Ascension Day the hope – and promise we have

Forty days after His resurrection, the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven.

This event is described in Acts 1:9 – 11, which says, “After he said this, he 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 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.”

Though Ascension Day, which is on Thursday May 26 this year, is no longer a public holiday, the significance of the event has never waned.

The Lord Jesus went to take His rightful place and is still to this very day seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

This position is a place of absolute authority. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him (Matthew 28:18) and He has been given the name that is above every name, so that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9 – 11).

He has a permanent priesthood, “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Hebrews 7:25). What a comfort to know our eternal destiny is in His loving and capable hands!

He has gone to prepare a place for us and we will return soon, so that where He is we may be also (John 14:1 – 3). This is the hope of all who believe in Him as Lord and Saviour!