The King’s Mission Continues

Pastor JonAlden Pedersen

Forty-three days earlier from our Gospel text, at the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, the King stood on trial. In the darkness of night, the chief priests demanded, ‘If you are the Christ, tell us.’ Jesus replied, ‘If I tell you, you will not believe, and if I ask you, you will not answer. But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.’ When they pressed, ‘Are you then the Son of God?’ He declared, ‘You say that I am.’ (Luke 22:66-71).

Brought before Pilate the next morning, the Roman governor asked, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ Jesus answered with the words recorded across the Gospels and expanded most fully by the beloved disciple: ‘My kingdom is not of this world… You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice’ (John 18:33-37).

To which Pilate famously asked, “What is truth?” This of course is the question everyone must ask, especially those who set themselves up in positions of authority, like the high priests and Pilate. Of course for both earthly powers religious and political, the answer to that question does not matter, especially when the truth risks every preconceived notion of power, comfort, and to forget the ease of leisure and comfort these earthly men were convinced they earned. The answer to that question of course is touched on each and every time we gather in God’s name and look at the Gospel. Today, on the celebration of Ascension, we look deeper at the one particular truth we confess when we say that Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. 

This of course was the truth that Jesus had to go on teaching his own throughout his ministry. After teaching them that he was the Christ, he had to teach them what exactly was the role of the Christ. Forty-Four days earlier from our Gospel text, Jesus had finally accomplished preparing His own for all of this. He told them, ‘I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father’ (John 16:28). At those words the disciples exclaimed, ‘Now we know that you know all things…’ (John 16:30). To which Jesus responded: ‘You believe at last!’ Then, in an act of benevolent mercy, the High Priest/King interceded for them—and for us: ‘I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world… Holy Father, keep them by the power of your name… that they may be one, even 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 joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world… I desire that they also… may be with me where I am, to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world…’ (John 17:11-24).

Brothers and sisters, let us never forget these very important words from Jesus.  They teach us what exactly his role is. The people during Jesus’ ministry guessed that he was a prophet, but he was much more than a prophet. The Sanhedrin asked if he was the Christ, but they could not believe it because they could not come to grips with what it meant for them, that they were wrong about this world and how it ought to be because filthy with sin, they had no authority. Pilate had it right, that he is a King, but underestimated how much larger his kingdom is than any earthly kingdom that could ever be, because “seated at the right hand of the Father in the heavenly realms,  [Jesus Christ is] far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.”

It was the Christ’s mission always to return to the throne room and forever be glorified, even in his humiliation. And it’s been the Church’s mission always to do what Paul says right before he begins our second reading verse 11: “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we might be for the praise of his glory.”

And so when we confess that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father Almighty we acknowledge him as he was always meant to be: prophet, priest, King, the Christ who accomplished the reason he entered this broken world and whose Mission Continues not only through or in spite of the religious and political powers that be but especially through you, his body, the church who praise his glory each and everyday. Through you the King’s mission continues.

How? Well that’s exactly what Paul was praying for in his letter to that young church in Ephesus. “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.” By knowing him better, by knowing him better, brothers and sisters, you will “find out what pleases the Lord” as he says later in his letter. The tried and true method of course is what Jesus himself demonstrates on the day of his ascension: by understanding the Scriptures from beginning to end, chiefly concerning the repentance and forgiveness of sins in the name of Jesus you will discover your role in his plan: whether it’s a family adventure, or comeback story, a life of committed service and faithfulness, certainly a life of prayer he will guide you in the truth of his grace.

And as you fill the vocation the Lord has called you into, and focus solely on what’s right in front of you, take every opportunity to fulfill the King’s command in Luke and in Acts: to witness. Witness first how the Lord is demonstrating his power and authority in your life, not for your own personal glory, nor for the glory of the church or the body, but for the glory of the head, Christ. Then, once you witness his guiding help and aid, take every opportunity to witness to others his benevolent grace and mercy. This is the incomparably great power for us who believe: to know better and better the hope to which he has called you. And it’s great that Paul prays for the church so often in his letters in this way: to better know the hope. It’s even greater when you pray for one another this way, that your sons and daughters, friends, parents, sisters, and brothers will better know the hope, but it is the best to know the King prays in this way for you, too.

 Jesus, who prays in his ministry so often alone, and privately, in John’s gospel opens the door for all of his people to witness the heart of our Savior as he prays for you. The King prays for you. What? Well among many things, that you be protected, sanctified, and joyful. In the courtroom, the King testifies for you. On the cross, the king dies for you. In a full display of strength and power, the Christ rises from the dead for you. This same King also ascends for you too, and even now sits at the right hand of the Father, ruling over all things for the sake of you, His Body, his bride, the Church. Praise God, The King’s Mission Continues. Amen.