Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
Original Manuscript:
There’s only one assurance we need, and it is why we are here today. The only assurance we need that our prayers have reached God is that Jesus, God as Man, is up there with Him make supplications on our behalf.
That means when we pray, we know God is listening because we know Jesus has heard and cares, and Jesus is right there telling God the Father what it is we have been saying.
Even if you struggle with Intercessory Prayer because you think “why does this matter? God knows everything we need anyways”, the Ascension still answers your question. Intercessory Prayer is important because God shows us that it is important. It is important enough for Jesus to go up into Heaven and be sitting at the right hand of the Father.
Relationship is important, especially for faith. Even the word “faith” has to do with relationship. Faith literally means “trust”, a word reliant on relationship for its meaning. God so values our relationship with Him that He gives us a sign that He is listening and caring for us by having Jesus ever present as an intermediary between ourselves and Him.
Jesus didn’t have to go back to Heaven. He could have stayed here with us always and to the end of time. But then we wouldn’t have the assurance that Jesus is telling the Father our every need and acting for our behalf in Heaven all the time.
The Ascension is one of the great mysteries of our faith. It is okay if we don’t completely understand it. It’s okay if it doesn’t always make sense. What is important is that it is yet another sign that God loves us and wants to be in a relationship with us. It is yet another sign that Jesus is the ultimate sign of that love, always acting to bring us closer to God, in any way possible.