Christ Reigns, the Church Goes

Jesus spends forty days after the Resurrection instructing the apostles. For forty days, they are taught by the risen Lord himself. They have seen him crucified. They have seen him buried. Now they have seen him alive, victorious over sin and death.

And yet, before he ascends, Jesus gives them a strange instruction: Do not leave Jerusalem until you are baptized with the Holy Spirit.

The apostles do not seem to understand what he means. Their minds go immediately to another question: “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

It is not a foolish question. Israel had waited for restoration. The people longed for the throne of David to be raised up again. They expected the Messiah to defeat Israel’s enemies, restore the kingdom, and establish the reign of God’s chosen king.

Jesus does intend to restore the kingdom. But not in the way they expect.

He does not give them a political strategy. He does not hand them a sword, a map, or an earthly throne. Instead, he promises them the Holy Spirit. He tells them that they will receive power from on high, and that this power will make them his witnesses: first in Jerusalem, then in Judea and Samaria, and finally to the ends of the earth.

That is the surprise of the kingdom. Israel is restored not by being sealed off from the nations, but by becoming a light to the nations. The reign of David’s Son is not confined to one territory or one people. Christ’s kingdom reaches every tribe, every language, every people, and every nation.

The Spirit is the gift that makes this possible.

The Holy Spirit opens the eyes of the heart. The Spirit gives knowledge of God, not as mere information, but as living communion. Through the Spirit, we come to know the truth of Christ. Through the Spirit, we recognize that the crucified and risen Jesus is Lord. Through the Spirit, we receive our inheritance as the people of God.

And that inheritance is not small.

Christ reigns over all creation. His authority is not partial or temporary. He is Lord not only in this age, but also in the age to come. Everything is placed beneath his feet. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him.

Then Jesus ascends into heaven.

But the Ascension is not Jesus leaving in defeat or disappearing into distance. The Ascension is enthronement. The risen Christ ascends to the right hand of the Father. He mounts his throne amid shouts of joy. The crucified one is revealed as King. The one rejected by men is exalted by God. The one who wore a crown of thorns now reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Still, he does not leave his disciples abandoned.

He leaves them with a promise: “I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

That promise is fulfilled by Christ himself through the gift of the Spirit and in the life of his Church. The Church is not a kingdom in the earthly sense. It does not advance by conquest, coercion, or worldly power. It is a spiritual kingdom, a people gathered under the headship of Christ the King.

All who are baptized are brought into this kingdom. They become sharers in the inheritance of Christ. They receive the Spirit of truth and grace. They are joined to the body of Christ and sent into the world as witnesses of his reign.

This matters because in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus gives his followers a direct command:

“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.”

Not some nations. Not only the nations that are convenient. Not only the nations that look like us, speak like us, think like us, or already seem receptive to us.

All nations.

And when you go, Jesus says, teach them to observe everything I have commanded you.

Not only the easy things. Not only the comforting things. Not only the teachings that fit neatly into the spirit of the age. Everything. The mercy and the repentance. The forgiveness and the obedience. The love of neighbor and the love of enemy. The cross and the resurrection. The call to holiness and the promise of grace.

And how are the nations brought into this kingdom?

Through baptism: in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

The mission of the Church begins there. The apostles wait for the Spirit, receive power from above, and are sent to the nations. The Church continues that mission. We are not waiting for an earthly kingdom to replace the mission Christ has given us. We are living under the reign of the ascended Lord, sent by him, sustained by his Spirit, and held by his promise.

Christ is King.

The Spirit has been given.

The Church has been sent.

And the promise remains: “I am with you always, until the end of the age.”