M: Alleluia. Christ is risen!
C: He is risen indeed! Alleluia.
In
the name + of Jesus.
I want you to ponder something unimaginable: The Lions win the Super Bowl, and it goes down this way. When the clock reads 0:00, the Lions have won by a convincing score. The players high five and hug each other. Fans all over Michigan scream with joy. Then the players quietly dismiss themselves to the locker room to shower up and go home. No one gets any championship gear. Roger Goodell asks the head coach, “Don’t you want the Lombardi Trophy?” He says, “No thanks. We saw the final score. We’re good.” There’s no way that would happen. Every coach, every player, and every fan would embrace the trophy celebration. There would be a sea of Honolulu blue T-shirts all over Michigan. Everyone would bask in the glory of being coronated as Super Bowl champs.
This is what it is like if we celebrate Easter but give little attention to
Jesus’ ascension to heaven. Yes, sin, death, and the devil were crushed
on Easter Sunday when Jesus rose from the dead. But at the ascension,
Jesus was coronated as the King of kings and Lord of lords. He ascended
into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
All authority has been given to Jesus. He lives and reigns over all
things—earthly kingdoms and rulers, forces of nature, cells in your body, days
of the year: ALL THINGS—for the benefit of his redeemed. God has ascended
with a joyful shout.
When Psalm 47 was first written, the likely occasion was when David brought the
ark of the covenant into Jerusalem. The ark of the covenant was the place
where the Lord said he would dwell among his people. Nevertheless, the
ark of the covenant did not have as glorious a history as you might
think. It moved about from place to place from Mount Sinai, through the wilderness,
and into the Promised Land. Once it was in the Promised Land, it went
from Shechem to Shiloh. Later it was captured in battle by the
Philistines. When God’s wrath broke out against the Philistines, it was
returned and kept without fanfare at a small town (Kiriath Jearim). David
was determined to give the ark a designated and dignified home. While the
temple was still some years away, the ark would at least be brought to the City
of David. There, the Lord would dwell with his people to bless them.
King David had arranged great ceremony and celebration for bringing the ark to
its resting place. The director of music intoned Psalm 47. “Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud
songs of joy! For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared, a
great king over all the earth. He subdued peoples under us, and
nations under our feet. He chose our heritage for us, the pride of
Jacob whom he loves. God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with
the sound of a trumpet (Psalm 47:1-5).
After the Lord had subdued the
nations around Israel through David’s sword, the people of Israel were finally
granted rest and peace. God was with Israel, as he promised and where he
promised. The Lord declared that he dwelt with Israel above the mercy seat,
which is the top of the ark of the covenant. It was there that the high
priest made atonement for Israel’s sins. It was before the ark that
priests offered up the prayers of the people with incense. It was in the
name of the Lord that blessings were bestowed and salvation was declared.
This Psalm finds its ultimate
fulfillment in the ascension of Jesus to the right hand of God the
Father. Like the ark, Jesus had wandered through the land of Israel
without having much of a home to speak of. He is God who dwelt with his
people. He is the source of blessing and salvation. Atonement was
won by Jesus—not by blood spattered on the ark of the covenant in Jerusalem,
but by Jesus himself spilling out his holy, precious blood at the cross just
outside Jerusalem. Jesus’ death has paid for your sins. Jesus’
resurrection is the proof that the payment is complete. Now Jesus has
ascended, not merely the victor over death, as if that weren’t enough, but as
the King who sits in the highest place with a name greater than all others.
God has ascended with a joyful shout.
We are never comfortable with anyone having unlimited
power. No matter who the President is, half the country laments that he
has too much power. Currently, a large segment of our country believes
that the police flaunt their power and get away with whatever they want.
People also fear that Google has too much power. All this is just within
our own country. How would you feel if we talked about all power resting
with China, Iran, North Korea, or Syria? We are alarmed over such things
because we know what people tend to do once they have unbridled power.
If history has not taught you that, your own sinful nature does. What
would you do if you had unlimited power? However you end up answering
that question, you would ultimately use it to serve yourself. You would
order the world to be run the way you think is right, but the rules would
always lean in your favor. If you decreed that everything would be perfect,
you would want everyone to know that you were the one who did it. Even
our best intentions end up serving ourselves.
But now, all power and authority has been entrusted to Jesus. That
strikes fear because Jesus knows all things. He knows your past. He
sees your jealousy and is aware of your schemes. You may convince
yourself that your sins are warranted, but Jesus does not buy your
arguments. If you think you can get away with anything, it is only
because you do not see Jesus face to face right now. But look what Adam
and Eve did when God came to them. He did not come breathing fire, but
they still ran away from him. They knew they were guilty, and they did
everything to avoid having to face that.
It does not matter if you love it or hate it; Jesus has been given all
authority over heaven and earth, over life and death, over angels, demons, and
people. That fact stands. If it doesn’t look like it right now, it
will be made undeniably clear. The Psalm declares, “God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with
the sound of a trumpet” (Psalm 47:5).
Just as trumpets were blown to announce the ark of the covenant going up to
Jerusalem, so also the blast of a trumpet will announce Jesus’ descent on the
Last Day. On that day, what is proclaimed as a word to be believed will
become a fact to be seen. For, “God
has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above
every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should
bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”
(Philippians 2:9-11). It will not matter if a person rejoices at his
coming or wants to flee from him. Every knee will bow, that is, genuflect
or kneel. Every tongue will have to confess him Lord whether they want to
or not.
But now, dear Christians, none of
this should strike in you the least bit of fear. God has ascended with a
joyful shout, and God’s people still have that same joy today. We do not kneel
or genuflect at the name of Jesus under threat of punishment. We do it to
confess him our Lord and Savior. No one forces us to confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord. We stand up willingly and proudly declare it every
week. It is our joy to make this confession. Yes, the Lord Jesus has all authority and his
kingdom endures forever. But Jesus rules
by grace. By his sufferings and death,
Jesus has taken away sins. By his
resurrection, Jesus has conquered death.
But his ascension, Jesus opens heaven and prepares a place for us.
Jesus’ kingdom
is a kingdom of grace. He does not force
himself upon us. Anyone who is determined
to reject Jesus will be allowed to die apart from him. He does not tax us for his own lavish tastes—as
if he needs us to support his glory, or for world conquests—as if he needs us
to maintain his power. Jesus lives and reigns,
but everything he does is for your benefit.
For you and for all who believe in him, Jesus lives and reigns to
forgive sins, to save us from death and hell, to comfort the fearful, to
encouraging those who suffer and struggle, and to bring you into eternal glory,
endless, peace, and a perfect Paradise.
And while he does want you to know who delivers these things, it is not done
for his ego, but so that you will know the only way you can receive them.
“God has gone up with a
shout, the Lord with the sound of a
trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our
King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm! God reigns
over the nations; God sits on his holy throne. The princes of the peoples
gather as the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the
earth belong to God; he is highly exalted” (Psalm 47:5-9)!
Jesus lives and reigns over all
things. And he reigns for our eternal good. Of course, this is held
by faith and not by sight. Our eyes, our feelings, and our bodies
experience a world that is chaotic. The
wicked seem to have control. The violent
and vicious seem to get rewarded. Because of that, we may wonder if Jesus
is in heaven and doesn’t pay attention anymore to what we are going through. But faith trusts the word of the Lord. We
believe that Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty. Therefore,
we believe that whatever Jesus has us go through, it is for our ultimate
good—even if it is hard or painful, chaotic or confusing.
If the world seems chaotic, fear
not. Life is often like a tapestry. The front of a tapestry is
beautiful, but not the back side. The back of a tapestry is a mess with
threads going in all directions and colors mish-mashed together. Our
world looks like the back of a tapestry, causing us to think that Jesus does
not know what he is doing at the right hand of God. But from the other
side of heaven, Jesus produces a beautiful image for our life. It may not
be until you enter heavenly glory that you will appreciate the goodness of our
God. But fear not. God has
ascended with a joyful shout. Jesus is seated on his holy throne. Therefore,
God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Our prayer is that we are included in his
will. Thanks to Jesus, we are.
God has ascended with a joyful shout. He will return in glory with the joyful shouts of his redeemed who long for his coming and for his glorious kingdom. And while we wait, the Church rejoices; for the Lord God Almighty reigns!
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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