And He [Jesus] led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands He blessed them. While He blessed them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.
(Luke 24:50-53 ESV)
Too often Jesus’ ascension seems like a trivial thing in the lives of Christians today. But the ascension of a king to his throne is never a trivial thing. A ruling king has power and authority over all his kingdom. And this King Jesus has quite a large kingdom: all of creation.
In Ephesians, Paul describes it like this: “When He [the Father] raised Him [Jesus] from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as Head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:20b-23 ESV).
To some reading these words that may seem like a cold comfort. Especially when one looks around and sees the evil that surrounds us, the chaos and brokenness that threatens to swallow the earth whole.
But consider for a moment that you are, in fact, hearing this. All of that evil, all of that chaos, all of that brokenness has not destroyed the world. It has not even been successful in preventing you from hearing this devotion, from hearing the words of Scripture contained within it. There are limits to how far evil can go. Disease may ravage the world, but it has never devoured it. War may devastate the world, but it has never destroyed it.
There are limits to how far evil can go. And even when we cannot see those limits, we are not abandoned inside the chaos. The ascended Christ is still for us, still interceding for us, still holding His church. In the dark moments of pain those limits can be hard to see, and we often wish they were set much sooner. But Christ’s ascension teaches us that evil is not ultimate. Our King reigns, and even now He declares to evil: no further.
And one day those limits to the expansion of evil will become so restrictive that evil itself will be destroyed. One day Christ will return in all His glory and all the pain, brokenness, and even death itself will be defeated for all eternity. On that day every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is King.
On that day all eyes will truly be opened to the reality that Ascension Day is not some celebration of an earthly king being crowned, but a recognition that our King, Lord of all creation, is and always will be triumphant.
We Pray: Almighty Father, we thank You that our risen Lord sits at Your right hand. Open our eyes that we might see His work as we wait for the day of His glorious return. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Rev. Dr. Jason Broge.
Originally published in The Lutheran Hour on May 8, 2026
Used by permission from International Lutheran Laymen’s League, all rights reserved
Reflection Questions:
• Who was the last person’s ascension to an earthly throne that you can recall?
• Why is the ascension of Jesus such an important event for the life of the church?
• What truths can we take away from Jesus’ ascension for our lives now and in the future?