Why Must Jesus Ascend To Heaven? 為甚麼耶穌必須升天？

The Ascension of the Lord, Year A
Theme: Why Must Jesus Ascend To Heaven? 為甚麼耶穌必須升天？

I used to muse about the idea of what if Jesus had not ascended to heaven. What would have the world looked like? Without doubt, Jesus would have been a historical figure genuinely existing. He would have been more than two thousand years old, the oldest person alive. He would have outlived all kings and heroes and would have truly been the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Who on earth would refuse to get baptised and to enter the Catholic Church whose founder is more than two millennia old! With Jesus Christ as the visible head of the Church, she would not have to worry about the lack of priestly vocations because Jesus would appoint/elect enough hands to fill up the vacancies in the Church hierarchy to govern the People of God. The quality of clergy would have been ensured. There would have been no more notorious popes, paedophilic priests and embezzling deacons! There wouldn’t have been any more scandals, schisms and reformations! The clergy would have had a very comfortable life because missionaries were not needed! But here is the problem. In such a scenario, where goes the free-will of human beings?

God is free and humanity was created in His image (Genesis 1:26). Of course you’re free to caricature God as a chimpanzee because without freedom, human beings are not able to actualize all the potentials intended by God. Since God would not contradict Himself, therefore He respects our autonomy and would not force us to believe in Him nor to love Him. God only invites us and helps us fully realize all our potentials. He would not impose His will on us however beneficial it is for us. However, if Jesus Christ had remained on earth, human beings would have had no choice but to believe in Him, to obey Him and to love Him etc. This goes contrary to God’s respect for our autonomy! Therefore, Jesus must leave and return to the Father!

There is one more reason for Jesus to ascend into heaven, namely to finish the “business” of Incarnation. Without ascension, incarnation would be incomplete. Pardon me for being long-winded to show you the reasoning in details. There are two essential articles of faith in Christianity, namely the God we believe in is three in one, the Blessed Trinity and that Jesus Christ is fully divine and human. Like the Jews and Muslims, Christians believe in one God. However, this one God reveals more details of His inner life to us through Jesus Christ. There are three divine persons in this one God, namely the Father who is the Creator of the visible and invisible universe, the source of all beings; the Son who is the Redeemer of this sin-infested world; and the Holy Spirit who is the love between the Father and the Son. In order to redeem the fallen world, the Son of God took flesh to live among us in the person of Jesus Christ (John 1:14) to repay all the debts of all humanity throughout all ages. The Son of God suffered death in the person of Jesus Christ. How can a deity die? But the death of Jesus Christ is not an illusion because He is fully human! Now God is able to die! Furthermore, God is fair to all creatures, including the fallen angels. To do justice to the Accuser, a life must be paid for another life: “But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for would, stripe for stripe” (Exodus 21:23-25). The Son of God did not come to abolish but to fulfil the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17). Thus He had to die to repay our debts. Since there are countless souls to redeem, it takes an infinite God to die to repay all the incurred debts. Incarnation is truly an ingenious mystery!

Where should the redeemed souls go? Where else but heavens? What better place to return to other than the bosom of God (Luke 16:22)? Therefore, Jesus Christ, who is fully human and divine, returned to heaven and seated at the right hand of the Father. It is significant that when Jesus Christ ascended into heavens, He was bringing His humanity along with His divinity into the abode of God. In other words, the above is our true home, our final destiny. The last words of Jesus on earth are significant, “Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20a). Brethren! When we teach others to observe Jesus’ commandments, don’t we need to practise what we teach? So, what have Jesus commanded us?

First of all, Jesus did not come to abolish but the fulfil the Law. Therefore, Christians should observe the Ten Commandments as well. Of course we don’t just observe their letters. Behold, Jesus demands “more”, manifesting the spirit of love as well when we observe the Old Laws (Matthew 5:21-48). Moreover, we make necessary changes while retaining the spirit. For example, we don’t observe the Sabbath. Instead, we observe the first day of the week to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord.
Secondly, during the Last Supper, Jesus gave us a new commandment, the “Eleventh Commandment”, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another” (John 13:34). Just as Jesus sacrifices His life to redeem us, many a Christian should always be ready to sacrifice his benefits and interests in order to enrich the lives of the others.
Thirdly, Jesus would not impose His commands on us. He invites us to lead a life up to the spirit of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-11). The ball is in our court. It’s up to us to accept or reject His invitation. For those who accept the challenge, He would send the Holy Spirit to support them (John 14:16). For those who were not baptized or haven’t had the opportunity to hear the gospel, Jesus Christ invites them to perform the works of mercy (Matthew 25:31-40).

Brethren! It is truly challenging to lead a life up to the spirit of the Beatitudes. Without the support of the Holy Spirit, it is next to impossible to turn another cheek (5:39). Without the Holy Spirit to enkindle our love of the needy, how is it possible for us to perform those works of mercy; to show mercy to those who abuse, bully, exploit and silence us; our bosses and ex-bosses; colleagues who take our credits, backstab us or who trample on us to climb up the hierarchy; friends who betray us and human traffickers who torture and sell our bodies etc. and to pray for those unlovable and incompetent mandarins etc. Remember, we do not decide who goes to heaven or hell. God does. If we’re unable to love as Jesus commands us, it would be hell for eternity to stay in heaven with those whom we hated on earth. Amen.
God bless!
2020 Reflection