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MEDITATION:

Written by Joel Vande Werken, a contemporary American pastor.

The ascension changes the way God’s people understand history. As faithful Jews, Jesus’ first disciples knew Psalm 2 well. They understood how futile it was for humans to try to stand against God. They knew that someday God would call the world to account. And now they knew how. Originally, Psalm 2 probably celebrated the crowning of Israel’s kings. But those who knew Jesus saw more in its words: a prophecy of the reign of Christ. As the author of Hebrews notes, God did not even give the angels—much less human kings—the kind of authority we read of the Son having in this psalm. In the ascension and reign of Jesus, God proclaims that his Son is the “heir of all things,” appointed to rule over world history and the universe (Hebrews 1:2).

There is a warning in these words. If Jesus truly is God’s Son and Lord of all, we must take his power and authority seriously. We have to surrender our lives to him. He suffered the punishment for human sin, so Christ can rightfully pour out his wrath on sin and its effects and call on the world to resist it. But the goal is not merely for people to submit to Christ, but also for them to find refuge in the ascended Lord of all. Jesus is God’s appointed provider of salvation. Will you receive his refuge today?

PRAYER:

Written by Ambrose, a bishop in Milan in the 4th century (339-397).  He contributed to theology and doctrine of the early Christian Church and influenced Augustine of Hippo.

Creator God, O Lord of all, who rule the skies, you clothe the day in radiant color, bid the night in quietness serve the gracious sway of sleep, that weary limbs, restored to labor’s use, may rise again, and jaded minds abate their fret,  and mourners find release from pain.