The Ascension and the Dance of the Trinity

Devotional

Day 1: The Gardener’s Release

Mary Magdalene gripped Jesus’ feet, dirt still fresh under her nails from the garden tomb. He stood resurrected yet told her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended.” Her embrace shifted to obedience as she ran to announce His victory. Jesus redefined closeness—not physical proximity but partnership in His mission. [21:33]

The ascension wasn’t abandonment but advancement. Jesus returned to the Father to secure our place in God’s family, making “my Father” into “your Father.” His physical departure activated spiritual intimacy, uniting heaven and earth through His eternal intercession.

You cling to methods when Jesus offers movement. What comfort zone do you mistake for closeness with Christ? Where might He be saying, “Release this to follow Me further”?

“Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”’”
(John 20:17, ESV)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to reveal what you’re gripping too tightly, and trade clinging for commissioning.
Challenge: Write down one comfort you need to release, then tear the paper as an act of surrender.

Day 2: Hands Lifted in Blessing

Jesus led His disciples to Bethany, flesh-and-bone proof of resurrection. As He blessed them, His hands—still scarred—lifted toward heaven. Then He ascended, not vanishing but transitioning, His physical body merging with divine glory. The disciples stood awestruck, not mourning but worshiping. [23:01]

Those raised hands marked a transfer of authority. Jesus’ ascension crowned Him as cosmic King while commissioning His Church as ambassadors. The blessing wasn’t an ending but an equipping—Heaven’s power released through earthly witnesses.

Your ordinary life carries Christ’s extraordinary authority. When did you last consciously operate under His ascended rule rather than earthly limitations?

“Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.”
(Luke 24:50–51, ESV)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for ruling over your struggles today, naming one situation needing His ascended power.
Challenge: Lift your hands physically for 60 seconds today, declaring Christ’s reign over your home or workplace.

Day 3: The Dance of Three

C.S. Lewis described the Trinity as a divine dance—Father, Son, and Spirit moving in eternal joy. Not static “persons” but dynamic relationship. The early church called this perichoresis: a sacred circling, giving and receiving love without hierarchy or competition. [27:31]

Jesus’ ascension restored humanity’s place in this dance. As the Son returned to the Father’s side, He pulled our humanity into the divine rhythm. Worship becomes our invitation to step into the flow of Triune love.

You’re called to participate, not spectate. What rigid religious routine needs to become responsive movement to God’s lead?

“For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.”
(John 5:26–27, ESV)

Prayer: Ask the Spirit to make you aware of the Trinity’s active presence around you today.
Challenge: Play a worship song and physically move (sway, clap, dance) as an act of joining God’s dance.

Day 4: Beyond Eggs and Water

Broken analogies litter our attempts to explain the Trinity—water’s three states, an egg’s components. Jesus transcends these reductions. At His ascension, He didn’t become “less human” but more glorified—the God-Man forever interceding for us. [24:51]

Mystery invites worship, not frustration. The disciples didn’t comprehend the ascension’s physics but responded with joy. Our finite minds touch infinity through relationship, not diagrams.

Where have you demanded explanations over encounter? How might mystery deepen your awe today?

“Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.”
(1 Timothy 3:16, ESV)

Prayer: Confess areas where you’ve prioritized understanding over wonder, asking for fresh awe.
Challenge: Draw or describe a new metaphor for the Trinity using an object from your immediate environment.

Day 5: Carried into the Drama

The ascension thrust the disciples into God’s ongoing story. As Jesus disappeared, angels redirected their gaze: “Why stand looking into heaven?” The call shifted from observation to participation—their lives becoming the next scene of redemption’s drama. [28:23]

Worship propels mission. Just as Jesus’ blessing empowered the disciples, our adoration fuels Spirit-empowered witness. You don’t merely remember the dance—you extend its rhythm through daily obedience.

What “standing and staring” habit needs to become “going and doing” in your spiritual journey?

“And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?’”
(Acts 1:10–11, ESV)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to replace passive spiritual spectatorship with specific kingdom action today.
Challenge: Text one person about Jesus’ ascension this week, using a phrase from these devotions.

Sermon Summary

The image of revved engines sets the room to move from warmup to an immense time of worship, but Scripture itself sets the pace. John shows Jesus in the garden with Mary Magdalene, speaking a word that surprises her grasping love: “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.” Jesus sends her with a message that shifts the center of gravity of faith from grasping to going, from clutching the old form of his presence to sharing in his new nearness with the Father, “my Father and your Father, my God and your God.” The ascension, then, does not signal absence. It announces that something is happening, something about Jesus’ relation to the Father that will change the disciples’ relation to God.

Luke pictures the moment with simple strangeness. Jesus blesses them, and as he blesses he is carried into heaven. It looks like a scene from a sci-fi film, but the New Testament treats it as a key movement in the story of God. To feel its weight, the church must reckon with what is unique in Christian speech about God. When Christians say God, they name Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is not a puzzle to be solved with clever props. The water analogy and the boiled egg may make a point, but nobody worships an egg. Words run thin. Minds are finite. Relationships are fractured. So the early church reached for a word that gestures more than it defines, something like a circle dance, to hint at the living communion of Father, Son, and Spirit.

C. S. Lewis presses the same nerve. God is not a static thing, not even simply a person, but a dynamic, pulsating activity, a life, a drama, almost a dance. That kind of language does not flatten mystery. It invites participation. Isadora Duncan once said of a performance, “If I could explain it, I wouldn’t dance it.” The ascension moves the Son, in his resurrected humanity, into the heart of the Father’s glory, and it moves the church out of clutching into blessing, out of bare explanation into adoration. John’s garden and Luke’s hillside together call the church to set hearts on King Jesus and step into the rhythm of Father, Son, and Spirit. Not to master the mystery, but to be mastered by it. Not to hold him fast, but to be held inside his blessing.

Key Takeaways

1. The ascension reorders attachment and access The garden scene shifts love from clinging to commissioning. Jesus names the Father as his and theirs, signaling that his going up opens a new kind of nearness. The disciple’s life becomes less about holding on and more about being sent in the security of adoption. The change is intimate and missionary at once. [21:33]
2. God is Father, Son, and Spirit Christian speech about God is not generic monotheism. It is the confession that the one God eternally lives as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This naming does not domesticate mystery, it protects it, keeping the church from shrinking God to something manageable. The ascension situates Jesus within that eternal communion. [23:41]
3. Clever analogies can shrink adoration Water phases and boiled eggs might score teaching points, but they do not kindle worship. When images make God simpler than God is, the soul grows dull. Better to let imperfect words point and then fall silent, letting wonder widen the heart. Mystery is not a problem to fix but a place to bow. [25:44]
4. The Trinity moves as a dance The early church’s circle-dance image and Lewis’s “dynamic pulsating activity” both reach past diagrams to doxology. The triune life is motion, mutual indwelling, and joy, and the ascension draws humanity into that current in the Son. The church best knows this not by overexplaining, but by entering it in worship. Explanation yields to participation. [27:31]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[01:45] - Greeting and gathering
[02:25] - Prayer to King Jesus
[08:13] - Revving the engines of worship
[08:45] - Night framed as worship
[09:39] - Introductions and translation
[10:12] - Welcoming guests
[11:08] - International worship vision
[19:11] - Honoring visiting leaders
[19:46] - David’s team introduced
[20:17] - Eastertide and the Ascension
[20:45] - What is the ascension
[21:33] - John 20 and Mary’s grasp
[23:01] - Luke 24 and the blessing
[23:41] - The uniqueness of the Trinity
[24:51] - Unhelpful analogies named
[26:56] - The circle dance image
[27:31] - C. S. Lewis on divine dance
[29:07] - From explanation to worship

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
John 20:17 (ESV)
Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Luke 24:50-51 (ESV)
And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.

2 Corinthians 13:14 (ESV)
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Observation Questions

What specific instruction does Jesus give Mary Magdalene in John 20:17, and what reason does He provide?
How does Luke 24:50-51 describe Jesus’ physical departure? What action accompanies His ascension?
What two analogies for the Trinity were mentioned as unhelpful (e.g., water phases, boiled eggs)? [24:51]
How does C.S. Lewis describe God’s nature in contrast to a “static thing”? [27:31]

Interpretation Questions

Why might Jesus tell Mary not to cling to Him before ascending, yet later invite Thomas to touch His wounds (John 20:27)? How does this contrast highlight the purpose of the ascension?
The sermon suggests the ascension “reorders attachment and access.” How does Jesus’ statement about “my Father and your Father” redefine believers’ relationship with God? [21:33]
The early church used the image of a “circle dance” to describe the Trinity. What does this metaphor communicate about God’s nature that static analogies (like an egg) fail to capture? [26:56]
If the ascension is not about Jesus’ absence but a “new nearness,” how does this reshape our understanding of prayer and worship?

Application Questions

Jesus redirects Mary from clinging to going. In what areas of your life might God be calling you to release control and step into a “sent” identity? What would that look like practically?
The sermon warns against shrinking God to “manageable” terms. When have you tried to over-explain or simplify God’s mystery? How could you instead cultivate wonder in those moments? [25:44]
The Trinity is described as a dynamic dance of love. How could embracing this vision of God inspire you to pursue deeper unity and joy in your relationships?
The ascension moves believers “from clutching to blessing.” What is one way you can actively bless others this week instead of fixating on your own needs or doubts?
Isadora Duncan said, “If I could explain it, I wouldn’t dance it.” What practices (e.g., worship, silence, art) help you engage with God beyond words? How could you prioritize these? [29:07]
How does recognizing God as “Father, Son, and Spirit” challenge cultural assumptions about God being distant or impersonal? How might this truth comfort someone feeling alone?

Sermon Clips

``Now according to the New Testament, something really significant is taking place. And it's something that the New Testament writers will come back to again and again. But to understand the significance of what's going on in the ascension, you've gotta understand what is unique to the Christian faith. And it's this unique conviction that when we say the word God, we are saying father, son, and holy spirit. The Christian conviction about God is absolutely unique. Because when we say the word God, we're saying father, son, spirit. Now, obviously, this is an extraordinary mystery. It's hard for us to get our heads around and even our hearts around sometimes. [00:23:26] (70 seconds)

One of the great dancers of the last century, Isadora Duncan, she performs an amazing piece at one point. And after it was over, they came up to me and they said, what does it mean? If I could explain it, I wouldn't dance it. And I think this mystery, what it means that father, son, and holy spirit, it's hard us to get our words around. But when I first heard this imagery of the dance, it took me back to my wedding day. [00:28:36] (40 seconds)

At different points, we try to explain father, son, and holy spirit. That somehow God is three, but God is one. And so we do the best we know how. We use those examples like water. You've heard that one. We've got like ice and then you've got liquid and then you've got vapor free. And you're kinda like, okay, yeah. And then the other big one, remember this one when I was young. They would say it's like a boiled egg. You got the outside shell. You've got the white bit in the middle. Then there is such that you've the yellow yolk. And you're like, it's three, but it's one. [00:24:36] (54 seconds)

Ask a question about this sermon

Chatbot

What happens when Jesus ascends to the Father?

Why is the Trinity described as a dance?

What unique conviction about God distinguishes Christianity?

The Ascension and the Dance of the Trinity

Devotional

Day 1: The Gardener’s Release

Day 2: Hands Lifted in Blessing

Day 3: The Dance of Three

Day 4: Beyond Eggs and Water

Day 5: Carried into the Drama

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Chatbot

The Ascension and the Dance of the Trinity

Share