What Happened after Jesus Ascended?

At the Ascension, the disciples watched Jesus rise into the sky until a cloud blocked him from their view. He was talking to them one minute, and then, suddenly, he was gone. 

I can only imagine how they felt. They’d been with Jesus through three years of ministry. They’d seen the miraculous. They were taught and hugged and challenged and loved by Jesus. Then they watched it all fall apart with betrayal, arrest, a false trial, torture, and crucifixion. Their devastation turned into celebration when they saw him alive again! He was alive and with them just like before! 

Until he was gone. Again. 

And the disciples became his witnesses and turned the world upside down. 

But what happened to Jesus after he ascended to heaven? The Bible says he sat down at the right hand of God.

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. (Hebrews 1:3)

Jesus left behind all the hostility, hatred, unbelief, and pain of life on earth and returned to the glory he enjoyed before the Incarnation.

He had become the God-man when he was conceived in Mary’s womb, and he’s still the God-man, although human in a way no one has been human before. He has a glorified body built for eternity. Jesus will always and forever be the eternal God-man, perfectly God and perfectly human. As we said in this post, Jesus is to this day and will always be both the Second Person of the Trinity and Jesus of Nazareth. 

But what is the significance of him sitting down? Maybe, if you’ve ever read a really old theological book, you’ve heard this called the “Session” of Jesus. That’s because in the old days, “session” meant “the act of sitting.”

Sometimes, after completing a difficult task, we like to sit down. At a previous church, I spent five years leading the way in the design, construction, and move-in to a new facility across town. When we finally received the Certificate of Occupancy on the building, I told my pastor that I wanted to sit on the roof and smoke a cigar to celebrate. I said, “After all, Charles Spurgeon smoked a cigar.” Our pastor simply said, “Sims, when you can preach like Charles Spurgeon, you can smoke a cigar like Charles Spurgeon.” I never did smoke that victory cigar!

That story always makes me laugh. It had been a long five years, and I’ll always remember that feeling of wonder at what God had done. Sometimes, after an experience like that, you want to sit — not necessarily because you’re tired, but simply to sit and marvel at the work of the Lord.

When Jesus sat, though, it wasn’t to celebrate or marvel. And he certainly wasn’t tired after the whole Incarnation/Crucifixion/Resurrection thing. To understand the statement that Jesus sat, we need to go back to the Old Testament and the sacrificial system in the tabernacle and temple. In those days, the priests would make sacrifices day after day, over and over again. There was no chair in the temple. The priests never sat down while performing their duties. This was a symbol, indicating that their work was never done. The Old Testament sacrifices never removed sin, so they had to be repeated. Over and over again.

But when Jesus offered himself, the sacrifice was complete.

And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. (Hebrews 10:11-12)

Jesus sat down because his work for our salvation was done. His sacrifice was complete. There is no need for any more sacrifices on an altar. We don’t have to make sacrifices to keep God happy. The death of Jesus removed our sins and freed us from the power of sin. There is nothing else for Jesus or us to do. We are saved because his sacrifice was complete.  So, unlike the Old Testament priests who stood because their work was never done, Jesus sat. 

Don’t get the idea that Jesus has been stuck sitting on a throne 24/7 for the last 2000 years. He’s not glued to his throne for eternity. The Session of Jesus is a symbol for what he’s doing now, and to understand it, we need to know that Jesus didn’t just sit, but he did so at the “right hand of God” (Acts 2:33-36; 5:31). Hebrews 1:3 says that he “sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High.” 

Both the Acts 2 passage and Hebrews 1:3 recall Psalm 110:1. On the night of his arrest, Jesus also alluded to this Psalm when he predicted to the High Priest, “I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Matthew 26:64). 

What does it mean, then, for Jesus to sit at God’s right hand? It means that when Jesus returned to heaven, he received authority over all creation. The right hand of someone is a place of power, and the Father has granted the Son the right to rule. In a way different than before his Incarnation, Jesus is King over all. 

That’s why this isn’t just called the Session of Jesus. Theologians also call this the Exaltation of Jesus. When he ascended, Jesus was greeted by the Father, who accepted his sacrifice for us and then exalted Jesus to a place of authority and gave him the name above every name. 

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)

Even though many people don’t acknowledge his rule, Jesus is reigning. He is King. Sometimes, life gets frustrating when people around you refuse to believe what the Bible says about right and wrong. They laugh or call you “ultra-conservative” or the new buzzword, “Christian Nationalist,” because you believe God’s Word and at least try to follow its teachings. One day, though, every person who has ever lived will recognize that Jesus is Lord and King. 

When this world seems out of control, it should encourage us that Jesus is in complete control. He is King. He has authority over that test you have to take, that job you hate, that doctor’s report you’re waiting for, that rebellious child and that overbearing parent. 

What is Jesus doing now? He’s reigning as King over the universe. How incredible it is to know that all creation is ruled by One who also loves you so much that he gave his life for you.

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