By Jonathan Keller
In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:1-5, ESV)
Jesus, now risen from the dead, has forty days to teach His apostles. No longer disciples, these apostles are sent out to establish the foundations of His church. He has a 6 week intensive with them before He heads off to heaven. I imagine that they were quite confused. How was it that their leader rose from the dead? What does it mean about the kingdom of God? What does it say about all the other stuff He said before He died? They want to believe, but they need to learn more.
And suddenly, He left. He ascended to heaven, floating up to where He first came. Many of their questions remained unanswered. But listen to this – it was better for them, and for us, that He ascended. It was better for everyone that Jesus was apart from His people for a time. How? They still had questions. We still have questions today. What good is it that Jesus is away from His people even today?
We forget that God has a great plan of redemption. His Son and His people have different roles at different stages. For a time, His Son remained in heaven. Then, He came to Earth as the incarnate Word. Now, that incarnate Word needs to reign in heaven next to the Father. Jesus needs to sit at the right hand of the Father, hearing our prayers to forward onto the Father. While He intercedes for us, the apostles had to fill out the teaching of the Scriptures to pass onto elders and teachers of the church, even to today.
Today, we continue with our mission! We receive that apostolic teaching and proclaim it with our lives and words. We proclaim His kingdom while He continues to hear our prayers so that the full number of His people would be complete. Christians today still work as Jesus hears us in heaven, and we work so that all His people (even the ones born tomorrow) would be saved!
If it’s good that we are apart, let us see what roles we each have. Our job is to proclaim Christ’s kingdom in our good works and through explicit teaching about the Good News that the King of the world has redeemed His people. What is His job, then? To rule over His people by His Word and Spirit, and to hear our prayers that the Father might accept them and act on them. Let’s turn to Him now.
O Father, reveal to us our different jobs in your divine rescue plan. Reveal to us how good it is that Jesus hears us even now. Reveal to us how good it is that He works through the Bible to mold us. Reveal to us how good our role is in proclaiming your kingdom to all the world. Give us more of your Spirit that we may do our job while Jesus does His. In His name we pray, Amen.