Nothing is more central to Christianity than the resurrection of Jesus. A Christian’s faith is totally dependent on it. And nothing is more exclusive to the Christian’s faith as well. No other reputable religious leader of any other major religion claims to have died and been raised back to life.
Although his followers never caught on until after his resurrection, Jesus predicted many times that he would die a violent death on a cross and be raised from the dead three days later (cf. Mark 8:31; John 12:32–33). But he also predicted that after the resurrection he would go back into heaven to be with the Father (cf. John 7:33; 13:3; 16:28). So his resurrection and ascension are closely tied together.
For forty more days after the resurrection, Jesus lived on the earth in a resurrected body, met with his disciples several times, and appeared to many followers. Paul said that on one occasion Jesus appeared to at least five hundred people all at once (1 Cor. 15:6). At the end of the forty days, he was taken up into heaven.
Luke, an early follower of Christ and a physician by trade, wrote down one of the accounts of Jesus’ life (the gospel of Luke). In a second book, the book of Acts, he recounted how followers, especially Paul, spread the church during the first thirty years following Jesus’ resurrection. Luke says that in a small town called Bethany, “While he [Jesus] was blessing them [the disciples], he left them and was taken up into heaven” (Luke 24:51).
In Acts, Luke recorded the same event with more detail. Jesus 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 [angels] 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” (1:9–11).
So what is Jesus doing in heaven? First, he sat down at God’s right hand. Sitting down symbolizes the fact that Jesus has finished all the work he needs to do to accomplish our forgiveness. Like the priests of the Old Testament who brought sacrifices into the earthly temple, Jesus brought himself into the heavenly temple as the definitive, end-all sacrifice.
Second, while in heaven, Jesus is preparing eternal residences or homes for all who have believed. The night before his crucifixion, he told his disciples, “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2). God doesn’t need to prepare anything. He can just create it. So a place that Jesus will “prepare” for us suggests its quality, beauty, comfort, and more. Jesus was a carpenter on earth. But his heavenly carpentry skills will exceed all comparisons.
Third, Jesus is in heaven waiting. He is waiting for the time when the Father tells him to defeat his enemies—those who have refused to believe that he is Lord and King. “But when this priest [Jesus] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool” (Heb. 10:12–13). The Old Testament promised that the Messiah would one day sit at God’s right hand and ultimately defeat all his enemies (Ps. 110:1). Shortly after Jesus’ ascension, Peter told a large audience that this Old Testament prophecy was fulfilled by Jesus (Acts 2:34–35).
Finally, from his place seated at God’s right hand—a position of highest honor—Jesus will return to earth at the Father’s command to reign as king over the world. At this point, he will destroy all the ungodly on earth and bring in the final resurrection.
Right before his death as a martyr, Stephen said that he miraculously saw “heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56). Jesus was not sitting but standing! Perhaps Jesus stands up to welcome into heaven all those who have been his faithful followers.
FOR FURTHER STUDY
Mark 12:35–37; 14:62; Luke 9:51; Acts 2:32–33; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 4:16; Hebrews 4:14; Revelation 1:12–18; 3:21