The Ascension of Our Lord | May 17th, Traditional

Devotional

Day 1: Scars and Open Minds

Jesus stood among His disciples, fresh wounds visible in His hands and feet. He ate broiled fish to prove He wasn’t a ghost, then opened their minds to understand Scripture’s full story: “The Christ must suffer, rise, and bring repentance to all nations.” Their confusion melted as ancient words became living truth. [18:38]

This moment reveals God’s pattern—suffering precedes glory, death births resurrection. Jesus didn’t erase their questions but rewired their vision to see God’s plan in brokenness. The disciples became living bridges between prophecy and fulfillment.

You’ve tasted disappointment that feels like dead ends. What if God is opening your mind to see purpose in the pain? Where might Christ be rewriting your story’s script today?

“Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. He told them, ‘This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.’”
(Luke 24:45-47, ESV)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to open your mind to recognize His work in one current struggle.
Challenge: Underline three verses in Luke 24 that surprise you. Read them aloud.

Day 2: Clouds and Witnesses

The disciples stared as Jesus lifted His hands in blessing, rising until a cloud hid Him. Two men in white interrupted their sky-gazing: “Why stand here? He’ll return the same way.” They walked back to Jerusalem, joy burning in their chests—not because He left, but because He’d send power. [19:28]

The Ascension isn’t about physics but presence. Jesus didn’t abandon earth—He reclaimed His cosmic throne to rule all creation. The cloud wasn’t a barrier but a sign of God’s nearness, like the pillar that guided Israel.

You’ve waited for “mountaintop moments” while daily life feels ordinary. What if Christ’s reign transforms your commute, chores, and conflicts? How might joy fuel your Monday mornings?

“When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.”
(Luke 24:50-51, ESV)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for ruling over one specific anxiety you’re facing this week.
Challenge: Text one person: “I’m praying for you—how can I help today?”

Day 3: Dinosaurs and Living Words

A child asks, “Is God extinct?”—confusing ancient power with irrelevance. But the risen Christ isn’t a fossil. He walked roads, ate meals, and promised, “You’re witnesses.” His story isn’t locked in parchment but pulses through grocery stores and soccer fields where His people serve. [28:56]

God’s aliveness depends not on our imagination but His action. The Ascension declares Jesus isn’t trapped in history—He intercedes for you now. Your kitchen table becomes Bethany when you pray; your workplace turns Pentecostal when you serve.

Where have you relegated God to “long ago”? What ordinary space could become holy ground if you acknowledged His presence there?

“You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
(Luke 24:48-49, ESV)

Prayer: Confess one area where you’ve treated God as a relic. Ask for fresh eyes.
Challenge: Share a 30-second story of God’s help with a coworker or neighbor.

Day 4: Upward and Homeward

The disciples didn’t chart Jesus’ trajectory through stratospheres. “Up” meant returning to the Father’s side—not spatial coordinates but restored relationship. The Ascension seals His victory: the Son reclaims His throne, bearing humanity into God’s presence. Heaven’s doors stay open. [35:24]

This changes prayer from shouting into voids to conversing with a King who wears scars. Your words reach the control center of reality. Jesus isn’t floating in space—He’s hosting you at the Father’s right hand.

When have you felt your prayers hit the ceiling? How might knowing Christ hears you as royalty reshape your requests?

“He raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion.”
(Ephesians 1:20-21, ESV)

Prayer: Pray for three leaders by name, knowing Christ governs their decisions.
Challenge: Set a 3 p.m. alarm to pause and pray: “Your kingdom come here.”

Day 5: Relics and Routines

The disciples returned to Jerusalem’s temple—the same place they’d cowered before—now praising boldly. Ascension didn’t remove Jesus but relocated His presence. He dwells in hospitals, PTA meetings, and your silent tears. You’re the plan: no backups, no alternatives. [41:16]

Jesus’ absence in flesh means His presence in Spirit everywhere. You’re not maintaining a museum but tending a wildfire. The “upward” call lifts your gaze from trivialities to eternal impact in daily acts.

What routine task could become worship if done with awareness of Christ beside you?

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
(Matthew 28:20, ESV)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for His presence in a place you’ve felt alone.
Challenge: Identify three “ordinary” moments today to whisper: “You’re here.”

Sermon Summary

Luke lets the risen Jesus set the agenda: everything written in Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms had to be fulfilled, minds had to be opened, repentance and forgiveness had to be preached to all nations, and power from on high had to clothe his witnesses. The Collect then puts the day in one line: as the only-begotten Son ascended, hearts and minds are lifted to dwell with him. That is the whole enchilada, but the story presses for more because many now treat God like the dinosaurs: long ago, powerful, interesting, but extinct. So the ascension raises two questions modern ears ask.

The ascension first bumps into the mechanics. The old three-tiered world pictured heaven up there, the underworld down there, and a dome overhead. Space has no up or down, so which direction is up from a ball? That is a fair question, but a thin one. Luke’s picture is not a physics lesson. The firmament’s window is not the point. The point is where Jesus went and why it matters.

The second question is the big one: so what? The apotheosis of Washington in the Capitol dome celebrates an idealized hero lifted to glory. The ascension is not that. Jesus is not merely a great man memorialized in the sky. Jesus is and remains God himself. So where did he go? He went back home, to the place where God lives. That is what Luke is saying.

Talking about it requires honesty and faithfulness. It is pointless to defend a dead cosmology or to explain the lift-off. The better work is to hear the meaning God gave: in Jesus, heaven and earth have been joined. Emmanuel walked the roads, finished the work, and returned to the Father from whom he came. And yet, he did not leave the earth empty. He promised power from on high.

That promise lands in the present tense. The old story puts it sharply: when asked for a backup plan, Jesus said, “I have no other plan.” The church itself is the answer to “where did Jesus go?” He is right here. Let someone tell about him. That is not a can do; it is a must do, because the church is always one generation away from extinction. But the Spirit is at work, making impossible things possible. In schools and offices, hospital rooms and birthday parties, at the tee box and the PTA, the living Christ surrounds with love and sends his people as witnesses of these things.

Key Takeaways

1. Ascension returns the Son home Jesus does not become divine by being admired; he goes where he has always belonged. The movement is not promotion but homecoming, the Son returning to the Father. That is why the story answers “where did he go” with “back to the place where God lives.” Only God goes home to God. [35:24]
2. Mechanics miss the true meaning “Which direction is up” is a clever question that cannot carry theological freight. Space has no up or down, but the gospel has direction: from promise to fulfillment, from mission begun to mission continued. Explaining the lift does not feed faith; receiving what the ascension gives does. [36:09]
3. Ascension joins heaven and earth Emmanuel is not cancelled by departure. Heaven has already come down in him, and his going home secures that bond rather than breaks it. Worship and joy flow because his presence is no longer confined to one place but given to his people in every place. [37:42]
4. The mission continues in Spirit power The risen Lord ties ascension to power from on high, clothing ordinary people to carry his name to the nations. The church’s work is not self-started grit but borrowed strength, the Spirit making impossible things possible. Witness is given, not manufactured. [18:57]
5. Christ has no other plan He entrusts his work to fragile people and does not keep a fallback option. That trust dignifies ordinary callings and raises the stakes on silence. If mouths stay shut, memory fades; if hearts speak, the living Christ is made known. [39:59]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[08:39] - Confession and Absolution
[18:11] - Gospel: Luke 24 read
[25:53] - The Collect frames Ascension
[27:06] - Dinosaurs and the “extinct” God
[29:36] - Two big Ascension questions
[30:09] - Ancient cosmology and “up”
[33:45] - Not apotheosis: Washington in the rotunda
[34:57] - Jesus returns home as God
[36:09] - Meaning, not mechanics
[37:42] - Emmanuel: heaven and earth connected
[38:46] - Power to continue the mission
[39:59] - No other plan but witnesses
[47:01] - Prayers and sending

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Luke 24:44-53 (ESV)
44 Then [Jesus] said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” 50 And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. 51 While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple blessing God.

Observation Questions

According to Luke 24:44-49, what three things did Jesus say had to happen (fulfillment of Scripture, his resurrection, and the disciples’ mission)?
What specific instruction did Jesus give the disciples before his ascension, and what were they told to wait for? [18:57]
How did the disciples respond immediately after Jesus ascended (v. 52-53)? How does this contrast with how people might react to losing a visible leader?

Interpretation Questions

The sermon contrasts Jesus’ ascension with the “apotheosis” of figures like George Washington. How does Jesus’ identity as God (not just a hero) change the meaning of his ascension? [34:57]
Why is the question “Which direction is up?” considered a “thin” or inadequate way to understand the ascension? What deeper meaning does the text emphasize instead? [36:09]
Jesus says the disciples are “witnesses of these things” (v. 48). What does it mean for their role to depend on “power from on high” (v. 49) rather than their own abilities?

Application Questions

The sermon says, “The church is always one generation away from extinction.” What specific, ordinary places in your life (e.g., work, hobbies, family) could you intentionally speak about Jesus’ love this week? [41:16]
Where do you feel ill-equipped or hesitant to share your faith? How might relying on “borrowed strength” (the Spirit’s power) change your approach? [39:02]
The disciples returned to Jerusalem with “great joy” after the ascension. What practices or habits help you maintain joy in Jesus’ presence even when he feels unseen?
The sermon warns against treating God like a “dinosaur”—an extinct relic. What cultural assumptions or habits tempt you to view God as irrelevant? How can you actively counter that? [28:24]
Jesus’ ascension means he is “right here” through his people. Who in your life needs to experience Christ’s presence through your words or actions? What step will you take to reach out? [40:13]

Sermon Clips

40s

“Another angel asked, Lord, after all that you endured, what have you done to make sure that your teachings are remembered and your work continued? Jesus replied, I have 12 brave handpicked apostles who will carry on for me. They will spread the good news to others and they in turn will tell yet others. But the angels, knowing of what poor stuff we mortals are made of, persisted. But, Lord, what if they don't? What other plan do you have? Jesus simply replied, I have no other plan.”

50s

“If we don't spread the gospel, we will be just one generation away from disappearing from the face of the earth. And so on this ascension day, we stand with the disciples in spirit, looking up into the heavens, savoring another one of those mountaintop moments. We remember deeply all that Jesus means to us, cherishing his promises. We remember that Jesus is not just someone who tramped around the holy land with a bunch of smelly fishermen a long time ago. He's with you and me, in school, at work, at home, on the golf course, in our PTA meetings, hospital rooms, and birthday parties surrounding us with his love.”

32s

“And so as we once again ready ourselves to go outside the four walls of the church into the city to be about our father's business, we remember that the holy spirit is at work in his church. And it makes all sorts of impossible things possible, Things a good deal more mystifying and marvelous than Jesus simply rising up into thin air. We are witnesses of these things. Amen.”

37s

“And so I'm thinking today that this story is about, at very least, the connection between heaven and earth. We always say that Jesus is God with us, Emmanuel, and that in him heaven has come down to earth. The angels who appeared to the disciples at Jesus' ascension interpreted the meaning of it in exactly that way. They said, in effect, he's going back to the place from which he came. His work on earth is done. So he went back home to the place where God lives.”

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Hope Lutheran Church Virginia Beach This sermon · AI assistant

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