Jesus Is Over Our Heads...Sort Of.

Wouldn't it be strange to start a story with the departure of the story's hero? But that's just what the book of Acts does: chapter 1 is the summation of Jesus' personal ministry on earth, showing him being raised up into the clouds! Why did that action lead to everything else in Acts, and why is it relevant to us in the 21st century?

First of all, Jesus didn't "leave" -- he had promised he would never leave them ("I am with you always, to the end of the age" in Mat. 28:20). So although he was no longer visible, he was with them in some unseen way, and we see in verses 4 and 5 of Acts 1 that he reassured them of the promised Holy Spirit. That presence is described in John 14-16 as the mind and presence of the Father and the Son in believers.

Jesus described his departure in John 14:28, "You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’" He also said to the disciples, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you" and of each new believer, "my Father will love him, and wewill come to him and make our home with him." So he is no longer visibly here, but is fully, spiritually here with us -- which, really, is better anyway.

Jesus' departure from visible Earth made the descent of the Holy Spirit possible. It's sort of like the playground seesaw, or teeter-totter as you may know it. When one end goes up, the other comes down. In order for the Holy Spirit to multiply believers and greatly increase the ministry of the gospel, Jesus had to get out of the way (or we would have continued to focus on him rather than going out to the whole world). Rather than being dependent on Jesus standing there, believers are told to depend on the power of the Holy Spirit. More on that as we begin the Pentecost season.

Also, Jesus was raised into heaven so he could be at the 'right hand of the Father,' the place of power and prestige, where he represents us with his perfected, fulfilled humanity in the Godhead. His perfection is the complete substitute, as it were, for our broken and very imperfect humanity, while we grow into his likeness and wait for our final perfection when we see him again. He is our "righteousness and sanctification and redemption" (1 Cor 1:30), that is, everything we need to live, fully accepted into the Father's loving arms.

Praise God that our risen Savior, in his perfected humanity, was raised into the heavens! Let's be about his ministry of love, while we wait for his appearing.