Jesus' Ascension
Acts 1:6-11, John 14:8-14
Jesus and the Ascension
This is the last in our Jesus January Sunday sermons.
Next week we’re into February and the focus changes to ‘faith’ - ‘Faith February’ in fact.
And so far we’ve tracked Jesus through his life, starting as a child, then his adult ministry, when Simon spoke, then his resurrection and today….what happened next. Because clearly Jesus isn’t walking around in Israel today, and nobody has ever pointed to a grave stone that says ‘Jesus of Nazareth’. So what happened next, once his earthly life ended? And why does it matter?
And the straightforward answer is in the first reading, from Acts. Jesus ascends to heaven where he returns to the Father. And in Mark’s gospel, it’s even more detailed; he writes ‘the Lord Jesus was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.’ You can imagine Jesus pulling up his chair, and sitting back - ‘alright Dad’. And the Father replying ‘welcome home Son. Good job.’
But why does that matter? Why does it matter what happens to Jesus after the resurrection and ascension?
To answer that we’re going to spend a few minutes with the gospel we have just heard. It’s from John, chapter 14. And I want to look at two things it says:
‘Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.’
‘The Father who dwells in me’
And together, these two extraordinary, revolutionary and life-altering phrases open up the heart of discipleship - of what it means to be a Christian.
First, then, verses 8 and 9. Jesus’ friend Philip asks, ‘Lord, show us the Father and we will be satisfied’. Who doesn’t want to be satisfied in life? To have a sense of fulfilment, of completeness, like life is whole and good? Like someone sitting back at the end of an amazing meal…satisfied. Like someone getting to the end of a good life…satisfied.
That’s what Philip’s after too. And he knows only God can provide that kind of satisfaction. ‘Show us the Father, Lord and we shall be satisfied’.
And Jesus might have said, ‘don’t get above yourself Philip, none of us can ever see God.’ Like, 'no one can ever be fully satisfied. Life isn’t like that’. But he doesn’t, he says ‘whoever has seen me has seen the Father’.
This is an astonishing claim. Remember, in the Old Testament, it was impossible to see God’s face. In Exodus, God says directly to Moses, ‘You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live’. In fact God then tells Moses that he will show him the best that’a available, and He covers Moses’ eyes, and only takes away his hand once he’d passed by, allowing Moses to see his back, because otherwise Moses would have died.
And now Jesus says, if you see me, you see the Father. God now has a human face. A face with laughter lines round the eyes, cheeks which have felt tears and a mouth that knows the joy of belting out a great tune. ‘If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.’
If you have seen Jesus, you know God.
We know that facial expression is as important - more perhaps - than the words we say, in communication. In Jesus, we get to see God face to face. God isn’t far away, distant and remote. He isn’t terrifyingly judgemental. He’s not locked away in a heavenly study, where we might be called from time to time for a telling off. He is knowable. He is in Jesus. ‘Whoever has seen Jesus, has seen the Father.’
And we get to see Jesus too. It’s not just Philip and the disciples. We can see the face of Jesus in prayer, in Scripture and especially when we serve other people, above all when we serve those who are most vulnerable and most needy. Mother Theresa famously gave her life to God having heard the words ‘whatever you do for one of the least of these, you did for me.’ and encouraged her sisters to seek the face of Jesus in the face of every person they cared for.
That’s our call - to seek the face of Jesus in the world that he loves. For in doing so, we might just see God face to face.
Where will you look for Jesus this week?
Second, ’The Father who dwells in me’
Early on in John’s gospel, in chapter 1 verse 38, two of John the Baptists friends see Jesus walking by and start to follow him. When Jesus turns and sees them, he asks ‘What are you looking for?’ And they answer, ‘teacher, where are you staying?’
Jesus replies, ‘Come and see’.
A simple exchange and the greatest invitation every issued.
What are you looking for? Would you like to find the answer? Would you like the response to your deepest questions? Would you like your greatest struggles to be resolved? Would you like to know what lies at the heart of everything?
Would you like to come and see where Jesus is staying?
In a sense, the whole of John’s gospel is that invitation. To come and see where Jesus is at home, and then to discover that you’re invited to move in too.
In John’s gospel, Jesus talks a lot about ‘dwelling’. It’s a beautiful word. ‘To dwell’ means - to be at home, to be safe, to be comfortable. To be in a place that feels right, that’s homely. Think warmth, think permanence, think rooted.
John’s gospel starts ‘the word became flesh and dwelt among us’. Jesus has come to dwell with us, to live with us, to live as us.
Just before the words we had read today, Jesus says to his disciples that ‘in my father’s house, there are many rooms’ - or ‘many dwelling places’.
Jesus has come to dwell with us, and we are invited to move in and dwell with him, in his Father’s generous and spacious house.
And now, in the verse we’ve just read, it turns out that the Father dwells in Jesus. ‘The Father who dwells in me’ says Jesus.
Put that all together. Jesus moves into our lives, so he can open the door to his Father’s house, where he already dwells and where we are welcome. We are invited to be at home with Jesus, in his Father’s house.
I find that mind-blowingly beautiful. This glorious tangle of dwelling. Jesus with us. Us in Jesus. Jesus with the Father, the Father in Jesus. Us in the Father. Dwelling. Abiding. Known. Loved. At home.
Come and see where Jesus lives. Because there’s a room there for you. The bed is made, there is food on the table, it’s God’s house - and now it’s yours too. Come, be at home. You are so, so welcome.
So what does all that mean for us, day to day? What do those two phrases mean for us, as we try to live like Jesus in everyday life?
First, it means that God really is available to us. In Jesus, at his ascension, God has made the divine life, the very life of God, the love that beats at the heart of everything, available to us.
Never believe the voice that says - God has forgotten you, God’s not there.
Jesus was born, Jesus lived, died and lived again, Jesus rose to heaven to break heaven open, to bring it to earth and to give us access to the very face, the very living presence of God. So know that you are never alone, never abandoned, that there is never a moment, never a second when the beautiful, loving face of God is not looking at you.
Second, if you choose to follow Jesus, you are at home in God, safe, secure, rooted - wherever you are and whatever’s going on. Jesus has moved into your life and thrown open the door to invite you in. And his home is his Father’s home. Heaven is here. So trust him, rely on him, be at home with him. Learn his ways, get to know the place, move in. Be at home in God.
Third, as disciples of Jesus, who are called to ‘be at home’ with him, we have a job to do - to help others be just as ‘at home’ in an anxious world where many people feel ‘homeless’.
That might be through practical support to someone who is struggling with debt or loneliness or unemployment. Or an invitation to talk about questions of life, death, God and faith. Or a listening ear. Or a couple of quid. Or more than a couple of quid. Or a story shared about how God has helped you. Or whatever. When we’ve been offered a beautiful home to move into, of course, our job is invite others too. In our Father’s house there are many rooms. And everyone is welcome.
Let me finish with a story about a beautiful Christian community which I think embodies these two phrases we’ve been looking at.
The community is in Philadelphia, in America. Philadelphia is a poor city and it all started when a group of homeless families moved into an abandoned church building. When they were threatened with eviction, they hung a banner outside that said ‘How can we worship a homeless man on Sunday, and ignore one on Monday?’ and they gave a Press Conference and said that they had spoken to the real Owner (capital ‘O’) and He said they could stay.
And that was the start of ‘The Simple Way community’. And they moved into this building permanently, in the midst of a neighbourhood that had lost hope, and they opened their doors, and invited people to share food, and they started making the streets beautiful, and they opened their bibles and prayed together, and they dug gardens and grew food with their neighbours.
They moved into a neighbourhood. They built a home with Jesus. They invited others in and they changed lives.
That’s what being at home with Jesus looks like in Philadelphia. What does it look like for you. Here?
Jesus asked, ’What are you looking for?’
They said, ’Teacher, where are you staying?’
And Jesus replied, ‘Come and see’, and, ‘In my Father’s house there are many rooms’
There’s one for you too. There’s room for everyone. Amen
Going Deeper
Before you read the sermon, what did you think the ascension was all about?
Have you ever seen God face to face? What happened? What was it like?
Where will you look for Jesus this week?
Jesus asked the disciples ‘what are you looking for?’ What you are you really looking for?
What does it look like for you to ‘dwell with Jesus’ or to ‘be at home with Jesus’?