So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

At some point in life, most people consider the kind of legacy we will leave. We start to consider what we are doing to pass on what we cherish and believe to the people who will remain after us. Leaving a worthwhile legacy requires lot of reflection and intentionality. In Jesus’s final moments on the cross, His disciples had abandoned Him. Their last memories of Him were His trial and His receiving punishment as an innocent man. But that was not the final impression He left with His disciples: He rose again in the power of God, and He ascended to sit at the right hand of God. This miraculous moment was the final legacy Jesus left with His disciples. His place next to God has not changed in the thousands of years since. When we consider that He is seated in heaven, we’re reminded of His authority and power.

Jesus’s ascension changes everything. We don’t only think of Him as the suffering servant, although He is. We don’t only think of Him as the sacrificing Savior, even though He is. We remember Him as the conquering King who is enthroned above all human authority and power. He is still in control, even when all is dark. He is eternally relevant and worthy of our worship. Do we live remembering His position? Has His ascension shaped our view of Him as much as His crucifixion? Jesus’s ascension gives us hope for every day and for eternity with Him.

• What comes to mind when you think about Jesus? How likely are you to reflect on His power and authority in daily life?
• What changes when we remember Jesus’s place at the right hand of God? How does His position give you hope for the things you are going through right now?
• Pray and thank God for Jesus’s ultimately authority and power over everything.