Anchor My Faith

Taken Up

Scripture: Luke 9:51

This is a short major section of only two short section, but it sets the focus towards Jerusalem and the cross. ^{Lk 9:51} “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.”

This is the first mention of the journey to Jerusalem as Jesus sets his face to go there to fulfill the mission for which his Father sent him into the world; a mission in which he as “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” (Luke 9:22 ESV) “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45 ESV).

In obedience to his Father’s request, Jesus made a voluntary sacrifice in that he chose to give his life for our sins. He could have remained in Galilee, where he would have been safe, but he was willing to put himself in the way of danger and go to where he knew he would face death, but in the process provide a means for our salvation. His voluntary sacrifice was under his complete control; control over location, kind of death, and when it would happen. Jesus was willing to shed his blood to provide our salvation.

As I think about what Jesus did for us, I think about my brothers and sisters living in countries where persecution exists against their faith. They like Jesus have a choice; they can remain steadfast in their faith at great cost to themselves, or they can deny their faith if and when it is challenged. But when they, like Jesus, step up in obedience to God and are willing to suffer and even die for their faith, the shedding of their blood is not waisted but is used to build the church. As the sacrifice of Jesus provided our salvation, the sacrifice of believers provides growth in Christianity.

“When the days drew near for him to be taken up” refers to the time of his return to heaven to his Father. The words “taken up” literally mean moving from a lower to a higher place and here would refer to his ascension. We find the expression used in Acts 1:11 ESV: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”; in Acts 1:22 ESV: “beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”; in Mark 16:19 ESV: “So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.”; and in 1 Timothy 3:16 ESV: “Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.”

Conclusion

Father how thankful we are that you saw us dead in our sin and were willing to send your Son to live a perfect life in the flesh as Jesus and then his willingness to die as our sacrifice in our place on the cross to provide for our salvation and then to rise from the grave in victory over death and ascend into heaven to complete his mission trip. I think of many of our brothers and sisters who were born to pick up their cross and carry it as their witness to the point of their death to uphold their faith in Jesus.