In his article, Pastor Treglown talked about Easter—and the joy and wonder that comes along with it. In my article, then, I thought it would be a nice complement to talk about another important Church holiday in April—Ascension Day (especially because this year we’re going to celebrate Ascension Day with a special service (on Thursday, May 14th)).

The “What” of Ascension Day is pretty straightforward: it’s the day where we celebrate how Jesus, after his resurrection, ascended into heaven (as we hear in Luke 24 and Acts 1). The real question, then, is not the “What” of Ascension Day—but rather the “Why?”

After all, the ascension of Jesus doesn’t seem, at face value, all that important. We can all appreciate how it’s important for Jesus to be born (Christmas), how it’s important for Him to die (Good Friday), how it’s important for Him to rise again to life (Easter)—but why does it matter if He ascends into heaven?

There are several good answers to this question, actually, but one of those good answers comes from the Apostles’ Creed, which says “He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.”

What does this mean? It means that Jesus ascended into heaven so that He might sit at the right hand of God—that is, so that He might sit in glory and RULE over the earth. And we see the significance of this in Acts 7:54–60.

In Acts 7, we hear about a man named Stephen, who is called the first Christian martyr—the first Christian to die for his faith. And after he preaches a powerful sermon declaring Jesus as the Christ, the crowd picks up stones to kill him, and as they’re grabbing him to take him off to be stoned to death, we hear that

[Stephen] full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:55–56)

And what a comfort to us this is! That even in our darkest hours, we can know that somehow, over it all, Jesus is still reigning—which means that even when we feel like our lives are out of control, Jesus—who knows our suffering first-hand and who loves us so much He died for us—is still in control, and that “in all things God works for the good of those who love Him” (Romans 8:28, NIV).

-Pastor Duncan