The document summarizes the ascension of Jesus Christ according to the books of Luke and Acts. It discusses how for Luke, the ascension confirms Jesus' status and authority as king following his resurrection. It is described not as Jesus leaving but gaining a cosmic presence everywhere. His followers received power through the Holy Spirit to be witnesses of Jesus in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
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The Ascension of the King - Luke 24 & Acts 1
1. A Prayer for the People of God
Risen and ascended Christ,
you surround us with witnesses
and send us the Counselor
who opens our minds
to understand your teaching.
Bless us with such grace
that our lives may become a blessing
for the world now, and in the age to come.
Amen.
4. the KINGDOM in the CALENDAR
Crucifixion = CORONATION
Resurrection = VERIFICATION
Ascension = INSTALLATION
5. Then he opened their minds
to understand the scriptures,
and he said to them, ‘Thus, it is written,
that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise
from the dead on the third day, and that
repentance and forgiveness of sins is
to be proclaimed in his name to all nations,
beginning from Jerusalem. You are
witnesses of these things.
LUKE 24:45-48 (NRSV)
6. And see, I am sending upon you what my
Father promised; so stay here in the city
until you have been clothed with power
from on high.’ Then he led them out
as far as Bethany, and, lifting up
his hands, he blessed them.
LUKE 24:49 (NRSV)
7. While he was blessing them, he withdrew
from them and was carried up into heaven.*
And they worshipped him, and returned
to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were
continually in the temple blessing God.
LUKE 24:50-53 (NRSV)
8.
9.
10.
11. In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote
about all that Jesus did and taught from
the beginning until the day when he was
taken up to heaven*, after giving instructions
through the Holy Spirit to the apostles
whom he had chosen. After his suffering
he presented himself alive to them
by many convincing proofs, appearing
to them over the course of forty days
and speaking about the kingdom of God.
ACTS 1:1-3 (NRSV)
12. While staying with them, he ordered
them not to leave Jerusalem, but to
wait there for the promise of the Father.
‘This’, he said, ‘is what you have heard
from me; for John baptized with water,
but you will be baptized with the
Holy Spirit not many days from now.’
ACTS 1:4-5 (NRSV)
13. So when they had come together,
they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time
when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’
He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the
times or periods that the Father has set
by his own authority. But you will receive
power when the Holy Spirit has come
upon you; and you will be my witnesses
in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth.’
ACTS 1:6-8 (NRSV)
14. When he had said this, as they were
watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud
took him out of their sight. While he was
going and they were gazing up towards
heaven*, suddenly two men in white robes
stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee,
why do you stand looking up towards
heaven*? This Jesus, who has been taken
up from you into heaven*, will come in the
same way as you saw him go into heaven*.’
ACTS 1:9-11 (NRSV)
16. For Luke…the ascension is only
a confirmation of Jesus’ status
at the resurrection, a coronation
of the king who was both
human and divine all along.
17. “The ascension of Christ to the right
hand of God is the…promotion
of Christ to the position of all
authority in heaven and on earth.
The right hand of God is not
a cosmological location,
but a poetic way of saying that
God has now given all authority
to Christ. The ascension…
does not lead to the absence
of Christ, but to his cosmic
presence everywhere.”
BRIAN
ZAHND
18. “This is why the risen Christ says,
‘Behold, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age.’
In the Ascension Christ now
‘fills all things everywhere
with himself.’ (Ephesians 1:23)
There is now no place
where Christ is not,
and there is no domain
over which Jesus is not Lord.” BRIAN
ZAHND
19. 1. The nature of God Love
2. The nature of hell/judgment Restorative/Temp
3. The nature of persons No “person” in isolation
4. The nature of freedom Free to be our true selves
5. The issue of logic Helpful/necessary corrective
An ARGUMENT for UNIVERSAL
SALVATION BASED on…
21. 1. The nature of God Love
2. The nature of hell/judgment Restorative/Temp
3. The nature of persons No “person” in isolation
4. The nature of freedom Free to be our true selves
5. The issue of logic Helpful/necessary corrective
QUESTION: So, IF this isTRUE, then
WHAT is the POINT of EVANGELISM?!
An ARGUMENT for UNIVERSAL
SALVATION BASED on…
22. If you believe God has predestined
– or allowed – people to be eternally separated
from God’s presence for finite
sins committed, because God created them
– or allowed them – to do so, and they’re
thus subject to eternally conscious torment,
I would argue (based on past personal
experience) the motivation for evangelism might
be masked as love, but it’s actually
motivated by fear…
A QUESTION of MOTIVATION
23. If you believe God is Love and
theTranscendent Good of all reality,
that Jesus is the exact representation
of God’s being, that the resurrected Jesus has
ascended to kingship over all things,
and that the Spirit has been poured out
and made available to all people, and
that ultimately God will restore all people
and all things, then love motivates you to
want others to experience that Love now!
A QUESTION of MOTIVATION
25. Prayer
God of love,
your ascended Son promised the gift of holy power.
Send your Spirit of revelation and wisdom,
that in the blessed freedom of hope,
we may witness to the grace of forgiveness
and sing songs of joy with the peoples of earth
to the One who makes us one body.
Amen.
