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The
Necessity of the Ascension By
Bob Myhan Why
did Jesus Christ ascend back to heaven after His resurrection, rather than
remaining on earth? After all, wouldn’t more folks believe in Him, today, if
He hadn’t gone back to heaven? Surely, atheists and deists wouldn’t be so
smug if Jesus were still on earth, performing miracles and making public
appearances! There
are at least four reasons that the ascension was necessary. First,
it was necessary for Jesus to ascend back to heaven that He might: send the Holy
Spirit to the apostles. In His farewell discourse, He told them, “Nevertheless
I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go
away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to
you” (John
16:7). The
Holy Spirit was to be "in" the apostles (John 14:16-17). He was not
going to be in them literally but figuratively. That is, He would work in and
through them more closely than was possible during the time Jesus was on earth.1 The
Holy Spirit would be in the apostles to accomplish at least four things,
two of which would be accomplished in the apostles, while the other two
would be accomplished through them. He
was to: 1.
Remind
the apostles of everything Jesus had told them and guide them into all truth
(John 14:26; 16:12-13). 2.
Testify
of Jesus, enabling the apostles to do the same with unerring accuracy (John
15:26-27). 3.
Confirm
the word of the apostles with signs (Mark 16:19-20; Heb. 2:1-4). 4.
Reprove
the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment (John 16:8-10). Second,
it was necessary for Jesus to ascend back to heaven that He might become High
Priest of the New Covenant. Now
this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest,
who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a
Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and
not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices.
Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer.
For if He were on earth, He would not be a
priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who
serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely
instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, "See that
you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain." (Heb.
8:1-5) An
earthly nation needed an earthly tabernacle and an earthly priesthood. But our
citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20-21), so we need a heavenly tabernacle and
priesthood. Thus, if He had stayed on earth, He could not be our High Priest. As
High Priest, He has two basic priestly duties. He was to: 1.
Provide
the eternal counterpart to the temporal atonement (Ex. 30:10; Heb. 9:6-12). 2.
Make
continuous intercession for the saints (Psalm 110:4; Heb. 7:11-25). The
first of these was finished as soon as He arrived in heaven, but the other will
continue until the end, for there will never be a time when the saints will not
need His intercession. Third,
it was necessary for Jesus to ascend back to heaven that He might receive
dominion from His Father, “the Ancient of Days.” "I
was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming
with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him
near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That
all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an
everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which
shall not be destroyed.” (Dan.
7:13-14) Jesus
came to establish a heavenly, not earthly, kingdom (John 18:36-37). It
was prophesied that: 1.
Messiah
would “be a priest upon His throne” (Zech. 6:12-13). 2.
No
descendant of Coniah would prosper sitting on the throne of David, ruling in Therefore,
Jesus, being a descendant of Coniah, would not prosper, sitting on the throne of
David, ruling in Fourth,
it was necessary for Jesus to ascend back to heaven that He might prepare us a
home. "Let
not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My
Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go
to prepare a place for you.” (John
14:1-2). God
never intended for mankind to live forever on the earth, which will one day be
destroyed (Matt. 24:35). Earthly John
appeared on earth as forerunner of Jesus (Matt. 3:1-3; Luke 1:17; 3:1-6).
Similarly, Jesus entered heaven as our forerunner (Heb. 6:19-20). Therefore, it
would have been detrimental, not beneficial, for Him to have stayed on earth. & Meet
the Apostles (Part 1) By
Bob Myhan In
each
of the four full lists of the names of the apostles (Matt. 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19;
Luke 6:14-16; Acts 1:13), there are three groups of four names (except for the
list in Acts, of course, which omits Judas Iscariot). Each group always includes
the same names—though not in the same order—with Simon Peter always heading
the first group. Being
first on every list, Simon certainly seems to have been their acknowledged
leader. This was not official but grew out of natural leadership qualities and
abilities he no doubt had from birth. A diamond in the rough at the beginning,
he was the most impetuous of the apostles. On one occasion, he stepped onto the
surface of the James
and John are always grouped with Peter for a good reason. They were partners
with him and his brother in the fishing business. Peter, James and John formed
the inner circle of disciples. They were often with the Master when the others
were not—in the home of Jairus; on the Mount of Transfiguration; and in Andrew
is also grouped with his brother, Simon Peter, in every list. Although he is
numbered second on two of the lists, he was not part of the inner circle. Simon
and Andrew shared a home in |