Elisha is a marvelous (yet frequently overlooked) character in the Bible, and perhaps, for understandable reasons. While Elijah, Elisha’s mentor (note the difference, “j” and “sh”), confronted kings, announced a three-year drought, and won a tremendous victory over the priest of Baal, Elisha tended to work in the background and with minimal fanfare—providing for prophets’ widows, “floating” axe heads, and purifying water. However, one of Elisha’s more dramatic experiences is recorded in 2 Kings chapter 6 when, surrounded by a hostile army of Syrians, Elisha’s servant panics… until God opens his eyes to see the surrounding army of angels protecting them.
The spiritual world is all around us, what we lack is the ability to see it. Our eyes simply are unable to perceive the spiritual world, though at times God grants His people that access (see Stephen’s vision of the throne room of God, Acts 7-8).
The reality of a spiritual world, on the other hand, often allows us to make unwarranted assumptions about our Lord Jesus. While frequently skipped over when discussing Jesus’ life and ministry, most believers remember the ascension of Jesus as recounted in Luke 24 and Acts 1—while with the disciples, Jesus is taken visually into heaven. So far, so good. The challenge comes in the assumption that then follows that Jesus has entered some kind of spiritual existence where His physical form is no longer present or important. The common notion appears to be that, at His ascension, Jesus passes into the spiritual realm and is no longer “physically” anywhere.
But surely that contradicts one of the main points of the resurrection and subsequent ascension. At the resurrection Jesus is bodily (i.e., physically) raised from the dead. In human/bodily form He confronts the disciples and Thomas in the upper room. On the shore of Galilee, He eats fish as any other embodied human. Then He is taken up to heaven. The physical resurrection is essential to Jesus’ redemption and our salvation.
But what happens after the ascension? Does Jesus shed His physical form? Does it dissipate into the air? Does His body simply lose its body-ness? No. “In the same way you saw Him go, Jesus will come again” (Acts 1:11) in bodily form. Jesus ascended into Heaven and is present there now, in physical form. The ascension of Jesus is not His “translation” into the spiritual world, for He remains part of the physical world, embodied, a human being.
Question: Where is Jesus’ body? Answer: It is in heaven, even now. This is so important to us because it is a promise and guarantee that we too can exist in God’s presence, in heaven, in bodily form. As we anticipate our own resurrection from the dead, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we can experience the fullness of heaven, of being in God’s presence, because Jesus, in bodily form, is doing so even now.
Jesus reigns! Let all the earth rejoice!
As we prepare to worship such a glorious Lord, read Acts 1:1-11.
- Last week, we looked at the first eight verses. How is the material covered there essential to understanding verses 9-11? (“And when He had said these things…”)
- “Was lifted up” is passive, it happened to Jesus. By whom? What are the options here? What difference might it make if Jesus lifted Himself up, or if the Spirit or the Father did so? Or angels? Or…?
- What other option is there for the “cloud” other than a fluffy white raincloud in the sky? What other “cloud” might it be?
- Who are the men in white robes? Why are they not identified more clearly? What implications are we to draw from their presence at the ascension?
- What does it mean “the same way as you saw Him go?” What ‘way’ did they see Him go? What might it mean that He will return similarly?
By Henry Knapp