“I’ll Never Leave … So Goodbye!”

Matthew 28: 18b: “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Isn’t this a funny thing to say right before you ascend out of their sight? But it was His Ascension which enabled Jesus to keep this promise: “It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” (John 16: 7) Without today’s Ascension, there could be no Pentecost ten days hence. But do not view this as Jesus getting out of the way so the Spirit could do His work. This is Jesus ascending to another dimension of His work (Hebrews 7: 25, 8: 1-2, 9: 24).