CREED  I BELIEVE... HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN, AND SITS ON THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY

The Creed seems now to have to “tidy up” a few details. If I have declared that Jesus died, and was buried, and visited the place of departed spirits and was then raised to life, the obvious question would have to be: “So where is he now?” And that is as legitimate to ask now as it was six weeks after the crucifixion. Or it was as legitimate to ask then as it is now, whichever way you want to look at it. The scriptural account gives witness that he was “received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God”. That he was “received up” is repeated several times but how Mark could record that he was seated on the right hand of the Father, would have had to be given by revelation. One such revelation was from Stephen's testimony at the time of his stoning, when he saw Jesus “standing” on the right hand of God. It is in Psalm 110:1 and Hebrews and Revelation that we have the significance of being seated spelled out.

We might suppose that the early believers were quite ignorant if they thought a physical body levitating skyward was going to make it to “heaven'. But as I think of it right now, I begin to get the impression that it is we who are ignorant when we apply our skepticism to a reality that they understood much better than we do. The account in Acts tells us that the angels that appeared gave an explanation to go with the physical (symbolical) ascent. That he was leaving the earth was the primary significance of the physical departure. That he was going to the Father was attested to by the angels, and by Jesus' own teaching. That he would (return) remain in Spirit he also declared and fulfilled at Pentecost. While we modern skeptics, because of our great advances into space, wonder where heaven must be, these old unlearned ones, from the time of Elisha and the invisible hosts of heaven revealed to the fearful servants, to Paul's writing of being caught up to the third heaven, understood the realities of “fifth dimensions” or mystery, that modern day science (fiction) writers and quantum physics are just beginning to explore. Simply stated, when I say Jesus ascended into heaven, I am saying he went to be with God the Father. He went home. And from there he administers the physical and spiritual universe, seated on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; sharing the throne, as he promises we (or at least the Apostles) will do someday with Him.

What is the “So what” of the Ascension and Enthronement? Perhaps it is another reason to move through each moment with confidence and hope. What should it mean? To know that Jesus is in heaven, administering the universe, interceding on my behalf, functioning as the Great High Priest, preparing a place for me, and all the other things that scripture indicate Jesus does, I suspect it means I shouldn't waste a moment in worry or fretting over anything. What do you suppose such a belief, boldly expressed and lived out, must have meant to unbelievers when the church was just forming? What do you suppose such a belief boldly expressed and lived out would say to unbelievers around us today?