From the Greek ἀναλαμβάνω (analambanō), from ana (up) and lambanō (to take): to take up, to receive up. Grammatical force: The aorist passive is significant — He was taken up. The agent is unnamed but understood to be the Father, making the Ascension an act performed upon the Son rather than by Him. Theological depth: The passive construction presents the Ascension as the Father's acceptance of the Son's completed work, and the seating that follows as installation rather than rest.

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Supporting Scriptures

Logos Unveiled

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version. Written by Brother Adamson Ndhlovu — what is taught here is set out in the statement of faith.

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The Ascent on HighOld Testament

“Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them.”

(KJV)

David foresees the ascension in royal terms: thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive.

The Cloud Received HimNew Testament

“And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.”

(KJV)

Luke records the same event from the disciples' vantage — a cloud received him out of their sight.

The Exposition

Mark ends his gospel with two verbs held together. Christ "was received up into heaven" — analambanō, in the passive, He was taken up — and He "sat on the right hand of God." Received, then seated. The passive voice matters. Mark does not write that Christ ascended by His own power, though He could have. The Son is taken up by the Father: the Ascension is the Father's public verdict on the Son's finished work, the receipt issued for a debt paid. And the sitting that follows is not retirement. The very next verse has the disciples going out and preaching everywhere, "the Lord working with them." He sat down, and He did not stop working. Whatever you attempt in His name today, the arrangement described in this verse is the one still in force. Two postures are described in one sentence, and Scripture holds them together everywhere it mentions this. He sat down — the posture of work concluded, which is why the letter to the Hebrews makes so much of the fact that the priests of the old order never had a chair. And yet Stephen, moments before he died, looked up and saw the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. The seat is the settled fact and the standing is what it looks like when one of His own is in trouble. Neither cancels the other. The work of atonement is finished and He is not busy with it; the interest in the people it was finished for is not finished at all. And Mark's very last word on the subject is not the throne. Having placed Christ at God's right hand, he closes with the disciples going out and preaching everywhere — the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. The seated Lord is described, in the same breath, as at work in the streets. The Ascension in Mark is not a departure. It is a redeployment.

The Altar

Attempt one thing today that you would not attempt alone, on the stated ground that the seated Lord works with those He sends.

Daily Reading & Meditation

Passage:

Focus: Hold the last two verses together. He sat down, and they went out, and He worked with them.

Ask yourself: What would you attempt if you were certain He were with you? That answer is worth writing somewhere you will come across it again.

Almighty God our Father, after the Lord had spoken unto them He was received up into heaven and sat on Your right hand, and they went forth, the Lord working with them. Send me by Your Holy Spirit into what I could not attempt alone. In the name of the Lord Jesus, who works with those He sends. Amen.

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