honour in the world is precisely to be honoured by this mighty Lord and King with His friendship.
My brethren, if our hearts rejoice on the feast of the birth of Jesus, if we praise God on the day of the memorial of Christ's resurrection, how much more fit are our lips to sing God's praises and rejoice in the day of the enthronement of the King of our souls! For king and subjects alike, this day of the taking of the throne is a day of joy.
But it is not only Jesus who is enriched on Holy Thursday, we are enriched too. At first glance, it seems to be the other way round: Holy Thursday is more about our impoverishment than our enrichment. Is it not a loss that Jesus has left this earth and is no longer here?
Many people who love Christ have a longing in their souls that they wish they had lived when Jesus was here on this earth. How good it would have been to hear His word, to see His healing, to walk with Him from village to village. What a sublime experience it would have been to settle down on the shore of the Lake of Galilee as He taught the crowds from the boat, or to huddle on the hillside with the others as He preached the Sermon on the Mount.
Or how good it would be if everything that happened two thousand years ago were happening now, if the fullness of time were now, and Jesus were now walking through the villages and towns, proclaiming the coming of the kingdom of God. How much consolation His divine words would be to us, how much healing power would radiate from His divine person as He walked through the vast wards of the vast hospitals among the endless rows of beds. How good would it be if we could share in the divine blessings that flow from Him in such a way that we too could lay our heads under His two outstretched hands, dispensing blessings.
But let us wonder if it would really be good if Jesus were here somewhere on earth, in earthly form, as he was two thousand years ago. Where would he be based, on which continent, in which country, in which city?
If he chose America as his residence, then only the richest people in Europe would have that privilege, and even they would only be able to meet him once or at most twice in their lives, to hear his word, to receive his blessing.
And if he were to visit the cities of Europe, the inhabitants of the other continents would be forced to do without his presence. While he would be visiting the patients in one hospital, the dying in another would be fighting their battle with death without him. If He were to go up to the pulpit of one church to preach, that church would be well served, but in all the other churches around the world the assembled faithful would worship without Christ, and their whole worship would be for nothing.
If Christ were alive on this earth today, every millionth person in the world would have the privilege of meeting him, and no one would have permanent contact with him except the ten or twenty people who would be his attendants. If Christ were to walk bodily on this earth today, very, very little would be gained, very, very few would share in his blessings.
But is it any better now that He is in heaven? In the gospel named after him, the evangelist Luke, in his eyewitness account of Jesus' ascension, describes it this way. And while he was blessing them, he disappeared from their sight and was taken up into heaven.
So we see that Jesus, lifting up his two hands in blessing, departed from earth, ascending into heaven. While He was on earth, His blessing was limited to certain places and certain persons. Those who could approach Him felt His hand of blessing on their heads, while others had to wait, often endlessly, because that blessing was not everywhere.
But as it began to rise from the Mount of Olives there near Bethany, the arms stretched out for blessing shaded a wider and wider area. The higher he ascended, the wider the circle which his hands of blessing dominated. Having been carried up into heaven by hands raised in blessing, the whole world and all mankind are under the blessing hand of Christ.
Henceforth it can no longer be the case that if Christ is present in Budapest, he is absent in New York, if he goes to one church, he is expected in vain in another, for now he is equally present everywhere and at all times, and his blessing can be asked for and received by all, everywhere and at all times, equally.
How very good it is for us, my brothers and sisters, to know that the blessing hand of Jesus is equally over our heads everywhere in the world! These hands of blessing are hovering over our heads now as we gather in this place for the joyful celebration of His ascension to His throne. These hands of blessing are hovering over us as we pray, as we weep or sigh, as we pause by an open grave to lower the least of these, as we walk through the world with troubled faces, as we suffer and struggle against Satan, as we toil and work.
How good it is for us to know that whatever we do and whatever happens to us, our lives flow under the mighty hand of Jesus, stretched out in blessing! All this has been so since Jesus went to heaven. What great reason do we have to rejoice and celebrate on Ascension Thursday, the day of commemoration?
There is one more aspect of the Ascension that is worth observing. In the Book of Acts we read that Jesus was lifted up in the presence of the disciples, and a cloud covered him from their sight. So it was not that Jesus rose higher and higher as the distance between Him and those who remained on the earth increased, but as soon as He rose a little from this earth, God sent a cloud between Him and the disciples, and it hid Him from their eyes. In this cloud Jesus disappeared, and his earthly form became invisible until he would return to this earth again at the last judgment.
What this means, my brothers and sisters, is that Jesus did not depart from earth to some unreachable distance at the ascension, but only passed into a state where he cannot be seen. The cloud only hides Christ from the eyes of the church, but it does not separate the church and Christ.
A granite wall, or a piece of board, or even a curtain, isolates, separates one from the other, the cloud, on the other hand, is only an airy covering that only obstructs the human gaze, the sight of the eye, but we can stretch our hand through it without any resistance and meet the hand of the one on the other side. A sound, a word, a movement, everything can easily pass through the cloud, except the gaze.
So heaven and earth, Jesus and man, are not far apart, not separated by a vast sea or a mountain range or a distance of light years, but only by a cloud - no need to shout to make Jesus hear our voice.
We do not have to stretch the arm of our faith far and wide to reach Him. This cloud hides Jesus from our eyes only in His earthly, visible, bodily form, but never from our faith and our hearts. The characteristic of this cloud is that you cannot see through it except from here to there, but you can see through it from there to here, that is, from Jesus' side, so that He sees us perfectly. Not only does our word penetrate through this cloud to Him, but His word also penetrates to us. It lets through this cloud the power of Jesus, the faithfulness of Jesus, the grace of Jesus and all His blessings upon us.
We said at the beginning of our worship, Brothers and Sisters, that one of the most glorious steps in the state of Jesus' exaltation is this celebration of His ascension, His ascension to His throne. But I feel now that with it, for us also, this feast of today's exaltation is a glorious exaltation: with our King taking His throne, the glory and happiness of us, His subjects, have been increased.
Is it not a great glory and happiness for us that we have a King who blesses us ceaselessly with His mighty hand, and is here beside us, close at hand, as He said, "... behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:20b)
Praise, glory, honour and thanksgiving be to His holy and great name!
Amen.
Date: 18 May 1939.
Lesson
ApCsel 1,1-12