Intermediate Level, Block 9—Biographies of Jesus
Week 90
Jesus—His Ascension
Point to Emphasize: God honored Jesus in His ascension.
Reference Reading: Matthew 28:18; Mark 16:19, and footnotes; Philippians 2:9-11;
Hebrews 2:9; Acts 2:33-36
Memory Verse: Therefore also God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name. (Philippians 2:9)
Story Sample
Schools usually have a big awards assembly at the end of the year. This assembly is to acknowledge and honor students for their achievements throughout the whole school year. So, if you were in second grade and you had worked harder in reading every day than anyone else in your class, at this assembly you would get the reading award! Everyone would clap when your name was called and all the hard work you had done all year would be acknowledged by this award. Your parents would be so proud of you. You had worked at home every day to get better at reading BUT only today at this awards assembly did you get the honor of receiving the reading award! Your parents might even frame that award and put it on the wall for others to see. It is a real honor to be awarded in this way.
In a way, we can say that this is what happened to Jesus after His resurrection. He ascended (rose from the earth) to the highest place in the universe where the throne of God is. There God acknowledged and honored Jesus. But to see this we need to go back to His birth.
Remember that the birth of Jesus was recorded in the Old Testament a long time before He was born. This shows us that God was really looking forward to this birth. Then, what happened when Jesus was born? The angel came and announced it to the shepherds. Then a host of angels surrounded them all rejoicing that Jesus had been born. These things show us that the birth of Jesus was not an ordinary birth. It was an exciting event both to God and to man.
Recently we have also seen that the death of Jesus was like none other! When He died, the sun was blotted out and there was a great earthquake. Many tombs were opened, and some rose from their graves. Incredible things occurred! Then He was raised from the dead and was resurrected. Again, angels appeared to let His disciples know what had happened. And finally, Jesus ascended from the earth to heaven and sat at the right hand of God.
This is when God acknowledged all that His Son was and had done. God fully approved of Him. This was greater than any awards assembly. God was so pleased that He made Him Lord and Christ! He was given the highest place in the universe and was given the highest Name. This Jesus was awarded the top award! God honored Him in the fullest way! In the whole universe, there is no one as great as the Lord Jesus Christ!
Even at our age, it is so good that we can know these things concerning Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension.