After more than five years out of our church building, first because of the pandemic and then a building project, we came home to our building in early May. This Sunday we’ll have an official celebration and commissioning service, giving God thanks for his blessings and offering the building and ourselves to him once again for his glory.

It seems to me lovely that this is happening the Sunday before Ascension Day which, this year, is Thursday, May 29^th. Ascension Day, too, is a day of celebrating both what has been accomplished and what lies ahead as we live connected to Christ. In a sense, it’s a day to celebrate the coming home of Christ, and our coming home in him.

I admit, rather sheepishly, that this is the first year I’ve been able to tell you the date of Ascension Day. I’ve known, of course, about the ascension, that day when Jesus returned to heaven, still in a human body, though now glorified. But I haven’t spent much time either exploring its vast wealth of significance or celebrating it.

The ascension is much more than a day to mark the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, the closing bracket for his years on earth. It’s more, even, than a declaration that Jesus has accomplished our redemption, his sacrifice has been accepted, and he is now returning to heaven as victorious King. As Ross Hastings points out in his forthcoming book, The Glory of the Ascension, the ascension significantly affects our understanding of at least six major themes:

1. Christology: Who is Jesus?
2. Anthropology: What does it mean to be human?
3. Soteriology: What did Jesus accomplish in his own self to save us?
4. Ecclesiology: What is the church, and what does union with Christ mean?
5. Eschatology: What does the ascension mean for the church and the coming kingdom?
6. Cosmology: What does the ascension mean for our understanding of heaven and earth, and heaven on earth?

Phew! Many books could be (and have been) written on all that. But here’s the thing that, today, has me worshiping: When Jesus returned to his Father, he took us with him. Our bodies aren’t yet there with him, but even now, we who have believed into him are already seated with him in that place of victory and glory.

“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. . .” (Eph 2:6)

What, exactly, do we celebrate on Ascension Day?

We celebrate what has been done: Jesus’ in-the-flesh work among us is finished. He took our flesh and so carried us with him through his life, death, and resurrection. His resurrection declared his death-conquering sacrifice successful, and now, in his ascension and taking his seat at the Father’s right hand, he has been declared King over all.

We celebrate what will come: Christ’s reign, which has begun, will one day be evident in its fullness. And we will reign with Christ as we were always intended to do. The serpent’s plans have been foiled and, in Christ, we have been brought back into our intended position as children of God and co-heirs with Christ, stewards of creation and rulers even of angels (c.f. Gen 1:28; Ps. 8; Dan 7:18, 22, 27; 1 Cor 6:3; Rev 3:21). Ross Hastings again:

His entrance into humanity and carrying humanity into the throne room of God is the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s decree regarding a “divine-human co-dominion” shared between the Son and his people “over the cosmos” (p. 125-6, citing Thomas Doughty).

And we celebrate what is now: The ascended Christ is not sitting idly at the Father’s right hand. He is actively reigning, at work in the world through his Spirit despite all evidence to the contrary. He is also caring for his people and interceding for us, perhaps praying for us as he did for Peter that our faith may not fail. And we, too, have already begun to reign with him as we live in him and join in his work in the world.

“The whole church already sits at the Father’s right hand (Eph 2:6) and participates in Christ’s reign over the cosmos through its participation in the eucharist and Word, prayers, and multifaceted vocations in mission” (Hastings, p. 126).

As we approach Ascension Day next Thursday, let us remember and celebrate that the One who sits at the right hand of God still wears our flesh and bears our scars. He didn’t just become a man for his years on earth. He became one of us for all eternity, joining us to him forever. And in this astounding way he not only became able to empathize with our weaknesses and care tenderly for us, he brought us all the way home with him, all the way home into his own relationship with his Father. Jesus “has provided a place in the life of God for humanity” (Hastings, p. 126). That is something worth celebrating.