The Right Hand of God
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen
indeed! Alleluia!
Most people seem to think that after Christ’s
ascension, He is not around anymore. He is far away. Wherever the “right hand of God” is, it cannot be nearby.
People think they're just sort of on their own, maybe with some help from the
Spirit, until Jesus comes back. But this is exactly what the Scriptures do not
teach. The Ascension of our Lord means that our Lord Jesus has gone to the
Father. As He told us Himself, He goes so that He can send the Spirit, by whose
preaching Jesus is with His church. St. Mark writes this very thing: “After this He was received up into heaven
and sat down at the right hand of God. And the Apostles went out preaching
everywhere, the Lord working with them.” Jesus is at the right hand
of God, which means Jesus is present wherever His Gospel is preached.
Satan would love to snatch you and your
righteousness away from Jesus, but the devil is powerless now that Jesus has
ascended. Your sins are forgiven. Jesus paid their price. Nothing stands
between you and God anymore, for Jesus as both God and Man sits at “the right hand of God.” He has raised
humanity to dwell with God in His glory. If the devil wants to get to you, he
must go through the risen and ascended Son of God Himself. Jesus sends the
Apostles into the world to preach this, because the world thinks that God will
love you if you live a good life. The world imagines, when it even acknowledges
sin, that you have to do something to make up for your sins. But the world
can't figure out the Gospel. Only the Lord can reveal it and accomplish it! The
world doesn't know anything about grace or mercy or the forgiveness of sins. So
the Lord sends His preachers into that dead world with the Word of life, the
Good News of sins forgiven.
By the preaching of the Gospel and by the
water and the Word, the Spirit makes disciples out of sinners in the world. And
just as the world knows nothing about what the Gospel is, so also the world
knows nothing about faith. When Jesus says, “whoever
believes,” He means a trust that clings to Him and to His gifts. The Bible
says that, when the Lord went on high, He gave gifts to men. These are the gifts
of forgiveness, life, and salvation, given through the preaching of the Word,
the water of the font, the words of absolution, and the body and blood of the
Supper. To believe means to trust that you have nothing going for you but Jesus
and those gifts which give you Jesus. To a world that is dead in trespasses and
sins, Jesus doesn't just send some knowledge about a far away God; He actually
delivers repentance and the forgiveness of sins through His preachers.
The Ascension of Our Lord is a big deal. When
Jesus ascends to the right hand of the Father, what He's really doing now is
going all over the earth through the preaching of the Gospel. While He was visible
to human eyes, He was there in Judea. Now
hidden to our eyes, He is everywhere the Gospel is preached to the ends of the
earth. When He seems to be going away, He's actually present everywhere. The
Ascension is your guarantee that Jesus Himself is forgiving and saving sinners where
His Word is preached and His sacraments given. With these gifts, Jesus makes you
His own, raises you from the death of sin, seats you in the heavenly places,
and works all things for your good until He returns again. Jesus died for you.
He rose for you. And His ascension is for you, too! You have heard of His Ascension
today. Now, like His disciples who went to the Temple, praising and glorifying
Jesus, you also come to His house, full of joy, ready to receive His good gifts
in which He is present with you again…for as He sits at “the right hand of God” for you. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He
is risen indeed! Alleluia! In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and
of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God
which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus
always. Amen.
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