“Ascending as God”

HOPE CHAPEL - Sunday, April 17, 2022

​Youtube link... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVFDbfA3aG0
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Teaching Series - “Doing Life with Jesus" 
Weekly Topic - “Ascending as God” – Easter Sunday 
Texts – Matthew 26-28; Luke 24; Psalm 22:1-18; Acts 1
 
  While Jesus lived on Earth as one of us, he demonstrated that he was more than just a human through his miracles, the authority of his teaching and even his open declaration that he was the Son of God, the long-awaited Messiah.  But many refused his words despite the evidence.  How could this man be more than merely human?  

​Today, those of us raised in the Church often have the opposite problem.  We sometimes wrestle with the fact that Jesus was fully human…just like me and you.  As the perfect God-man, how can he possibly relate to us as sinful humanity?  We sometimes fall into the trap of diminishing his humanity.  Not so with the people of his day.  Their struggle was to admit Jesus’ deity.
 
Today, we will examine the evidence through the story of Easter and the events that immediately followed.
 
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Prior to Jesus’ crucifixion, he recognized that the time was quickly approaching.  In his prayer for the disciples—all those who would come to be his followers—John records Jesus’ clear desire to be with the Father once more.
 
John 17:1-5 – “Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. 2 For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. 3 And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. 4 I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5 Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.”
 
If Jesus had not been God, this prayer would have been entirely outrageous.  He was claiming not only to be the promised Messiah, but also the Creator of the world.  He was claiming to be God-incarnate—all powerful God in a human body.  He was either God or completely delusional!
 
 
Jesus’ claim to be more than a man brought varying responses…
 
When questioned by the Council after his arrest, Caiaphas demanded that Jesus tell them whether or not he was the Messiah, the Son of God.
 
THE INDIGNATION OF THE PHARISEES
Matthew 26:64 – “64 Jesus replied, “You have said it. And in the future you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
 
There was no way for Jesus to respond truthfully without riling up the ruling council who was determined to have him killed…they just needed a reason.  A man claiming to be God was all they needed.  Now, according to Jewish law, with Jesus’ words on record, they were within their right to have this blasphemer killed.  The idea that Jesus was telling them the truth never crossed their predetermined minds.
 
However, the response of the religious leaders is strikingly different from the pagans—the Roman soldiers who witnessed Jesus’ final moments of life…
 
THE BELIEF OF THE SOLDIERS
Matthew 27:50-54 – “50 Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. 51 At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, 52 and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. 53 They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people.
 
54 The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!”
 
Jesus’ death resulted in the instantaneous tearing of the curtain that separated people from the place of God’s Holy of Holies in the Temple.  Jesus’ blood had ushered in a new covenant between God and humanity and it was as thought God was ripping apart the old covenant.
 
Jesus’ death was a cosmic disrupting event—an unnatural darkness enveloped the earth from noon to three in the afternoon and an earthquake capable of splitting rock, including tombs, took place.  This was all the evidence the superstitious soldiers required that Jesus had been more than human.
 
And after Jesus’ resurrection, other saints also were resurrected.  There is a lot of speculation, but no concrete answers to the resulting questions…Were these resurrected saints godly men and women of the Old Testament or newly died disciples of Jesus? Did they resurrect with new ‘heavenly’ bodies or were their physical bodies restored like Lazarus and they would once again face death? Did they resume living in Jerusalem?  What happened to them?  Long story short…we don’t know.
 
What is clear is that Jesus’ resurrection gave new life to many godly individuals who had previously experienced physical death and had been buried.  Their reappearance in Jerusalem served as further proof of Jesus’ divinity.
 
But as much as resurrection should have served as irrefutable proof that Jesus was God, it was often too much for people to absorb as fact.
 
THE SURPRISE OF THE DISCIPLES
Matthew 28:2-7 – “Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. 3 His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. 4 The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint.
 
5 Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. 7 And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.”
 
The hopes of Jesus’ disciples had died on the cross with him.   Even those closest to him, who he had been crystal clear with about the nature of his mission, the need for his death and the promise of his resurrection, couldn’t believe that Jesus had come back from the dead.  They believed he was the Messiah, but it appears that they hadn’t fully come to grips with the fact that he was also God. 
 
 
Over the course of forty days, Jesus continued to show up unexpectedly to demonstrate that he was indeed alive again and to continue to teach the disciples.  On the first day when he had shown himself to Mary, Jesus later joins two disciples on a walk to Emmaus.  They are distraught, but he takes the time to show them that what had happened to him was clearly prophesied in Scripture.
 
JESUS’ LIFE AND DEATH FULFILLED PROPHECY
Luke 24:32-45 – “32 They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” 33 And within the hour they were on their way back to Jerusalem. There they found the eleven disciples and the others who had gathered with them, 34 who said, “The Lord has really risen! He appeared to Peter.”
 
35 Then the two from Emmaus told their story of how Jesus had appeared to them as they were walking along the road, and how they had recognized him as he was breaking the bread. 36 And just as they were telling about it, Jesus himself was suddenly standing there among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 37 But the whole group was startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost!
 
38 “Why are you frightened?” he asked. “Why are your hearts filled with doubt? 39 Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do.” 40 As he spoke, he showed them his hands and his feet.
 
41 Still they stood there in disbelief, filled with joy and wonder. Then he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he ate it as they watched.
 
44 Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”
 
 
He makes it clear that, even in the midst of the scene of the crucifixion, prophecy had been fulfilled…prophecy that was 1,000 years old.
 
Psalm 22:1-18 – “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? [quoted by Jesus on the cross]
    Why are you so far away when I groan for help?
2 Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer.
    Every night I lift my voice, but I find no relief.
3 Yet you are holy,
    enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 Our ancestors trusted in you,
    and you rescued them.
5 They cried out to you and were saved.
    They trusted in you and were never disgraced.
6 But I am a worm and not a man.
    I am scorned and despised by all!
7 Everyone who sees me mocks me.
    They sneer and shake their heads, [the treatment Jesus received]
saying,
8 “Is this the one who relies on the Lord?
    Then let the Lord save him!
If the Lord loves him so much,
    let the Lord rescue him!” [this is the very taunt thrown at Jesus as he hung on the cross]
9 Yet you brought me safely from my mother’s womb
    and led me to trust you at my mother’s breast.
10 I was thrust into your arms at my birth.
    You have been my God from the moment I was born.
11 Do not stay so far from me,
    for trouble is near,
    and no one else can help me. [Jesus was facing a direct assault by Satan; only God was sufficient to help the Son during this time]
12 My enemies surround me like a herd of bulls;
    fierce bulls of Bashan have hemmed me in!
13 Like lions they open their jaws against me,
    roaring and tearing into their prey.
14 My life is poured out like water, [when his body was pierced, blood and water flowed]
    and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax,
    melting within me.
15 My strength has dried up like sunbaked clay.
    My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. [he asked for a drink, but refused the vinegar]
    You have laid me in the dust and left me for dead.
16 My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs;
    an evil gang closes in on me.
    They have pierced my hands and feet. [nails were hammered into his hands and feet to secure him to the cross]
17 I can count all my bones.
    My enemies stare at me and gloat. [Jesus hung on the cross naked]
18 They divide my garments among themselves
    and throw dice for my clothing. [Roman soldiers did just that with Jesus’ clothing—dividing up his outer clothing and gambling for his seamless undergarment]
 
 
But despite all this--appearing to the disciples and helping them to find the connections between what had been prophesied and how Jesus had lived and died--Jesus knew that the disciples would need to be given a front row seat to his ascension.  Without it they would never become certain of his divinity; would always doubt the veracity of his eternal life in heaven; would question their need to continue his mission; would struggle in their obedience as the doubts of Jesus’ whereabouts plagued them.  So he gave them the opportunity to erase all doubt…
 
THE DISCIPLES WATCHED HIM GO
Matthew 28:16-17 – “Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted!”
 
Luke 24:50-52a – “50 Then Jesus led them to Bethany, and lifting his hands to heaven, he blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. 52 So they worshiped him …
Acts 1:10-11 – “As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!
And John, the oldest surviving apostle gave this testimony of Jesus years later…
 
JESUS WILL RETURN
Revelation 22 – “Jesus’ Return is Near”
“Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.
 
3 No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. 4 And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. 5 And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever.
 
6 Then the angel said to me, “Everything you have heard and seen is trustworthy and true. The Lord God, who inspires his prophets, has sent his angel to tell his servants what will happen soon.”
 
7 “Jesus is coming soon! Blessed are those who obey the words of prophecy written in this book.”
 
8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw all these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me. 9 But he said, “No, don’t worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers the prophets, as well as all who obey what is written in this book. Worship only God!”  10 Then he instructed me, “Do not seal up the prophetic words in this book, for the time is near. 11 Let the one who is doing harm continue to do harm; let the one who is vile continue to be vile; let the one who is righteous continue to live righteously; let the one who is holy continue to be holy.”
 
12 “Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”  14 Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life. 15 Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.  16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches. I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. I am the bright morning star.”
 
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life. 18 And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book.
 
20 He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!”
Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!  21 May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people.”
 
 
References and for further study / inspiration…
TGC – Resurrected Saints and Matthew’s Weirdest Passage - https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/resurrected-saints-weirdest-passage-matthew/
 
AboutBibleProphecy.com – Psalm 22 Foreshadowed the Crucifixion of Jesus - http://www.aboutbibleprophecy.com/psalm_22_1.htm 
 
Sunday, April 23, 2022 – 2022 Theme - “Doing Life with Jesus – Remaining in Jesus” – In-person and Online
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Pastor Jane Peck, Hope Chapel
(Collingwood EMCC Church)
 
"Learning and Living the Way of Jesus!"