The Ascension and Session of Jesus Christ

An important event in the Christian calendar is the Ascension and Session of Jesus Christ, which was commemorated yesterday, May 14^th. This historical occurrence took place 40 days after Easter, the day Christ was resurrected from the dead. It was foretold in Psalm 68:18: “You have ascended on high” and is described in two New Testament passages, Luke 24:49-52 and Acts 1:9 -11. 

In the account given in the first chapter of Acts, Jesus assures His apostles that they would receive the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Luke then states that Jesus “was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” The apostles had already witnesses their Lord’s defeat of death, so this would certainly have been an equally amazing occasion for them, seeing Jesus ascending bodily into the heavens.

So where is Jesus Christ now? Paul writes in Colossians 3:1 that He is seated at the right hand of God. This period of time is termed the Session of Jesus Christ. It is a period of special activity which the theologian Lewis Sperry Chafer states that “Christ is now engaged in a ministry which determines the service and destiny of all those who have put their trust in Him.”  

What He is doing presently is a matter the Scriptures have not left silent. Christ stated in John 14:1-3, that He was going to prepare a place for all believers to be with Him forever after death. The writer of the book of Hebrews 7:25 declares that He presently makes intercession to the Father for all believers, as well as being an advocate on our behalf (Hebrews 9:24; 1 John 2:1). He is also said to be the head of the church (Ephesians 1:22-23) which includes all those who trust in Christ.

And there is every reason to expect His return to earth at the end of time. For when the apostles were watching Him ascend into heaven, Luke mentions that there were two men in white who spoke to them saying, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” John affirms this in Revelation 1:7: “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him.” Christ will return to establish His kingdom, to put an end to evil, to vanquish His enemies, and to eliminate the last enemy, death (1 Corinthians 15:26).

Jesus asserted that no man knows the day or the hour of His return (Mark 13:32). He stated further in Acts 1:7 that “it is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority.” Instead we are to comfort ourselves with the fact of His present ministry for us in heaven and to demonstrate our confidence actively waiting for His return.