Ascension Day 2012

Ascension Day 5/17/12 I want to share it with you today a sermon written by C. F. Walther in 1865. For those of you that might not be familiar with him he was instrumental in formulating the faith we Lutherans proclaim today. Pastor Walther covered four different topics in his sermon on the Ascension of Jesus. I have taken one topic to share with you today; Lord’s supper. I have chosen this topic because his words written in the late 1800s are as relevant to us today as they were to his congregation so long ago. The following is his sermon edited for length. In our day especially, it is generally believed that after his ascension Christ is no longer on earth with his human nature. Consequently, the doctrine of the ascension is misused to deny that Christ’s body and blood are truly present in the Holy Supper. This error rests upon a completely false conception of the real nature of the ascension of Jesus Christ, Son of God, and Son of man. It is mistakenly supposed that Christ ascended into heaven just as Enoch or Elijah did; he now lives in a certain place in heaven, as is believed of all the other saints. We must note, first of all, that we are much too weak to grasp and fathom the real nature of ascension. We do not even have an idea of what the Scriptures call heaven, for it says that heaven has no time or space. Yet our mind has absolutely no conception of something not bounded by time and space. The Holy Scriptures do not say that Christ only ascended into heaven; it rather speaks this way, “He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.” (Ephesians 4:10). Now who can begin to grasp this mystery, to say nothing about describing it. Bear in mind, that the ascension of Christ is like the sun. The more clearly one wishes to look into it, the more it blinds our eyes, so that finally we see nothing. This work belongs to those which we are not to fathom but in childlike faith simply to believe what the Scriptures say of it. The more simply we hold to what the Scriptures say of it, the more faith-strengthening this mysterious article becomes. What do the Scriptures say? They do not tell us that Christ is circumscribed by heaven as other saints are, but that He fills all things, not that he was received by heaven, but rather that he has received heaven, yes, that he has ascended up over all heavens, and, as our text says, now “sits on the right hand of God.” What does this mean? If we do not want to go astray, we must consult the Scriptures. It says that God led Israel out of Egypt with his right hand, and hurled Pharaoh with his army into the sea. It says in Psalm 77:10, “I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.” (German: “The right hand of the most High can change all things.”) It says, “If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.” Psalm 139:9,10. From this it is clear that by God’s right hand the Scriptures understand his omnipotence, omnipresence, rule, and eternal divine majesty and glory. That we are not mistaken in this explanation of Christ’s sitting on the right hand of God the Scriptures again show us. St Paul says, “Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” Ephesians 1:20-23. And even in Psalm 110 we read, “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.” (Vv. 1,2b). Naturally, all this is not said of Christ’s divinity but of that nature in which he went about in the form of a servant, his human nature; his divine nature could be neither humbled nor exalted, experience neither ebb nor increase of its glory, as Psalm 102 expressly says of the divine nature, “Thou art the same.” (V 27). Now decide for yourself whether according to Holy Scripture Christ is no longer with us according to his human nature. Far be it! To be sure, he left the world in such a way that he no longer walks among us like a human being, visible, touchable, and occupying space as once he did with his disciples. Christ could in this sense say, “I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world; again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.” (John 16:28). The angel also could speak in this sense, pointing to Christ’s empty grave, “He is not here; behold the place where they laid him.” (Mark 16:6). We speak in this sense at the close of the Second Article of the Apostle’s Creed, “From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.” But be it far from us to believe that this applies also of Christ, what Abraham said to the rich man in hell, “And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed; so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.” Luke 16:26). Be it far from us to believe that Christ is King in a kingdom from which he is separated, and which he can rule only from a distance. No, Christ has taken a local departure from his disciples. With his glorified body he truly lifted himself ever higher and higher, as far as the eyes of his disciples could reach. But that should only assure them of the truth of the great change, which now took place in the state of the man Jesus. We dare not suppose that, when the clouds received Jesus like a triumphal chariot and hid him from the sight of the disciples, he now continued to rise slowly ever farther and farther from the earth and raised himself up above the starry heavens. No, as soon as the clouds closed behind him, he in that instant also entered into the state of divine majesty, appeared in heaven full of glory before all angels and saints, and also as a man began to share in the omnipotent and omnipresent rule over heaven and earth and all creatures. If we consider the ascension of Christ in this way, oh, what a firm basis for a joyful faith we then have! Far be it that Christ should have withdrawn himself from his congregation; he has rather come real close to us. We need not first go to Judea to seek him. No, shortly before his ascension he promised, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” (Matthew 28:20). Through his visible entrance into his invisible glory he confirmed and brought this about. In all places he as God and man is now near us with his grace, with his help, with his protection. If during his sojourn on earth Christ dealt with his Father chiefly for us, now his own attention is continually directed toward us, his redeemed, to bring us to faith in him, to preserve us in it, and to carry out the good work in us until that day when we shall see him as he is. Christ has not ceased completing his work in sinners; he does not rest in the enjoyment of salvation, resting from his labors as those do who fall asleep in him; but he has appeared for us before God in the Holy of Holies; as Aaron bore the names of the tribes of Israel on his breastplate when he entered into the Holy of Holies, so also Christ carries the names of all believers on his heart when he appears before God as the true High Priest. There he unceasingly intercedes for his own, rules them, provides for them, and protects them, that the gates of hell cannot overpower them. Oh, then, let everyone today be awakened to faith in Christ and be strengthened in it through his glorious ascension. Let no one say: How does this concern me? If you are a prisoner of sin, the Law, and death, as you can not deny, then Christ’s ascension concerns you most intimately; through his ascension Christ has led your captivity captive. If you at your death do not want to descend into the eternal prison, then in faith cling to the Ascended. You are then free even here, and some day you will follow him into his glory. He thought of you when before his ascension he gave the command, “Preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” (Mark 16:15,16). Now if in the meantime before your Savior brings you home into his Father’s house, you experience misery, many temptations and dangers of soul, do not give up. Cling to him who today received the kingdom of his Father. For your sake all power in heaven and on earth was given to him. He will permit nothing to tear you from his hand and will be your shield and protection until he has placed you among those whom he has delivered, who sing an eternal hallelujah to him in the temple of heaven. To him be honor and praise here and hereafter, forever and ever. Amen