Ascension Sunday

June 1, 2025

Acts 1:1-11

Because He Lives— His Ascension Empowers Us!

1In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, 4while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

6So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

7He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

9After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

10They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (NIV1984)

Dear fellow worshipers of our ascended Lord and Savior,

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

Even though I have chosen to celebrate today as Ascension Sunday, technically, today is the Seventh Sunday of Easter. Technically, today marks the end of the Easter Season. As we finish the season of Easter, as we prepare to take down our Easter cross, change the paraments on our altar and place the Pascal Candle off to the side of the sanctuary, we are tempted to consider our celebration of Easter to be over. In reality, however, our celebration of Easter is never over! The physical resurrection of our dear Lord and Savior is an important part of our everyday lives. The physical resurrection of our dear Lord and Savior is the heart of every single one of our worship services. The physical resurrection of our dear Lord and Savior defines who we are— both now and in eternity.

While technically today is the final Sunday in the season of Easter, since I have chosen to celebrate today as Ascension Sunday we are going to study our text for today under this theme: Because He Lives— His Ascension Empowers Us!

Luke, who is the human author of the book of Acts begins our text in a way that would be very easy to overlook. Under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit Luke writes, “In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.”

The “former book” that Luke refers to here is, of course, the book that we call the Gospel of Luke. But what I specifically want to draw your attention to are Luke’s words, “I wrote about all Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven.” By using the phrase “began to do and to teach” Luke is opening our eyes to the fact that everything he wrote about in his Gospel account was just the beginning! The work of the risen Christ and ascended Christ continues through His Church, through people like you and me! In my Greek Bible the book of Acts is titled “Acts of the Apostles.” If we wanted to be more specific we could refer to this book as “The On-Going Acts of the Ascended Christ through His Apostles”!

As he is writing to Theophilus Luke highlights two additional points that reveal that this book is a continuation of his Gospel account of “all that Jesus began to do and to teach.” First, look at verse three. Luke writes, “After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.”

These words connect the book of Acts with the closing portion of the last chapter of the Gospel of Luke. In his Gospel account Luke documents for us that Jesus gave His disciples “many convincing proofs” that He had physically risen from the dead. How did Jesus do this? He did this by appearing to Mary Magdalene early on that first Easter Sunday, by walking with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, by standing among the disciples in that locked room on Easter Sunday, by inviting them to touch Him to prove that He was not a ghost or an hallucination, and by eating some fish with them.

Over the course of these forty days Jesus “opened their minds” so that they could understand how the Scriptures clearly proclaimed the life, the death and the physical resurrection of the Lord’s Christ. And as Luke reminds Theophilus— and us, his readers— over the course of those forty days Jesus continued to instruct His disciples about “the kingdom of God.”

The second point that Luke highlights to emphasize how the book of Acts is a continuation of his “former book” is found in verses four and five. He writes, “On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

“Do not leave Jerusalem.” Why did Jesus give His disciples this “command”? Did they want to leave Jerusalem because it held so many reminders of Jesus’ suffering and death— as well as their own weaknesses and shortcomings? Did they want to leave Jerusalem because they knew that many of Jesus’ enemies were there— including many of the religious leaders who were “successful” in getting the Romans to sentence Jesus to death? No matter what may have been going through the hearts and the minds of Jesus’ disciples, the risen Christ “commanded” them to stay in Jerusalem. Why? Because that is where they would receive the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, and because that is where they would begin their work!

Since Luke has already told us that over the course of the forty days between Jesus’ resurrection and His Ascension He proved to His disciples that He had indeed risen from the dead, and since Luke has already told us how the Lord spoke to His disciples “about the kingdom of God,” it is not surprising to hear Jesus’ disciples ask their victorious Lord, “Lord are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” The idea of the Promised Messiah establishing His Kingdom right here on this earth with Jerusalem as its capital was engrained in the hopes of many of God’s people— including Jesus’ own disciples! From the perspective of Jesus’ disciples this was the perfect time for Jesus to use the power that enabled Him to raise Himself from the dead to “restore the kingdom to Israel”!

In a very gentle way Jesus re-focused His disciples on something far more important than “restoring the kingdom to Israel.” Look at verses seven and eight, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.” With these words Jesus reminds and assures His disciples that their heavenly Father has a plan— and they need to trust in that plan! At the same time, Jesus reminds and assures His disciples that they will most certainly receive power— when Jesus fulfills His promise to send them the special outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This is a clear reference to the Day of Pentecost— which we will celebrate one week from today.

That, my friends, brings us full circle— back to the beginning of our text where Luke writes, “In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven.” Look at verses eight and nine, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

After reminding Theophilus— and us!— that Jesus gave “many convincing proofs that he was alive,” after reminding Theophilus— and us!— that Jesus would most certainly fulfill His promise to fill us with the “power” of the Holy Spirit, Luke reminds Theophilus— and all of his readers— that because He lives (Pointing to the cross) His Ascension empowers us! What does Jesus’ Ascension empower us to do? There are two answers to that question.

First, Jesus’ Ascension empowers us to be His “witnesses.” As Jesus’ “witnesses” we are to testify to others what we have seen, what we have heard and what we know deep down in our soul concerning Jesus. We don’t have to go through a lengthy evangelism course to learn how to be a witness for Jesus. We simply need to be able to answer in our own heart and in our own mind, “What does Jesus mean to me?”

Think of how that applied to Jesus’ disciples in the days of Luke. They could share with others that they were eyewitnesses of Jesus’ powerful miracles. They could share with others that they had personally heard Jesus teach the Truths of God’s holy Word with an authority that no one had ever heard before. They could share with others that they witnessed Jesus’ compassion, Jesus’ mercy and Jesus’ forgiveness. They could share with others that they were eyewitnesses of Jesus’ physical resurrection from the dead. They ate with Him. They talked with Him. They walked with Him. They could share with others that they personally saw Jesus ascend Home to Heaven.

By looking at how these disciples could serve as “witnesses” for Jesus, we learn how we can be “witnesses” for Jesus. Think of all the wonderful things that you have witnessed Jesus do. You have witnessed Jesus adopt a little baby to be a dearly beloved child of the heavenly Father through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. Through that precious Sacrament you have witnessed Jesus give to that child the gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of saving faith in their heart and the gift of complete forgiveness of all of their sins. You have witnessed Jesus give to His disciples the spiritual food of His true Body and His true Blood in the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Through that precious Sacrament He strengthens and nourishes our faith and our trust in Him as our risen and ascended Savior.

Look back over the course of your life. How many times has Jesus healed you and protected you? How many times has Jesus guided you and provided for your needs? How many times has Jesus blessed you— even though you know that you did not deserve to be blessed? How many times has Jesus filled your heart with peace even when your life is filled with turmoil? How many times has Jesus done all of this— and more!— for the people you know and love? When we stop to think about it, my friends, we are indeed empowered to be His “witnesses”! (Pointing to the cross)

Jesus’ original disciples were empowered to be His “witnesses… in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” In other words, the disciples were empowered to be Jesus’ witnesses starting right where they were— in Jerusalem— and then spread out from there. We know from the book of Acts that Jesus’ disciples did just that, didn’t they.

Like Jesus’ original disciples we are empowered to serve as His “witnesses” startingright where we are and then moving out from there. Our personal “Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria” includes our children and our grandchildren, the people we work with, the people we go to school with, the people we meet at the various events we attend. We also recognize that “the ends of the earth” is much different now than it was back in the days of Luke! That means we are to support the pastors, the teachers and the missionaries that our Synod sends all across the world. That means that both personally and through others we do whatever we can to help as many people as we can hear about the glorious gifts that only the crucified, risen, and ascended Lord can give to them, namely, forgiveness of sins, eternal life and salvation.

The second answer to the question, “How does Jesus’ Ascension empower us?” is found in the closing verses of our text. Luke writes, “After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’”

Jesus’ ascension into heaven not only empowers us to be His “witnesses,” but Jesus’ Ascension into heaven reminds us that we have only a limited amount of time to carry out the work our Lord has given to us to do! Why? Because Jesus is coming back! He is coming back “in the same way” the disciples saw Him ascend into heaven— visibly! The fact that we don’t know exactly when Jesus is coming back means that there is no time to waste “gazing into the sky.” We need to get to work! We need to serve as Jesus’ “witnesses” now — before it’s too late!

Is there someone you know that you have wanted to share Jesus with— but you have been waiting for the “right time”? How long are you willing to wait? Is there a mission that is near and dear to your heart, a mission that you have been wanting to support? Do it now. Have you considered how you could continue to serve as a “witness” for Jesus— even after the good Lord has called you home to heaven? What? How could you continue to serve as a “witness” for Jesus here on this earth when you are no longer here on this earth? You could designate a portion of the earthly blessings that the Lord has graciously given to you to help support the ministry of our congregation and the ministry of our Synod. As you are saying your daily prayers ask your ascended Lord to help you see how you can serve as His “witness”— both now as well as after you join Him in heaven.

When you come here to God’s house next week you will see that it looks slightly different. The paraments will be a different color. The cross will not be standing majestically in the front of the church. The Pascal Candle will be off to the side of the sanctuary. My prayer is that you do not take these changes to mean that Easter is over! My prayer is that no matter what season of the church year we are celebrating you will know this truth deep down in your heart: Because He Lives— His Ascension Empowers Us!

To God be the glory!

Amen