[He] was taken up in glory.
Summary: To be ‘taken up in glory’ suggests that someone was there to give glory to Jesus. Who, what, and how become the quest in this meditation.
The last line of Paul’s poetic description of “the mystery from which true godliness springs” is that Jesus was “taken up in glory.”
Luke describes it this way:
“On one occasion, while he [Jesus] was eating with them [the disciples] gathered around him and asked [a question. After he answered,] he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.” (Acts 1:4-9)
While his departure is clearly impressive, the glory is not at all obvious. We don’t see the honor, praise, and worship that we might expect to see.
At the time of Jesus’ ascension, he had just successfully completed the most dangerous rescue mission possible: He had saved the human race from complete destruction (Romans 5:8-9).
From our perspective, here on earth, Jesus’ ascension may have seemed like a loss. If they did think to give Jesus honor, praise, and worship while he was ascending, they were a small group. The rest of the world was oblivious. In fact, there were people who hadn’t seen Jesus alive and were glad he was “dead.”
So what does “taken up in glory” mean?
I am reminded (again) of Elisha the prophet when he was staying at Dothan, and the Arameans surrounded the town to trap and kill him. His servant was terrified by the imposing army, but Elisha seemed unbothered. To reassure his servant, he prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see” (2 Kings 6:17). Then the text says:
“Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kings 6:17). What we don’t see in the ascension story is the army of God and the angels and heavenly hosts praising Jesus (Psalm 148:2).
To get a better idea of who Jesus is, Paul writes that Christ was seated at the right hand of God in the heavenly realm, “ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion,” and “God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church” (Ephesians 1:21-22).
Application: All praise and glory and honor to Jesus Christ, our King.
Food for Thought: What is different between the praise that comes from heavenly beings and the praise from earth-bound humans?
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