Out of sight, but not out of mind
After his ascension, we do not physically see Jesus. But he always sees us and never forgets us.
John A. Vieths
āOut of sight, out of mind.ā When college choices are going to separate them next year, this is what dating high school seniors fear. Their mothers may fear it too, as the high school graduates trade their childhood bedrooms for dorm rooms. Many newly independent young adults forget to call home once in a while.
Will people we care about deeply forget about us when we no longer see each other on a regular basis? We donāt want to drift apart and lose touch. On our Saviorās part, we can put to rest any fears that he has stopped thinking about us now that we canāt see him anymore. We occupy his thoughts constantly. In heaven, he talks about us with his Father every day.
OUR ADVOCATE IN HEAVEN
We desperately need him to have those conversations. āMy dear children,ā the apostle John wrote in his first letter, āI write this to you so that you will not sinā (1 John 2:1). Life for us after the Lordās ascension is a struggle against sin. No sermon, no Bible class, not even a letter written by one of Jesusā own apostles, ever succeeded in putting a permanent end to our sinning.
The apostle John knew this too. He wasnāt laboring under any delusions about how successful his letter was going to be, even a letter inspired by God. He inked the observation: āIf we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in usā (1:8). By faith Godās children fight not to sin, but we still lose plenty of contests. Honesty requires us to admit it.
This gives Jesus and his Father something to talk about. In fact, it demands they talk. Some of the terms and names with which we refer to Jesus are terms of endearment, full of love and warmth: Good Shepherd, Redeemer, Lamb of God, my Savior. On that list ādefense attorneyā may not be the first thing that comes to mind. But this too is part of Jesusā important work for us now that he has ascended. āIf anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the FatherāJesus Christ, the Righteous Oneā (2:1). He speaks to the Father in our defense. He is our defense attorney, our advocate, the heavenly lawyer who argues our case in heavenās highest court.
Jesus never loses a case. His Father finds us innocent every time. Considering the facts of the case, that is a shocking truth. We know we sinned. Jesus knows we sinned. His Father knows it too. But we are found not guilty every time. Why? It is because of who defends us, how he defends us, and where he defends us.
Paul explained to the Romans, āChrist Jesus who diedāmore than that, who was raised to lifeāis at the right hand of God and is also interceding for usā (8:34). Our attorney is Christ Jesus, the Judgeās Son, the Son the Judge loves. We can be sure his arguments are going to receive a sympathetic ear. Our defender pleads his own life and death for us. He served our sentence and paid our debt. His resurrection put an exclamation on the fact that all accounts are settled. And Jesus makes his case for us not from beneath the Judgeās bench, but from his right hand. Here in heavenās courtroom Jesus speaks with all the power and authority of heavenās rightful ruler. How could we lose?
A GIFT OF THE SPIRIT
While Jesus pleads our case in heaven, he hasnāt forgotten that we are still on earth. The danger of āout of sight, out of mindā was never really a danger for him. It is a danger for us. And so that we donāt let him slip from our hearts, our minds, and our mission, he has given us his Holy Spirit.
Jesusā gift of the Holy Spirit is an important benefit of his death, resurrection, and ascension. āIt is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to youā (John 16:7). We Lutherans donāt think about the Holy Spirit as much as some Christians, but thatās okay. The Holy Spirit isnāt as interested in having the attention on himself as he is in directing our attention to Jesus. Christ reminded the disciples in the upper room: āWhen the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Fatherāthe Spirit of truth who goes out from the Fatherāhe will testify about meā (John 15:26). Jesus promised, āHe will glorify meā (John 16:14) and āwill teach you all things and will remind you of everything I said to youā (John 14:26).
Donāt we know Jesus and what he teaches well enough already? Is there really so much for the Spirit to teach us? What we lack may not be a list of lessons from our Saviorās life. Certainly the Spirit helps us learn and remember his life and teaching too.
Our greater challenge, however, may be trusting and applying the things we do know about Jesus. If it werenāt for the Holy Spirit, we could do neither. āThe person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness,ā Paul wrote the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 2:14). People who haveĀ never heard of Jesus or the Holy Spirit can still come to some good conclusions. But āthe message of the cross is foolishnessā (1 Corinthians 1:18) until the Spiritās power convinces us that it is āthe wisdom of God.ā
Then we see Jesus and his cross not as one teaching among many in the Bible but as the lens through which all of reality becomes clear. The apostle Paul was not holding out on the Christians in Corinth when he told them, āI resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucifiedā (1 Corinthians 2:2). He was giving them the key that unlocks the meaning to everything! Only with this key can we understand the meaning of our baptisms (Ephesians 5:25-27; Romans 6:1-11), Christās supper (1 Corinthians 11:23-26), our suffering (Romans 5:1-8; Romans 8:18-39; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10), our love and service (2 Corinthians 5:14,15; 1 John 4:7-11), our witness (Romans 10:5-17), our universe (Colossians 1:13-20), and our God (John 14:8-11).
So Jesus ascended, and he gave us the Spirit with his Wordāthe Spirit who makes our hearts his home, assures us of our place in Godās family, blesses us with gifts for serving, leads us in godly living, makes us bold to tell others about our Savior, and gives power to the gospel we share. But the Spirit doesnāt do this by making himself the star of the show. He does it by keeping our attention focused on Jesus, who may be out of sight but is never out of mind.
John Vieths is pastor at Grace, Norman, Oklahoma.
This is the second article in a four-part series on Jesusā ascension and the work he continues to do for us.
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Author:Ā John A. Vieths
Volume 103, Number 6
Issue: June 2016
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