# Why Did Jesus Ascend to Heaven - Bishop Barron Sermon

An episode of [Daily Sermons With Bishop Robert Barron](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/6783446284), 20 Oct 2026, 13 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/75853504/why_did_jesus_ascend_to_heaven_bishop_barron_s_sunday_sermon.mp3



## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Peace be with you. Friends, we come to the great
[0:02] Speaker 1: feast of the Ascension of the Lord, now right at
[0:04] Speaker 1: the end of the Easter season, in anticipation of Pentecost.
[0:08] Speaker 1: And I'll explain that connection. I love this feast, and
[0:11] Speaker 1: I think we should do a little theological reflection on it,
[0:15] Speaker 1: because it's key to understanding the dynamics of the Christian life. Now,
[0:21] Speaker 1: how shouldn't we understand the Ascension of the Lord? As
[0:24] Speaker 1: though he's gone up, up, and away. You know, so
[0:28] Speaker 1: The ascension means that Jesus has gone up into the sky,
[0:31] Speaker 1: and now he's far away somewhere. See, think about that
[0:35] Speaker 1: image of the sky or the heavens or up there. Well,
[0:41] Speaker 1: that's not really any different than this world. It's just
[0:44] Speaker 1: another element of space and time. But the Bible and
[0:49] Speaker 1: the great tradition use the sky or what's up there
[0:54] Speaker 1: or the clouds— to symbolize the properly transcendent. I mean
[0:59] Speaker 1: that which goes beyond our ordinary world of space and time,
[1:04] Speaker 1: our ordinary experience. It's the realm that's proper to God.
[1:09] Speaker 1: So for example, we speak about God being eternal. We
[1:11] Speaker 1: don't mean that God just goes on and on. That's
[1:14] Speaker 1: like a vampire who lives forever. That's not what we mean.
[1:18] Speaker 1: Eternity is to be outside of time, is to be
[1:22] Speaker 1: above time. We speak of God as being everywhere, Well,
[1:26] Speaker 1: not like God is oxygen that's everywhere on the earth.
[1:30] Speaker 1: It means God is above space. He transcends space. So
[1:36] Speaker 1: when we speak of Jesus ascending to heaven, we're not
[1:40] Speaker 1: talking about a space journey. That's what I'm trying to
[1:43] Speaker 1: get across. We're talking about the translation of Jesus from
[1:49] Speaker 1: this dimension of space and time now into the dimension
[1:53] Speaker 1: of God. But see, mind you, If Jesus went on
[1:56] Speaker 1: a space journey and is now way up there beyond
[1:59] Speaker 1: the solar system, well then, yeah, he's a long way
[2:02] Speaker 1: away from us. But if what we mean is, no,
[2:06] Speaker 1: he's gone into this higher realm, he's actually closer to us,
[2:14] Speaker 1: more available to us than he was before. Let me
[2:17] Speaker 1: give you an example here. This is always to help me.
[2:20] Speaker 1: Think of a square, a triangle, and a circle on
[2:24] Speaker 1: a two-dimensional plane. So there they are. Now, if I
[2:28] Speaker 1: were to introduce a third dimension, well, that square becomes
[2:32] Speaker 1: a cube, and that triangle becomes a pyramid, and the
[2:35] Speaker 1: circle becomes a sphere. It's not as though the circle
[2:39] Speaker 1: has been lost. Rather, it's now been brought up to
[2:43] Speaker 1: a higher pitch of existence. Another dimension has been introduced,
[2:47] Speaker 1: which makes its being richer. The same with the square
[2:51] Speaker 1: becoming the cube. It hasn't disappeared. It's enhanced, etc. That's
[2:57] Speaker 1: a way of getting at what the Church means when
[2:59] Speaker 1: it speaks of Jesus now ascending into heaven, taking into
[3:05] Speaker 1: that realm something of the earth. So taking this human nature,
[3:12] Speaker 1: our humanity, and now translating it into this higher pitch
[3:18] Speaker 1: of existence. Do you see now why the ascension of
[3:21] Speaker 1: the Lord should not just be seen as this kind
[3:23] Speaker 1: of one-off miracle? I guess long ago Jesus went up
[3:26] Speaker 1: into the sky. No, it's talking about something that pertains
[3:29] Speaker 1: to all of us, because that's our hope. That's our hope. Not, again,
[3:35] Speaker 1: the escape of the soul from the body, but rather
[3:38] Speaker 1: the resurrection of the body, the resurrection of the flesh,
[3:44] Speaker 1: the elevation, if you want, of this lowly body, to
[3:49] Speaker 1: be a spiritual body, as Paul says. That's it. That's
[3:52] Speaker 1: what I'm talking about. A spiritual body, meaning like the
[3:56] Speaker 1: square that's become a cube, like the circle that's become
[3:59] Speaker 1: a sphere, now at a higher pitch of existence. Where
[4:03] Speaker 1: the Lord has gone, we hope to follow. He's the
[4:07] Speaker 1: first fruits of those who have fallen asleep, as Paul says.
[4:12] Speaker 1: That's why the ascension is a feast of hope for us.
[4:16] Speaker 1: as we look forward to this resurrection of the body. Okay?
[4:21] Speaker 1: So that's kind of the general sense of what I
[4:23] Speaker 1: think ascension means. Here's how N.T. Wright puts it, the
[4:30] Speaker 1: Anglican biblical scholar, that it's something of the earth has
[4:34] Speaker 1: now been brought to heaven, that heaven and earth have met, See,
[4:40] Speaker 1: the biblical vision is not, let's get rid of the earth,
[4:43] Speaker 1: or let's escape from the earth as quickly as we can.
[4:45] Speaker 1: That's not biblical. That might be Plato. It's not the Bible.
[4:49] Speaker 1: The Bible is heaven and earth meet. Think of the
[4:54] Speaker 1: heavenly Jerusalem coming down to earth. That's that same idea
[4:57] Speaker 1: of heaven and earth meeting. That's what the ascension is
[5:02] Speaker 1: all about. Okay, so with that in mind, let me
[5:04] Speaker 1: just say two simple things about the ascended Lord. We
[5:09] Speaker 1: say the ascended Lord is sitting at the right hand
[5:14] Speaker 1: of the Father. Now again, don't think of literal chairs
[5:18] Speaker 1: up in the sky. It's a symbol. The one who
[5:22] Speaker 1: sits at the right hand of the ruler would be
[5:26] Speaker 1: something like a governor or prime minister. The ascended Jesus,
[5:33] Speaker 1: who sits at the right hand of the Father, is
[5:36] Speaker 1: now the one who is ruling in the Father's name,
[5:41] Speaker 1: who is now directing affairs upon the earth. Now, everybody,
[5:46] Speaker 1: now read the Acts of the Apostles. That's exactly what
[5:50] Speaker 1: that book is all about. We've heard the story of Jesus,
[5:54] Speaker 1: all the things that he said and did. Now, risen
[5:59] Speaker 1: and ascended to this higher pitch of existence, seated at
[6:03] Speaker 1: the right hand of the Father, Jesus now directs the
[6:07] Speaker 1: operations of his church. I've used the image before, but
[6:11] Speaker 1: it's helpful. It's not really true anymore militarily, but if
[6:15] Speaker 1: you go back to the maybe 19th century, it was
[6:18] Speaker 1: still true that the soldier, the general, tried to get
[6:21] Speaker 1: a position on the heights, tried to get up to
[6:25] Speaker 1: an elevated place, and there he could survey the whole
[6:28] Speaker 1: field of battle and direct operations. Well, think here of
[6:32] Speaker 1: the ascended Christ at a higher point advantage where he
[6:36] Speaker 1: can now govern and direct his church. But read the
[6:40] Speaker 1: Acts of the Apostles. What do the apostles do? What
[6:43] Speaker 1: are their acts? Well, they're exactly what Jesus did. He preached,
[6:48] Speaker 1: they preached. He healed, they healed. He suffered, they suffered.
[6:57] Speaker 1: He won the victory, they win the victory. The ascended Christ,
[7:02] Speaker 1: the general of the army, the one seated at the
[7:04] Speaker 1: right hand of the Father, is now the one who
[7:07] Speaker 1: is animating his Church. Now, the Ascension is related to Pentecost,
[7:14] Speaker 1: I said, and here's why. What's the means by which
[7:18] Speaker 1: Jesus is directing his Church? The Spirit, the Holy Spirit
[7:23] Speaker 1: whom he sends, whom he sends into his Church that
[7:28] Speaker 1: his Church might continue his work in the world. Now, see,
[7:32] Speaker 1: what's wonderful, everybody, when you read the Acts of the
[7:34] Speaker 1: Apostles in light of this idea, you realize It's still true.
[7:41] Speaker 1: It's still literally true. Just a couple nights ago, as
[7:45] Speaker 1: I record these words, I'm in confirmation season, so I'm
[7:47] Speaker 1: confirming kids all over my diocese. What's confirmation but the
[7:52] Speaker 1: stirring up of the gifts of the Holy Spirit? The
[7:56] Speaker 1: Holy Spirit coming into these young people, stirring up his gifts,
[8:01] Speaker 1: that they might do what Jesus did. that they might
[8:05] Speaker 1: proclaim boldly, that they might with courage face down evil
[8:09] Speaker 1: and accomplish good, that they might win the victory, that
[8:15] Speaker 1: they might suffer for the sake of the kingdom. All
[8:17] Speaker 1: of that. What was true in the first century is
[8:20] Speaker 1: true today. The ascended Christ sending the Spirit to do
[8:25] Speaker 1: his work. Okay, that's one dimension of the ascended Christ.
[8:29] Speaker 1: Here's a second one. And to get this, You've got
[8:33] Speaker 1: to go home, get your Bibles, and open up to
[8:36] Speaker 1: the letter to the Hebrews. This wonderful, mysterious text, written
[8:40] Speaker 1: certainly by someone who was deeply acquainted with the Jerusalem temple,
[8:44] Speaker 1: because it's all about temple worship and sacrifice and so on.
[8:49] Speaker 1: But here's his basic insight. For centuries, earthly priests on
[8:56] Speaker 1: the Day of Atonement would bring animals for sacrifice into
[9:01] Speaker 1: the Holy of Holies. Throughout the year, priests would facilitate
[9:06] Speaker 1: the sacrifice of animals, the pouring out of blood and
[9:09] Speaker 1: offering to the Lord. Good? Yeah, good. These are commanded
[9:14] Speaker 1: by God. But did they accomplish their purpose? No, was
[9:21] Speaker 1: his answer. Why? Well, because the blood of cattle and
[9:26] Speaker 1: goats and sheep is not sufficient for righting the wrongs
[9:32] Speaker 1: of the world. What alone satisfies the Father? the sacrifice
[9:44] Speaker 1: of the Son. Jesus now on the cross, the Lamb
[9:50] Speaker 1: of sacrifice, we say, behold the Lamb of God who
[9:53] Speaker 1: takes away the sins of the world. So think of
[9:55] Speaker 1: all those lambs and sheep and cattle and so on
[9:59] Speaker 1: that were sacrificed Did they take away the sin of
[10:04] Speaker 1: the world? Well, not definitively. They were anticipations. They were
[10:10] Speaker 1: foreshadowing of this one great sacrifice of the cross. Now,
[10:18] Speaker 1: Because the one who performed that sacrifice is not just
[10:22] Speaker 1: a human figure, not just a rabbi or a teacher
[10:25] Speaker 1: or social reformer, but is the very Son of God,
[10:30] Speaker 1: that sacrifice has an eternal dimension. Now here's the climax
[10:36] Speaker 1: of the letter of the Hebrews. That sacrifice on Calvary
[10:41] Speaker 1: now takes place eternally in the heavenly temple. So yes,
[10:48] Speaker 1: on Mount Calvary around the year 30 AD, but because
[10:51] Speaker 1: it has an eternal dimension, it's taking place forever in
[10:57] Speaker 1: the heavenly temple. Listen, it's the resurrected and ascended Christ
[11:06] Speaker 1: who is eternally presenting this sacrifice to the Father. In
[11:14] Speaker 1: space and time, yes, in the year 30, but now eternally,
[11:18] Speaker 1: in the heavenly temple. Every time we attend Mass, we
[11:25] Speaker 1: are communing with this eternal sacrifice of the Son. What
[11:31] Speaker 1: takes place on the altar— how important that is, by
[11:34] Speaker 1: the way, not just a table, it is that— but
[11:37] Speaker 1: also an altar, it's a place of sacrifice, because we
[11:40] Speaker 1: re-present the sacrifice of Jesus, uniting ourselves to the eternal
[11:46] Speaker 1: sacrifice present in the heavenly temple. That's powerful, mystical stuff.
[11:53] Speaker 1: I realize that. And if we think of the Mass
[11:55] Speaker 1: as just kind of a religiously-themed jamboree, or it's a
[11:59] Speaker 1: chance for us to get together and hear stories about Jesus,
[12:02] Speaker 1: I mean, that ain't enough. That's not a sufficient understanding
[12:05] Speaker 1: of the Mass. The Mass is a link to heaven.
[12:10] Speaker 1: It's a link to the risen and ascended Jesus who
[12:13] Speaker 1: is presenting his sacrifice eternally before the Father. That wouldn't
[12:19] Speaker 1: be possible unless the ascension were true. So think about
[12:25] Speaker 1: that now, everybody, as we celebrate this great feast. Not
[12:28] Speaker 1: of Jesus' absence. No, on the contrary. Of his more
[12:32] Speaker 1: intense presence to us. As the one directing our operations
[12:38] Speaker 1: in the world. Terrific. And as the one with whom
[12:42] Speaker 1: we are united every time we celebrate the Mass. And
[12:47] Speaker 1: God bless you.

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