Reference: Ascension
American
The visible ascent of Christ to heaven. When our Savior had repeatedly conversed with his apostles during forty days, after his resurrection, and afforded them infallible proofs of its reality, he led them out to the Mount of Olives, and was raised up to heaven in their sight, there to continue till he shall come again at the last day to judge the quick and the dead, Ac 1:9,11. The ascension was demonstrated by the descent of the Holy Ghost,
Joh 16:7-14; Ac 2. It was Christ's real human nature that ascended; and he thus triumphed gloriously over death and hell, as head of his body the church. While he blessed his disciples he was parted from them and multitudes of the angelic hosts accompanied and welcomed him, Ps 24:9; 68:17. The consequences resulting from his ascension are: the fulfilment of types and prophecies concerning it; his appearance as a priest in the presence of God for us; his more open and full assumption of his kingly office; his receiving gifts for men; his opening the way to heaven for his people. Heb 10:19-20; and assuring his saints of their ascension to heaven after the resurrection of the dead, Joh 14:1-2.
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Let not your heart be troubled: believe in God: believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions; if not, I would have told you.
But I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go: for if I go not, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send him to you. And he coming will convince the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: read more. Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say to you; but ye cannot bear them now. But when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak of himself: but whatsoever he shall hear, he will speak; and he will shew you things to come. He will glorify me; for he will take of mine, and shew it you.
And having spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him from their sight.
behold two men, in white apparel, stood by them, Who also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing into heaven? This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, as ye have seen him going into heaven.
Having therefore, brethren, free liberty to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the veil,
Easton
See Christ.
Hastings
The fact of our Lord's Ascension is treated very scantily in the Synoptic Gospels. From Mt. it is entirely omitted. In the appendix to Mk. the words in which it is stated are rather the formula of a creed than the narrative of an event (Mr 16:19). Lk. is somewhat more circumstantial, and, though the chronology is uncertain, mentions the journey to the neighbourhood of Bethany and the disappearance of Christ in the act of blessing, together with the return of the disciples to Jerusalem (Lu 24:50-52). The narrative, meagre as it is, is not inconsistent with, and may even presuppose, the events recorded at greater length in Acts (Ac 1:6-12). Here we learn that the scene was more precisely the Mount, of Olives (Ac 1:12); that the final conversation, to which allusion is possibly made in Mr 16:19, concerned the promise of the Holy Spirit (Mr 16:6-8); and that the Ascension, so far as it was an event and therefore a subject of testimony, took the form of the uplifting of the bodily form of Jesus from the earth till it disappeared in a cloud (Mr 16:9-10). Whether this experience involved more than the separation of Christ from immediate contact with the earth, and included His gradual recession into the upper air, there is nothing directly to show. The general form of the narrative recalls the Transfiguration (Lu 9:28-36 ||). The words of the 'two men in white apparei' (Lu 9:10) suggest that the final impression was that of disappearance above the heads of the onlookers (Lu 9:11). It will be noticed that, while the Markan appendix and Luke, unless the latter narrative is interpolated, blend fact and figure (Mr 16:19 'received up [fact] into heaven [partly fact, partly figure], and sat down at the right hand of God [figure]'; Lu 24:51 'he parted from them [fact], and was carried up into heaven [partly fact, partly figure; but see Revised Version margin,' as must necessarily be the case where the doctrine of the Ascension is concerned; Acts, on the other hand, which purports to describe an event, rigidly keeps within the limits of testimony.
There are certain anticipations of the Ascension in the Gospels which must be regarded as part of their witness to it. Thus Lk. introduces the account of our Lord's last journey to Jerusalem with the words 'when the days were being fulfilled that he should be received up' (Lu 9:51 Revised Version margin). It is probable that the Ascension is here delicately blended with the Crucifixion, as apparently by Christ Himself in Joh 12:32. Again, the word exodos in Luke's account of the Transfiguration, rendered in the text of RV 'decease,' but marg. 'departure,' seems to have the same double reference (Lu 9:31). Our Lord's predictions of the Second Coming 'on the clouds' (Mt 24:30; 26:64; cf. 1Th 4:16; Re 1:7) almost necessarily imply the Ascension. The Fourth Gospel, while in its accustomed manner omitting the story of the Ascension, probably regarded as known, introduces definite references to it on the part of Christ both before and after the Resurrection (Joh 6:62; 7:33; 14:19,28; 16:28; 20:17 etc.). And if we compare statements in the Epistles (Eph 4:8; Heb 1:3; 4:14) with the Ascension narrative, it is scarcely possible to doubt that the writers accepted the historic fact as the basis of their teaching. To this must be added all those passages which speak of Jesus as exalted to the right hand or throne of God (Ro 8:34; Eph 1:20; Heb 10:12 etc.), and as returning to earth in the glory of the Father (Mt 25:31; Mr 8:38; Php 3:20 etc.). In connexion with the Session, St. Peter, after mentioning the Resurrection, uses the expression 'having gone his way into heaven' (1Pe 3:22, cf. Joh 14:3). Nor can we omit such considerations as arise out of the fact of the Resurrection itself, which are satisfied only by an event that puts a definite period to the earthly manifestation of the incarnate Christ.
From what has been said it will appear that the Ascension stands on a somewhat different level from the Resurrection as an attested fact. Like the Virgin-birth, it did not form a part of the primitive preaching, nor does it belong to the evidences of Christianity. The fragment of what is thought to be a primitive hymn quoted in 1Ti 3:16 somewhat curiously places 'preached among the nations' before 'received up in glory.' But it is nevertheless a fact which came within the experience of the Apostles, and can therefore claim a measure of historical testimony. The Resurrection is itself the strongest witness to the reality of the Ascension, as of the Virgin-birth, nor would either in the nature of the case have been capable of winning its way to acceptance apart from the central faith that Jesus actually rose from the dead. But neither the fact itself nor its importance to the Christian believer depends upon the production of evidence for its occurrence. It will not be seriously disputed by those who accept the Apostolic gospel. On the other hand, the fact that the Ascension was accepted in the primitive Church as the event which put a term to the earthly manifestation of Christ brings out the Resurrection in striking relief as in the full sense of the word a fact of history. It is the Ascension, represented as it is in Scripture not only historically but mystically, and not the Resurrection, which might be viewed as an apotheosis or idealization of Jesus. That 'Jesus is now living at the right hand of God' (Harnack) is not a sufficient account of the Christian belief in the Resurrection in view of the Ascension narrative, which, even if Keim and others are right in regarding it as a materialization of the doctrine of the eternal Session as set forth in the Epistles, becomes necessary only when the Resurrection is accepted in the most literal sense.
The Ascension is the point of contact between the man Jesus Christ of the Gospeis and the mystical Christ of the Epistles, preserving the historical character of the former and the universality of the latter in true continuity. It enabled the disciples to identify the gift of Pentecost with the promise of the Holy Spirit, which had been specially connected with the withdrawal of Jesus from bodily sight and His return to the Father (Joh 16:7; cf. Joh 7:39). An eternal character is thus given to the sacrifice of the death of Christ, which becomes efficacious through the exaltation of His crucified and risen manhood (Heb 10:11-14,19-22).
J. G. Simpson.
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And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory.
Jesus saith to him, Thou hast said. Moreover I say to you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right-hand of power, and coming upon the clouds of heaven.
For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels.
He saith to them, Be not affrighted: ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen: he is not here. Behold the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples, and Peter, He goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said to you. read more. And going out, they fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: and they said nothing to any; for they were afraid. Now when Jesus was risen early, the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. She went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.
So then the Lord, after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat on the right-hand of God.
So then the Lord, after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat on the right-hand of God.
So then the Lord, after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat on the right-hand of God.
And the apostles returning told him what they had done. And he took them and went aside privately into the desert of Bethsaida. And when the multitudes knew it, they followed him, and he received them and spake to them of the kingdom of God and healed them that had need of healing.
And about eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and James and John, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashien of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. read more. And behold two men talked with him, who were Moses and Elijah, Who appearing in glory, spake of his decease, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
Who appearing in glory, spake of his decease, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. But Peter and those with him were weighed down with sleep; and awaking they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. read more. And just as they were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tents, ane for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah, not knowing what he said. While he spake thus, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they feared while they entered into the cloud. And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son; hear ye him. And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone: and they held their peace, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen.
And when the time was fulfilled, that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,
And he led them out as far as Bethany; and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. And while he was blessing them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.
And while he was blessing them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
What if ye shall see the Son of man ascend where he was before?
Then said Jesus to them, Yet a little time I am with you, and then I go to him that sent me.
This he spake of the Spirit, which they who believed on him were to receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to me.
I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, ye may be also.
Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more: but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
Ye heard me say to you, I go, and come again to you. If ye loved me, ye would have rejoyced, because I said, I go to the Father; for my Father is greater than me.
But I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go: for if I go not, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send him to you.
I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again I leave the world, and go to the Father.
She turning, saith to him, Rabboni; that is, Master. Jesus saith to her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.
And when they were come together, they asked him, saying, Lord, dost thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? But he said to them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. read more. But ye shall receive power, the Holy Ghost being come upon you, and shall be witnesses to me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth. And having spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him from their sight. And while they were stedfastly looking up to heaven, as he went up, behold two men, in white apparel, stood by them, Who also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing into heaven? This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, as ye have seen him going into heaven. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath-day's journey.
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath-day's journey.
Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is also at the right-hand of God, who likewise maketh intercession for us.
Which he wrought in Christ, raising him from the dead; and he hath made him sit at his own right-hand in heavenly places,
Wherefore he saith, Having ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.
who mind earthly things) For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
The mystery of godliness is the pillar and ground of the truth, and without controversy a great thing: God was manifested in the flesh, was justified by the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, taken up into glory.
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and sustaining all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high,
Having therefore a great high priest, that is passed thro' the heavens, Jesus the son of God,
And every priest standeth daily ministring and offering often the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But he having offered one sacrifice for sins,
But he having offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down at the right hand of God, From thenceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. read more. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
Having therefore, brethren, free liberty to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, read more. that is, his flesh, And having an high-priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Who being gone into heaven, is on the right-hand of God, angels, and authorities, and powers being subjected to him.
Behold he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they who have pierced him: and all the tribes of the earth shall wail because of him.
Morish
This term is constantly applied to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to heaven from whence He came. Joh 3:13. Leading His eleven apostles out as far as Bethany, on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, in the act of blessing them He ascended up to heaven, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. Mr 16:19; Lu 24:50-51; Ac 1:9. The ascension of the Lord Jesus is a momentous fact for His saints: the One who bore their sins on the cross has been received up in glory, and sits on the right hand of God.
As forerunner He has entered into heaven for the saints, and has been made a high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. Heb 6:20. His ascension assured, according to His promise, the descent of the Holy Spirit, which was accomplished at Pentecost. Joh 16:7; Ac 1:4,8; 2. As ascended He became Head of His body the church, Eph 1:22, and gave gifts to men, among which gifts are evangelists who preach to the world, and pastors and teachers to care for and instruct the saints. Ps 68:18; Eph 4:8-13.
His ascension is a demonstration through the presence of the Holy Spirit that sin is in the world and righteousness in heaven, for the very One they rejected has been received by the Father into heaven. Joh 16:10. The ascension is also a tremendous fact for Satan: the prince of this world has been judged who led the world to put the Lord to death; and in His ascension He led captivity captive, having broken the power of death in which men were held, Eph 4:8, for He had in the cross spoiled principalities and powers and made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Col 2:15.
Above all, the ascension is a glorious fact for the blessed Lord Himself. Jehovah said unto Him, "Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." Ps 110:1. He has taken His place as man where man never was before, and He is also glorified with the glory which He had before the world was, besides the glory which He graciously shares with His saints. Joh 17:5,22.
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So then the Lord, after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat on the right-hand of God.
And he led them out as far as Bethany; and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. And while he was blessing them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.
For no one hath gone up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, the Son of man, who is in heaven.
But I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go: for if I go not, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send him to you.
Of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and ye see me no more;
And now, Father, glorify thou me with thyself, with the glory which I had with thee, before the world was.
And the glory which thou hast given me, I have given them, that they may be one, as we are one:
And having assembled them together, he commanded them, not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard from me.
But ye shall receive power, the Holy Ghost being come upon you, and shall be witnesses to me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth. And having spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him from their sight.
And he hath put all things under his feet, and hath given him to be head over all things to the church,
Wherefore he saith, Having ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.
Wherefore he saith, Having ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men. (Now that he ascended, what is it, but that he also descended first to the lower parts of the earth? read more. He that descended is the same that ascended also, far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, to the edifying the body of Christ; Till we all come to the unity of the faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
And having spoiled the principalities and powers, he exposed them openly, triumphing over them in him.
Whither Jesus our fore-runner is entered for us, made an high-priest for ever after the order of Melchisedek.