In the annual remembrance of key events in the ministry of our Lord, his ascension into heaven is one that is always in danger of slipping by unnoticed. This is regrettable. Our Lord’s ascension is a most significant event as it marks the beginning of the second stage of his ministry.

That we can see his ascension as the beginning of the second stage of his ministry comes out in the way Luke expresses himself in the opening verses of the book of Acts. He states that in his first book he “wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven” (Acts 1:1, 2). If the first book was about the beginning of our Lord’s work this second book would be about the continuation of his work. The big difference was the location.

The way the book of Acts unfolds, we can say that it shows us, especially how our Lord continues his work of being our chief prophet and teacher. He did that in a way He could never have done had He remained on earth. On earth, He would have been confined to being at one place at the time. From heaven, He was able to break through that limitation through the gift of the Holy Spirit. This took place on Pentecost.

We should have a sharp eye for the fact that the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was not with a view to regeneration but with a view to evangelization. This comes out in the way that the gift of the Spirit emboldened the disciples to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. The book of Acts shows us how, by the power of the Spirit, the apostles become the mouthpieces for Jesus Christ throughout the world, within a generation reaching the emperor in Rome. At the same time, the structure was put in place in the new Christian congregations so that the voice of the chief prophet could continue to be heard through ministers of the gospel.

It is from the letter to the Hebrews that we learn how our Lord continues his work of being our only High Priest. The superiority of our Lord’s priesthood compared to that of the house of Aaron is shown especially in light of the fact our Lord ascended into heaven. We read that

...Christ did not enter a manmade sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.Hebrews 9:24-27

This makes it clear that our Lord is not sacrificing Himself anew but his priestly work consists of intercession on our behalf, based on his sacrifice on the cross. His presence in heaven gives us confidence to approach the throne of God, assured that it is a throne of grace where we will receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16).

Besides being busy as our prophet and priest, our Lord is also busy in heaven as our king. Especially the book of Revelation shows us our Lord exercising his kingship. It is portrayed vividly in the vision John had of the Lamb taking the scroll and opening the seals (Revelation 5). While we may be perplexed about various details of the book of Revelation, one theme resounds loud and clear, namely, the kingship of our Lord Jesus Christ as He gathers and defends his people and pours out his wrath on the unbelieving world. The book concludes with the promise of the ultimate defeat of all the enemies of Christ and his church.

It is obvious then that we have a Lord and Saviour who is very hard at work for us from the heavens. An awareness of his work will give us renewed appreciation for the preaching of the gospel, as it is the prophetic voice of our Lord. It will reassure us as we daily struggle with our sins, for we have our high priest in the heavens to intercede for us. Finally, it will encourage us as we feel marginalized in society, because we have our Lord as king who governs all things for the benefit of his church.