Exhortation, Sunday before Ascension

Revelation 12 is a symbolic vision of Jesus’ ascension, which we celebrate this Thursday, the fortieth day after Easter. In that vision, John sees a woman clothed with the sun and wearing a crown of stars, who gives birth to a child.

At that same moment, a dragon appears and attacks the child. God snatches up the child to heaven where He rules the nations with a rod of iron. War in heaven follows, and the dragon is cast down. According to the vision, Jesus is born to be a king, and by His ascension He assumes that position, triumphing over Satan.

“Whew,” we say. “That was a close call.” The dragon might have devoured the child, but didn’t. Now Jesus is safe in heaven, where the dragon can’t touch him.

But as the vision goes on, our relief might well turn to dread. When the dragon is cast out of heaven, he doesn’t stop fighting. He just fights in a different field. Unsuccessful in his attempt to kill Jesus, he turns on the church. He couldn’t kill the king, so he turns on the king’s subjects.

That is the double-sided nature of the ascension. Jesus has gone victoriously into heaven to rule all things, but at the same time the dragon is cast to earth, where he makes war on us. The ascension is a victorious conclusion; at the same time, it means the battle is just beginning.

Jesus’ ascension means the battle is won, and so we live in hope of victory; the ascension means the battle intensifies, and so we cannot relax our guard or lay down our weapons. We fight in hope, but we must fight. Ignoring either is disastrous for the church.