Why the Resurrection? Day Two/Reason Two

To Ascend to the Seat of Power and Glory

Jesus, so that He might reconcile God and mankind, had to leave His place of honor with the Father and the glory that He and the Father shared before the world was even created (John 17:5). Since He is the immortal Son of God, He “emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.” By doing this, Christ was able to be humbled and obedient “to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:7-8).

Without becoming a human being, Jesus could not die. As the eternal “Word” of God, Jesus is immortal in His glorified state. Thus “the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). He needed to become human so that He could die and so that He could reverse the curse of Adam (we will discuss this point later). Only by emptying Himself and leaving His heavenly throne could Jesus possibly fulfill His earthly role. He had to descend; otherwise He could not be the mediator between God and mankind (cf. 1 Timothy 2:5-6).

Being God, however, Jesus could not remain in a permanent state of humiliation. He could not remain in the grave after He died upon the cross. With His role as a servant completed, He had to rise from the grave and return to His former state of glory. Jesus Himself said while speaking to the Father, “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was” (John 17:4-5). He could not remain on earth. He had to return to the Father. This is why He tells Mary at the tomb, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God’” (John 20:17). It was time for Jesus to be restored to the seat of honor at the Father’s right hand.

For forty days after the resurrection Jesus taught the disciples “the things concerning the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). After this He was lifted up from their presence and He returned to the Father, so that His followers might receive the Holy Spirit.

For His obedient work, and because He was resurrected and alive, never to die again, “God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name” (Philippians 2:9). He was given the greatest honor possible.

“When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they” (Hebrews 1:3-4). Jesus had finished His earthly mission and so returned to the place of glory. Jesus Christ ascended. He could not ascend if He remained in the grave. “Now this expression, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things” (Ephesians 4:9-10).