The Ascension of Our Lord – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. Mark 16:14-20 “Taken Up and Seated at the Right Hand of God”
May 28, 2025 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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O Jesus Christ, almighty Son of God, You are no longer in humiliation here on earth, but are seated at the right hand of Your Father, Lord over all things: We beseech You, send us Your Holy Spirit; give Your Church pious pastors, preserve Your Word, control and restrain the devil and all who would oppress us; mightily uphold Your kingdom, until all Your enemies have been put under Your feet, that we may hold the victory over sin, death, and the devil; through You, who live and reign with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen. (Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary, by Veit Dietrich, p. 157)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
The sermon text for today is taken from the 16th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Mark. We read selected verses in Jesus’ name:
Afterward [Jesus] appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and He rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw Him after He had risen.
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.
These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)
In Christ Jesus, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, dear fellow redeemed:
We are wrapping up what is called the Festival Half of the church year. Throughout this half, we learn about the kept promises of God. The Father sends His Son into the world. The beautiful gives up His riches, to put on the flesh of mankind. We can already see why so many have a problem with this. To believe Jesus is the Savior means acknowledging how our bodies are corrupted and not divine. We have to face all of our flaws instead of drastically trying to hide them. God’s mercy about our state, a state He could have destroyed, is revealed in the work of His Son. As we heard the great account of His life, which is sealed with His ascension, the question is, how do we know that Jesus is living and reigning over us all? Isn’t this a big plot hole? It certainly doesn’t look like Jesus is doing a good job taking care of things. While the world wrestles with Jesus at the right hand of God, you not only live in His kingdom, but you see Jesus at work. He is at work, taking care of you. As you witness Jesus working in your lives, it is with joy that you celebrate how Jesus was taken up and seated at the right hand of God.
To find Jesus at work, living, reigning, and taking care of His people, we dive into our account and see Jesus keeping His promises. Like the world, the disciples probably were wondering, how do we know Jesus is still here? They have the joy of Him in their presence after the events of Holy Week, but they will watch Him leave. For these men who had the great privilege of learning and witnessing the plan of salvation completed, it is in Jesus’ teaching where they find their answer. Jesus said to them, “And these signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” This power the disciples have, is tied to one thing and one thing only. They have this power through Christ as they go out and preach the Gospel message.
And they did in fact have these powers on their missionary journeys. St. Paul writes, “the signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works” (2 Corinthians 12:12). Paul had many mighty works take place as he shared the gospel. One of them not being hurt by poison. When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand…. He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm (Acts 28:3, 5). All of these signs that took place, did not happen for the glory of Paul. Paul’s power was not his own, but the power came through the work of Christ, affirming the Gospel message that he preached. Jesus had lived on earth and had defeated, sin, the devil, and the world. The message and signs of redemption, the apostles also needed to see and hear.
This is evident at the beginning of our text. Afterward [Jesus] appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and He rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw Him after He had risen. And He said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” As Jesus carried out the work of salvation, His followers struggled with believing in His message. Some will say, “well then it is harder for us because we haven’t seen Him”, but to this group Jesus says this is not the case. It is better for us. Jesus’ rule of grace is found in His message. As it reveals what believing in Him brings to us, we see what unbelief brings. Without Jesus’ work, condemnation is where we are destined. Sin, the devil, and the world’s doubt, all have one goal and it is the condemnation of unbelief as the writer to the Hebrews writes, so we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief (Hebrews 3:19). So, where do we find belief? We find it in our Savior’s rule of power.
This rule of power is made plain to all with the power of His Word. It is through the great message of the Gospel that the disciples were able to believe that Jesus was standing in front of them alive, risen from the dead. The power of His Word never ceases and they have it because Jesus goes and takes His rightful place. So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs. The disciples could share with others confidently by believing what they had witnessed was a faith that was not their own. They could look back and see on their own, their faith was small to nonexistent. Through the Word and work of Christ, they had faith to move mountains. They had faith to go in front of the world’s leaders, knowing it would most likely mean they would die. And they did it without fear through the faith from the message of the Word.
The apostles would go out with the powerful Word, having plenty of work to do. With the great command from Christ, they began marking those who belonged to His glorious kingdom since the foundation of the world. Jesus instituted baptism, marking someone with the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. These blessings one can only have if what Peter says is true, “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21). Through this sacrament, Jesus’ rule of glory is on display and with His divine and heavenly glory, He is uniting us to Himself as St. Paul writes, “we were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). In baptism, the apostles revealed to people even though Jesus had ascended, they find Him in the sweet comfort of the cross and resurrection through the Means of Grace.
Jesus at the right hand of God, is the good news of His cross and resurrection fulfilled, where you find comfort, hope, protection, and most importantly, your forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. Your enemies can’t take this away from you. You see the signs of heaven as your Savior comes down to you in His sacraments. He marks you as His dear child in baptism, washing away your sins with water and the Word through the blood of His cross, and then He feeds you the taste of the heavenly banquet He now resides over with His very body and blood at the altar. These signs are sufficient as they bring all these blessings through the power of His Word. And when you think your spiritual enemies have overpowered you, St. Paul provides you comfort. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith…And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again (Romans 11:20,23). Even when you fall, you can rest knowing in your confession and absolution, your belief in what your Savior has done for you is not yours. With His almighty power as God and King, He calls you and brings you back to His arms.
And the gracious work of His life, death, and resurrection is not only for you. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:3-4). Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father was not to leave you alone. The truth of His heavenly reign is that He comes to you in the signs of the Word and sacraments. And through this Means of Grace, He not only calls those who believe in Him His, but St. Paul writes about how intimate your Savior is with you from His place of glory. “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness” (Romans 8:9-10). Our body is dead because we will never be perfect. So, Jesus does the impossible through His perfect life and takes your place. He then gives you your faith to believe. In these sacraments, you believe He has marked you and is present with you. By believing in Him, you have life. Life to live in this sinful world and the life to live in the world to come, where your Savior lives and reigns at the right hand of God. The festival and crowning seal of His life, death, and resurrection for you. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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