The Apostles’ Creed: God The SonSample

The Work of Jesus’ Ascension: Hebrews 9:11-12

The ascension was the event where Jesus was taken bodily into heaven. Forty days after his resurrection, Jesus rose on the clouds into heaven. Luke described the ascension in both Luke 24:50-51, and Acts 1:6-11. 

Jesus’ work of ascension accomplished many things that he could not do while he was still on earth. For example, in John 14:2-3, Jesus told the apostles that he was ascending to prepare places for them in heaven. And in John 16:7, he said that he could not send the Holy Spirit to empower the church for ministry unless he first ascended to heaven. 

Beyond this, Jesus actually had to ascend to heaven in order to complete the work of atonement that he began on the cross. The author of Hebrews argued this point in chapters 8–9 of his book. In summary, he said that the earthly temple was a copy of the temple in heaven. And he compared Christ’s atonement to the work that earthly high priests performed on the annual Day of Atonement, when they would take the blood of the sacrifice into the Most Holy Place and sprinkle it on the altar, thereby obtaining forgiveness for the people’s sins. In the same way, Jesus entered the Most Holy Place of the true temple in heaven, and sprinkled his own blood on the altar. And this completed the ceremony of the sacrifice that Jesus had begun on the cross. 

Consider the way Hebrews 9:11-12 describes Christ’s atoning work in heaven:

When Christ came as high priest ... he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation... [H]e entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:11-12).

Moreover, as our high priest in heaven, Christ continues to intercede for us, continually pleading the benefits of his atonement on our behalf when we sin. Theologians commonly refer to Christ’s ongoing work in the heavenly temple as his session. And it is this session that makes our salvation secure. Hebrews 7:24-25 describes his session in this way:

Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them (Hebrews 7:24-25).

As we see here, Jesus’ ascension into heaven was a critical aspect of his redemptive work. Without it, we could not be saved.