[Sermon] The Ascension of Jesus Christ (5)

“Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, 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.” (Heb 7:23-25)
 
Review
Today, continuing from our previous session, we are sharing our thoughts on the ascension of Jesus Christ.
 
The Significance of the Ascension of Jesus Christ
1. Enthronement as the Ruler of All Creation
The first truth we learn through the ascension of Jesus Christ is that He is the true King of the entire universe. When Jesus Christ first came to this earth, He came in the form of a servant and died on the cross. However, God, by His power, raised Him from the dead, highly exalted Him to heaven, and seated Him at His right hand.
And God gave Him the name that is above every name, and all authority to rule and judge the whole world. In other words, the ascension of Jesus Christ is the very event that proclaims His lordship as the King of kings and Lord of lords.
 
2. Christ Becoming the Eternal High Priest
Last time, we looked into the second meaning of the ascension. The ascension of Jesus Christ is also the event through which He enters the true heavenly sanctuary as our eternal High Priest.
In the Old Testament, the Most Holy Place was a forbidden zone because the direct presence of God was there. The Most Holy Place was blocked by a veil, and no one was allowed to enter. Only the high priest could enter, and that was only once a year on the Day of Atonement, solely to atone for the sins of all the people of Israel.
However, the blood of animals could not completely take away the sins of the people of Israel. As a result, the veil continued to exist, and the Day of Atonement had to be repeated year after year.
Yet, all of this came to an end with the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Jesus came as the eternal High Priest, achieved eternal redemption not with the blood of animals but with His own blood, and went ahead of us through the veil into the true Most Holy Place in heaven.
In this regard, Jesus Christ is superior to all the high priests who existed in the Old Testament. This is because He is without sin, lives forever, and serves not in an earthly sanctuary made by human hands—which is a mere shadow—but in the true sanctuary belonging to heaven.
 
The Ministry of Christ as High Priest
Then, what kind of ministry is Jesus Christ performing right now as our eternal High Priest? Last week, we examined the first of Jesus’ ministries: the ministry of reconciliation.
 
1. Christ Who Reconciles
Reconciliation with God is the very essence of salvation and the core of Jesus Christ's ministry. The Apostle Paul wrote this in Colossians chapter 1:
 
"For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation." (Col 1:19-22) 
The reason God sent Jesus Christ to this earth to die on the cross was to reconcile all things on this earth to Himself through His blood and death. And the beginning of that was the restoration of the relationship between people and God. That is the definition of salvation.
God gave the people of Israel a way to forgive sins even during the Old Testament era. The Israelites brought animals to the tabernacle, laid their hands on them to transfer their sins, and obtained atonement by killing the animal.
However, the efficacy of this animal sacrifice was neither perfect nor eternal. This was because an animal could never replace the value of a human being. That was the reason why the veil still remained despite the existence of animal sacrifices. It showed that the problem of sin had not yet been completely resolved, and the path into the presence of God was still blocked.
However, the atonement and reconciliation that Jesus Christ accomplished through His blood on the cross and His death were perfect and eternal. He satisfied all the conditions for perfect atonement.
First, He was sinless; second, He possessed a physical body capable of shedding blood and experiencing death; and finally, most importantly, because He was the Son of God and the Word of God through whom all things were created, He possessed a value more than sufficient to substitute for all mankind.
Therefore, His atonement was perfect, and by the blood of Jesus Christ, we are now able to enter into the intimate presence of God—something no one in the Old Testament, not even the high priest, could ever to imagine. Those who could not even dare to enter the sanctuary, which was a mere shadow of the true Tabernacle, can now enter the true Most Holy Place in heaven, built by the Lord's own hands, and approach the throne of God.
When we believe in Jesus Christ, we participate in all of His core ministries. We are united with His death, crucifying our sinful desires on the cross. We are united with His resurrection, born again as new creations to live as children of God. But that is not all. Now, we also participate in the ascension of Jesus Christ, being spiritually raised to enter the heavenly sanctuary with Him. And we also participate in His seating at the right hand of God’s throne, reigning and ruling over this world together with Him.
This is why Jesus Christ being our High Priest is a great blessing to us. And the greatest and most precious blessing among them is that we have been reconciled with God to the extent that we can pierce through the veil, enter the heavenly Most Holy Place, and come before the throne of God.
 
2. The Interceding High Priest
Now, let us examine the second ministry of Jesus Christ as our eternal High Priest. Intercession. Jesus is standing at the right hand of God's throne even now, continuously praying for us.
 
Jesus was a man of prayer. Even when He was busy with His ministry, He never forgot to go out to a solitary place early in the morning to offer prayers to God. To Jesus, prayer was like spiritual breath, a means to continuously abide in the presence of God.
Jesus did not pray only for Himself. His prayers were also directed toward other people. When the disciples forbade the children from coming to Jesus, He took those children in His arms, laid His hands on their heads, and prayed for God's grace upon them. When Jesus saw the vast crowd following Him going hungry, He felt compassion for them, prayed for them, and then fed them.
Jesus also knew in advance that Peter would deny Him three times before He was arrested, and He interceded so that Peter's faith would not fail completely. Furthermore, on the cross, He petitioned God to forgive the sins of those who crucified Him.
In John chapter 17, Jesus’ intercessory prayer is recorded in the longest and most detailed manner. Before He was arrested, Jesus offered a prayer to God, and that prayer was not only for Himself but also for His disciples, and even further, for those who would come to God through them. First, Jesus prayed for His disciples like this:
"I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours... I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one... I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them... My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one... Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth." (Jn 17:9-17) 
This was Jesus’ prayer for His disciples. Jesus prayed that God would protect the disciples who would face difficulties on this earth, keep them from the evil one, enable them to become one in God's love, fill them with His own joy, and sanctify them by the truth.
And Jesus also prayed for other people who would come to Him because of the disciples:
"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." (Jn 17:20-23) 
Here, Jesus prays for those who will believe in Him through His disciples—that is, for all Christians. He petitioned that they might participate in the unity of the Triune God, enjoying true unity within Him, so that they may be perfected, abide in God’s love, and live as deliverers and witnesses of that love in this world, loving their neighbors.
This is the content of the prayer that Jesus offered to God 2,000 years ago, before He was crucified, for His disciples and for all Christians. But we know that this prayer continues even to this day, because Jesus Christ overcame death, rose again, ascended into heaven, and is still seated at the right hand of God, interceding for us.
 
Let us read Hebrews chapter 7, verses 24 to 25 together.
 
"But because Jesus lives forever, 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." (Heb 7:24-25)
One of the vital duties of the high priest was to pray. Samuel said, "As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you" (1Sm 12:23).
True to his word, Samuel never stopped worrying and praying for the people of Israel until the very end. That must have brought immense comfort to the people. How empowering must it have been for them to know that a great man of God like Samuel was constantly praying for them?
However, the prayer of Samuel, who was a great prophet and priest, eventually came to a halt. This was because his death prevented him from carrying out the duties of a priest any longer. And that same history repeated itself over and over again.
Though it wasn't always the case, excellent high priests appeared after Samuel as well. They, too, must have prayed to God for the people of Israel. However, no one could sustain that prayer forever. Death separated them from their priestly office.
But Jesus Christ, who is our High Priest right now, is different. He tasted death, but He is the only one who overcame it. Jesus Christ lives forever. He is seated at the right hand of God even now, interceding for us. Jesus Christ's ministry of intercession for us will never be interrupted.
Even at the very moment when we are too busy due to various circumstances, or lose even the strength to pray because we are crushed under the worries of the world and the burden of our sins, Jesus is still praying for us.
Jesus guards and protects us even now. He neither slumbers nor sleeps; He keeps us from all harm and watches over our coming and going forevermore. Just as a shepherd knows the names of his sheep and calls each of them by name to lead them out, Jesus knows each of our names, knows our circumstances and situations better than we do, and is praying while calling our names.
Just as Jesus took the little children in His arms and prayed for them, the Lord now holds our weak selves in His arms and intercedes for us. Just as Jesus looked at the hungry crowd, felt compassion for them, prayed for them, and fed them, Jesus looks at us with compassion even now, intercedes for us, and fills us with the necessary food. Just as Jesus looked at the sick with a merciful heart, prayed for them, and healed them, Jesus prays for us and heals us in the exact same way today.
Just as Jesus prayed for Peter when his faith was on the verge of stumbling due to fear, Jesus prays even now so that our faith will not grow weak but become strong. Just as Jesus prayed for the sinners who crucified Him, Jesus still loves us today when we sometimes act like enemies of God, and He petitions God to forgive our sins.
Jesus intercedes so that we do not fall into the temptations or evils of the world. Jesus petitions that our lives may be filled with His joy and that we may be sanctified by the truth. Jesus intercedes so that we may become one and be perfected in fellowship with the Triune God, and that we may deeply experience, enjoy, and become witnesses of that love, living a life of loving our neighbors.
This is the intercessory prayer ministry of Jesus, who is our eternal High Priest. The Apostle Paul wrote this in Romans chapter 8:
 
"Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?... For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rm 8:34-39) 
 
Here, Paul explains Jesus’ ascension in connection with His intercessory ministry. What is important is that Jesus’ ministry of intercession goes beyond simple prayer and is connected to our justification. No one can condemn us. This is because Jesus is interceding and defending us on our behalf at the right hand of God.
The Apostle John explained the meaning of this like this:
"My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (1Jn 2:1-2)
John says that even at the very moment we commit a sin, we can still approach God. This is an incredibly astonishing declaration when viewed from an Old Testament perspective. This is because no sinner could ever stand before a holy and righteous God.
The one who makes this possible is precisely Jesus Christ. The reason we can approach the Father even when we sin is because we have Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, who becomes our "Advocate." The Greek word translated as "Advocate" here is 'Parakletos'. While it is a word usually used to refer to the Holy Spirit, it is uniquely used here to point to Jesus. Parakletos fundamentally carries meanings like comforter or one who helps by our side, but it also means a 'defense attorney.'
These words—'condemnation,' 'righteousness,' and 'defense attorney'—are highly legal terms. This leads us to a courtroom. The judge of that courtroom is God. We are sitting before His judgment seat as the defendant. Here, Satan plays the role of the prosecutor, accusing us of our sins in detail before God, arguing that we are sinners and must receive the deserved punishment. That punishment is eternal death.
The desperate thing is that there is absolutely no falsehood in Satan's prosecution and sentencing demands. Those sins were indeed the sins we committed, and the wages of those sins is nothing but eternal death.
However, in this courtroom, we discover a defense attorney who helps us. Jesus Christ. He does not defend us by saying we are sinless. He admits all the sins we have committed before God.
But, the amazing plot twist unfolds right after that. Jesus says that while it is true we have sinned, there is no need to receive the death penalty for it. It is not because the sin is not serious enough to deserve death, but because the price for that sin has already been paid.
This is what Jesus says as He becomes our defense attorney. Because He bore all our sins and already paid the price for all those sins with His blood and death on the cross, there is no more condemnation for those who believe in Him.
This is another aspect of the intercession of Jesus, our High Priest. He intercedes for our weaknesses, but going beyond that, He also intercedes for our sinfulness, so that we do not fall into sin, so that we are not condemned—even when temptations of sin come rushing in, leading us to sin and leave us suffering from guilt—He constantly covers us with His precious blood, cleanses us, justifies us, helps us by our side, and intercedes so that we do not completely collapse in sin.
Even when we are crushed by our own guilt and lack even the strength to pray, Jesus' perfect intercessory prayer for us is echoing through the heavenly courtroom. Nothing can separate us from this Jesus Christ. What an incredibly amazing and comforting piece of news this is for us!
This is Jesus Christ, our eternal High Priest. He does not leave us alone in our weakness, sin, difficulties, temptations, fears, and worries; instead, He embraces us and prays for us. He invites us into His joy and invites us back to a righteous and holy life. Nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ.
I desire for this truth to be restored in our lives today. Whenever you feel that approaching God is difficult for whatever reason, look upon Jesus Christ. Fix your eyes on Christ, who neither slumbers nor sleeps, but always intercedes for us, helps us, justifies us, and makes us strong. Do not listen to the voices of the world, the lies of Satan, and the inner voices, but listen to the prayer of Jesus Christ praying for you. That prayer will renew you. It will raise you up again. It will empower you again.
As we begin a brand new week, I hope you will walk with Jesus Christ, who always accompanies us and prays for us. In doing so, I pray that you will always live a victorious life together with Him.
 
Prayer
Heavenly Father, Thank You for giving us Jesus Christ as our eternal High Priest, who did not leave us as orphans but stands at Your right hand even now, continuously interceding for us.
Forgive us for the times we listened to the lies of Satan, the noises of the world, and our own inner guilt, rather than listening to the voice of Your Son. When we are too weak, too busy, or too overwhelmed by our sins to even lift our voices in prayer, remind us that Jesus is holding us in His arms, calling our names, and perfect prayers for us are already echoing in the heavenly courtroom.
Lord, let the truth of Christ’s intercession become the anchor of our souls this week. Because He has paid the ultimate price, because He cleanses us and defends us as our Advocate, we declare that no condemnation and no hardship can ever separate us from Your love.
As we step back into the world, let us fix our eyes on Jesus. Fill us with His joy, sanctify us by Your truth, and empower us by the Holy Spirit to live as faithful witnesses of Your love, bringing glory to Your name.
We lay our lives, our worries, and our upcoming week into the hands of our faithful Intercessor.
In the precious name of Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen.
 
[Reflection Questions]
1. Jesus knows your name, your situation, and your heart better than you do, and He is praying for you right now. How does this truth change the way you view your current struggles or loneliness?"
 
2. There are seasons when we are too busy, tired, or overwhelmed to even pray. Have you ever experienced a moment where you felt sustained by a prayer that wasn't your own?
 
3. Through John chapter 17, we have examined what kind of prayers Jesus is offering on our behalf. Jesus prays for our protection, joy, unity, and holiness. Which of these areas do you need to ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen in your life this week?