In this series we are reprinting Spokesman articles by early leaders in the CLC. Pastor Emeritus James Albrecht is the curator of the series. Rev. Keith N. Olmanson (1929-2016) was involved in the early formation of the CLC. He held pastorates in Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. This article is from the Lutheran Spokesman of May 1994. Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version.
Usually when a dear friend leaves us, we feel sad. That was true of the disciples too. Jesus was leaving them. He had said of them concerning His ascension, “Sorrow has filled your heart.” (John 16:6) Yet joy overcame their sorrow. Luke tells us, “And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.” (Luke 24:52)
There were two reasons for this joy. One was for Christ’s own sake. The other was for the sake of mankind. Both are found in Hebrews 12:2, “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
His ascension was a homecoming for Jesus. He had left the glories of heaven to take on the form of man and to live in this sin-filled world. He walked the dusty roads of Palestine, spent long, uncomfortable nights in the open, encountered various trials, suffered under the hatred of the Jewish leaders, and died on the cross.
With His work completed, He was returning to heaven where His greatest joy would be to welcome all those who received Him as their Savior. It was because of this joy awaiting Him in heaven that He endured the shame and the cross on earth.
When the disciples could no longer see Him, they knew that He was then at His Father’s right hand ruling over all things for the sake of His Church. The disciples rejoiced over the joy Jesus had in returning to heaven.
That joy was not to be limited to those disciples assembled on Mount Olivet that day. It is also to be experienced by us. Looking toward Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, we may greatly rejoice as did the disciples. Jesus has salvation for us as well.
Jesus Will Come Again
He kept God’s Law for us. God now considers us as having kept it also. Jesus died for the sins we have committed, and paid the penalty for our sins. Since sin is the only thing that can bar the way to heaven, and since that sin is washed away by Jesus’ blood, heaven is open to us. We are free to enter.
Jesus ascended to prepare for our arrival. He tells us, “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, there you may be also.” (John 14:2-3) He is our Forerunner Who has gone ahead to show us that we too will go one day.
He will come again to take us to heaven on the Last Day. Of that day we are told, “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) That will be our ascension.
What is our joy in Christ’s ascension? It should be joy over the certainty that we shall enter into heaven. In His ascension we see our own. Let us prepare ourselves for that great day, making use of the opportunities we have to hear and study God’s Word so that we may be kept in the faith.
– 1929-2016