Jesus Descending then Ascending—Bridging Earth to Heaven

Jesus descending

JESUS DESCENDING. Let’s take the journey with Jesus after He rose from the dead. Yes, the Bible can show us how if we follow the narrow way. Bible teachers like Lance Wallnau and Bill Johnson have been trailblazing this mystery in the Word. Good Friday only began the great things Jesus did for us by dying for us to have a new eternal life.

Ascension Day comes on May 14, when He ascended to heaven after commissioning His disciples (Acts 1:7-11). But His first ascension came on Easter Sunday. Let me explain.

On Good Friday, Jesus told the repentant thief on the cross, “Today you shall be with Me in paradise” (Lk. 23:43). But on Easter Sunday, He told Mary Magdalene, “I have not yet ascended to the Father (Jn. 20:17). So if paradise did not exist with the Father in heaven, where did it exist?

Where He “descended into the lower parts of the earth,” the Bible calls Hades (Eph. 4:9). There, believers who died before Jesus dwelt in paradise with Abraham, a father of faith. Yet “far away” in another compartment of Hades, unbelievers dwelt in torment. Therefore the believing beggar Lazarus dwelt in comfort with Abraham. But the rich man who denied him food suffered on the other side of a “great chasm” (Lk. 16:22-26).

See below how to pray about this

When Jesus descended to Hades, “He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison.” That part of Hades included the “disobedient” spirits from heaven who violated women on earth. Then their giant children roamed the earth before the Flood cleared it of evil (1 Pet. 3:19-20; Gen. 6:1-4). So we can only guess that Jesus proclaimed to those unrepentant spirits that He now had all authority. (Mt. 28:18; see also 2 Pet. 2:4).

But Jesus also went to paradise in Hades to proclaim the believers’ ascension to heaven with Him. Then with them, “when He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.” Those believers in paradise became His host of captives as He lifted them into heaven with Him.

Apparently on the way to heaven He stopped to pick up His body. There, He offered comfort to the grieving Mary Magdalen. And told her to proclaim to His disciples, “I ascend to My Father and your Father ” (Jn. 20:17). That gave some of the ascending believers time to pay one last visit to the holy city.

The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people (Mt. 27:52-53).

That means the bodies of those select believers now live in heaven like the bodies of Enoch, Elijah & Jesus. But that’s a mystery to explore another day. Still, from now on we can celebrate Easter Sunday as both Resurrection Day and Ascension Day. On Christmas Day we have Christmas gifts. But on Ascension Day we have gifts from heaven.

Ascension gifts: to be filled with the fullness of Christ

Because when He ascended, “He gave gifts to men… And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints… to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:11-13). What fullness does He have that we might have with Him? All fullness. Because He “ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things” (Eph. 4:10).

If we celebrated Ascension Day, either on Easter or 39 days later, we’d devote more time to understanding these wonders!

PRAY WITH US about Jesus descending: Father God, we glorify You in heaven. And we thank You for Your Son, who could have stayed in glory with You. Yet He came to earth to live for us and die for us that we might live with You in glory too. What a wonderful Savior! Even now we have access to You in heaven by the Holy Spirit that You gave us.

So help us to take our places in heaven by the Spirit now. Because we want to know what You hold for us to heaven so we can pray it to earth. Help us receive the gifts that Jesus has already purchased for us, that we might be equipping to become more like Him. And set aside appointed times for us to receive and give the revelation of these great mysteries. For only then can we attain to the measure of the full stature of Christ that You have called us to fulfill. In Jesus’ name, amen.