Five promises were seemingly all those apostles, staring into the sky, had to go on. Five promises that were more than enough.
Christ left his apostles with five promises that he spoke in and around his passion, resurrection, and ascension. He also gives these five promises to us as we go out into the same crazy world those dumb-founded apostles ventured. Five promises we might call “Ascension Promises”:
I will be with you to the very end of the age (Mt 28:20).
I will send the Spirit to teach you all things (Jn 14:26).
I am preparing a place for you (Jn 14:2).
I will rule all things for you (Mt 26:64 and Rm 8:28).
I will come back for you (Jn 14:3).
Notice that each promise has a “for you” – with you, teach you, a place for you, rule for you, back for you.
I will be with you to the very end of the age.
This promise is not the same “with you” that we often say to comfort those who have lost loved ones. “She isn’t really gone if you remember her. She lives in your heart.” What does that even mean? The devil chuckles at this because he has convinced us to settle for something less. Less than a resurrection, less than a reunion in heaven. Only a memory or a feeling. No, instead of this, we get a bodily resurrection. We get to see this person again. When Jesus promised to be with us to the very end of the age, he did not mean a memory in our minds or a feeling in our hearts; he really meant it. He is with us. He will not leave us as orphans (John 14:18). He is the Word preached to us. He is the true baptizer, the true absolver, and the host of our meal in which we partake of him. He also hides behind the masks of all those who work with him to love this world. He feeds us through the farmer. He educates our children through the teacher. He puts out fires, fixes our plumbing, picks up our garbage, and repairs our cars. He is with you.
I will send the Spirit to teach you.
He sent the Spirit to the apostles ten days after he ascended. With tongues of fire and a rushing wind, he birthed the church in water and Word. The gospel would be spoken in every tongue. He also sent the Spirit to inspire the writers of the New Testament. Through this Scripture, the Spirit teaches us. We are taught everything we need to know – not everything we want to know, but everything we need to know for salvation. The Spirit comes to us, too. The Spirit is with you.
I am preparing a place for you.
“In the father’s mansion are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you” (John 14:2). Christ is not twiddling his thumbs in heaven, simply waiting for the command to return. He is active. He is preparing heaven for you. He is measuring the drapes and picking out the carpet for your room in the mansion. He is preparing heaven for you.
I will rule all things for you.
This is Christ’s session. He is seated (session) at the right hand of the Father, ruling all things for our benefit. Christ’s session is not only about power. It is about love. He rules for our benefit. He rules for us. You and I cannot always see it. We don’t have his divine perspective. We don’t have the knowledge or the wisdom to decipher what God is planning, but we do have this promise that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him (Rom. 8:28). He rules all things for you.
I will come back for you.
I think of this last Ascension Promise as a gentle scolding. Jesus seems to say, “Of course, I will come back for you. Do you really think that I would forget about you, my apostles? Do you really think that all this has no end, no destiny to be fulfilled, that I would just leave without a plan? Who do you think I am? You of little faith!” This gentle scolding is for us, too. “Don’t you understand how much I have invested in you? Do you honestly believe that I have forgotten about you? Do you honestly believe that is all going to fall apart? Do you honestly believe, little child, that I cannot handle the small stuff? Do you really think that I don’t care? Do you not understand how much has been invested into you already for your life now and for your life forever? Before the world began, I knew you. I knew you, and I loved you. I knew you, and I loved you, and I predestined you. I knew you, loved you, predestined you, called you, justified you, and will glorify you (Rom. 8:28-30).
“And do you not understand what this cost? It is free grace, but it wasn’t cheap. Do you not understand that I took on flesh for you, that I lived for you, that I turned the other cheek for you, that I suffered many things at the hands of men, that I was tortured, humiliated, whipped, and beaten, spat upon and ridiculed, that I was stripped nude and crucified, buried, that I overcame that most vexing of problems, death, with a resurrection, that I ascended into heaven, that I sent my Spirit. My goodness, dear child, do you honestly think that I will not take care of the rest of the story, that I will not be with you, that I will not teach you, that I will not prepare heaven for you, that I will not rule all things for you? Do you really think that I will not come back for you? My goodness, child, I have too much invested in you to not finish the job.” He will come back for you.
Five promises were seemingly all those apostles, staring into the sky, had to go on. Five promises that were more than enough. Five promises for you. Five promises that are more than enough. They really are. So go ahead. Go out into that crazy world. Go with confidence. Go with these five promises. I’ll be with you. I will teach you. I will prepare a place for you. I will rule all things for you. And, of course, of course, I will come back for you.
