He Lifted Up His Hands

Ascension Sunday, Otto, 2009  Luke 24:50b

“He lifted up his hands.”

            Jesus must have lifted up his hands often during his earthly ministry.  However, the New Testament mentions him doing so only once, in his very last act before his ascension to the right hand of the heavenly Father. Thus  this morning we will seek to gain a message in the lifting up of hands.

            When Jesus lifted up his hands at his ascension the disciples would have clearly seen the scars left from the nails driven through his flesh.

            The nail marks served as a reminder of his recent crucifixion, 6 weeks previously.  In the gospel lesson for Ascension Day, Jesus, for the third time refers to the necessity of his suffering and resurrection on the third day.  The first reminder came from the two men who spoke with the women on Easter morning.  “Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’”  Later that same day Jesus met up with two disciples on their way to Emmaus.  He told them, “Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”  Now, as he is about to depart he once more opened the scriptures to them saying, “thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead.”

            As they view him with his nail scarred hands lifted over head, Jesus gives the disciples sure verification that before them stands the victorious One who had indeed risen according to the promise of the scriptures.

            Those hands lifted up before them also dispensed something that every disciple needs and receives from the Lord.  From his lifted hands comes the forgiveness of our sin of lifting up our hands against God.  Sin began, when Adam and Ever lifted up their hand in rebellion to pick the fruit from the forbidden tree.  In this act, the onset of materialism, replacing God with other gods, with things, things to be possessed, devoured, used, broken, worn out, and discarded – the need for more things to fill our outstretched hands.

            Secondly, hands are lifted up against one another.  Adam pointing to Eve, “It’s your fault,” the failure to take responsibility, the shift in telling the story so that the blame is transferred to someone else.  It’s the story of Cain against Abel.  So it has gone and still goes.  Humanity lifting up its hands against one another, makes up much of the story of the world’s history.

            But we have also lifted up our hands toward God in recognition of our plight.  The Psalmist calls out to God ( 28:2) “ Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place.”  Psalm 10:12 urges God to “Arise, O Lord! Lift up your hands, O God.  Do not forget the helpless.”  For the Psalmist, the pit into which he had fallen was too deep for him to reach up and pull himself out.  He was helpless.

            God hears our cry.  He did not sit on his hands, but sent his Son who had an earthly ministry of lifting up those in need.  He lifted his hand to touch a leper exchanging the man’s disease for his own power to heal.  He lifted his hand to forgive the sins of the paralytic, whose friends had ripped up the roof of the house in order to let their friend down to Jesus.  Jesus told the paralytic to “Lift up your mat and go home.’  He lifted up the hand of the dead 12 year old daughter of Jairus, saying,  “child arise.”  He lifted up hands in thanksgiving to his Father for the five loaves and two fish that had been given him.  Then he broke them and fed more than 5,000.  The Disciples picked up 12 baskets full of leftovers.

            Humanity who lifts its hands both against God and other humans eventually lifted It’s hands against Jesus who was both God and man.  Lifted hands slapped, whipped him, crowned him with thorns, nailed him and speared him.  Peter writing in his first letter tells us, “he himself bore our sin in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live to righteousness; by his wounds you are healed.”  Jesus said of his crucifixion, “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.”     

            Now 40 days after his resurrection Jesus gathers those whom he called to himself and lifts his hands in blessing.  As he was blessing them “he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.”   The last they saw of Jesus was him with uplifted hands placing upon them the promise of the powerful presence of God.  No wonder they went back to the temple in joy.  Jesus had opened their minds to how the scriptures were fulfilled in him.  They were living under the continuous and unbroken blessing of God.  They were going out into the world under the shadow of their Lord’s uplifted hand.

            Now in response to Jesus blessing they returned to Jerusalem and the temple where they lifted up their hands in blessing to God for the benefits He had given them.  There in the temple where Zechariah had lifted the sacrifice to God and then received the promise of the birth of a son whom he would name John.  It was in the temple where Simeon had lifted hands in thanksgiving for he had seen the light of the Gentiles. 

            The blessing of Jesus uplifted hands did not end that day of his Ascension.  Those blessings have come down to us and our time.  We receive the blessing of Jesus, our great high priest flowing from his hands into and through the hands of those who extend those blessings today.  In baptism, the pastor lifted his hands in placing the name of God upon each of us.  After confessing our sins we hear the words of forgiveness under the sign of the cross. At the end of each sermon the peace of the Lord which passes all understanding keeps our hearts and minds in Christ.  As we depart from the table of Holy Communion we do so, again under the sign of the cross and the blessing that the body and blood of our Lord strengthens and preserves us in faith unto everlasting life.  And at the end of the service we go in the enduring blessing of the words of Aaron, perhaps also pronounced by Jesus upon his small congregation at the Ascension.

            Today, according to the direction of the Psalmist (Ps. 134) we “lift up (our) hands to the holy place and bless the Lord!”   

            Anxiety, anger, loss, stress and living amid the things we can’t understand take its toll on our faith in the peace of God that passes all understanding.  Nevertheless, when we come to the point in life when we want to throw up0 our hands and quit, we do well to remember the uplifted hands of the Lord are still extended over us.

            Because he lifted his hands on the cross and has them uplifted still, we are able to follow Jesus encouragement in terms of the end of the world, “Now when these things begin to take place, look up raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”  We are His witnesses to a world that needs to hear of the blessings of his death and resurrection.  As we act as his witnesses we can be assured, that His Ascension did not remove his presence, but through us now is able to extend throughout all ages, and all places and all distances.     

 

           

Comments

[PASTOR K.KRUPA KIRAN]

Newyear Greetings to you in the preceious name of our Lord JESUS
CHRIST.Dear saint, i am writing this letter to you describing about me
and
my
Shalem gospel
ministries(Registerd) iam an independent and aidless suffering in the
truth
realm, since 1997 iam in Lords work.All of our target villages are
located in the rural area and where the people are under
the curse of satan and worshipping idols with ignorence.
To release these perishing souls from the opposite
camp,your prayerfull aid and needfull aid is requesting to share
our local burden for thr extention of the kingdom of god,on our
behalf. We are prayerfully requesting youto consider our things
and unite our aidless service w! ith you blessed mission.
By the grace 500 people accepted JESUSas their savour and 170
children are attending to sunday school but Our convented believers are
belongs to poor class and
depend upon seasonal agricultural labour ,some are rickshawpullers ,some are maildsrevenst ,some are lorry cleaners and facing manymany
hardles for their livelihood.though this avery labour and illeterate area so many people are affected by aids.some of them are coming to our church please pray for their healing .Some orphans are here because one of their parents died due to aids and other diseases .this is here situation .but lord doing miracles some people are getting healing from diseases like that our service is going on .but These people are not able to give
anything ,beause of their uttermost poverty and they are
subjecting to the conditions but not faith.Please pray for them . we are reguraly
visiting their houses and detailing the word of God,conducting cottage prayers,youth meetings ,womans prayers ,open air meetings and increasing their faith in God.In this way we are moving .I and my wife jasmine and
we have a child shiny.not only that my family existance also very difficult due to circumsatnces here .so give support to my family .we are doing ministry very alone. so we decided to do
ministry
under your blessed name, i mean i will join in your minstry.so that we can ministry more strnghthenly . please
help me.Iam invinting you to my place ,please do come and share your
affection with this lone family .
Kindly do your valuable prayers on our behalf everyday thank you and we are
praying for you. Prayerfull thanks in the infinate love of GOD.
please give responce. looking for your responce.
DONT FORGET ME AND MY FAMILY ,PLEASE THINK AND HELP US.onceagain iam humbly requesting you, please come here so that you can understand here situation.
onceagain iam requesting you remember us in your daily prayers.

In His love
pastor k.krupa kiran
shalem house,75-11-1
Bhavanipuram
Vijayawada-12
Krishna dt,A.P.

E-Mail: shiny.divineword@yahoo.co.in