Resurrection Lutheran Church, St Catharines

The Prophet Is Taken, the Spirit Given

On Sunday, in most of our churches we heard about the fiery serpents (Numbers 21). Today we have fiery chariot and horses (2 Kings 2), and on the Day of Pentecost we will have tongues of fire resting above the heads of the disciples (Acts 2). These are all things that come from the presence of the God who is a consuming fire.

For Elijah fire came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifice that he had drenched with water in order to prove to the people that the LORD God of Israel is the one true god, and Elijah himself his prophet (1 Kings 18:38). The prophets of Baal were proven false, for no god answered their cries and cutting to consume the sacrifice they had placed on the dry tinder of their altar.

At the word of God through the prophet Elijah no rain fell in the land (1 Kings 17:1). At the promise of the LORD through the prophet Elijah, the widow at Zarephath and her son were sustained during the drought, for their flour bin was never empty and their jug of oil never dry (17:14). In answer to the prayer of Elijah the widow’s son was raised back to life and restored to her (17:22).

You can see then, why the people of God, particularly the sons of the prophets and Elijah’s protege, Elisha, were so distraught when they learned that Elijah was to be taken from them. Elijah was the person in which the wondrous works of God’s salvation had been manifest among them. Elijah was the prophet by whom the LORD spoke to His people, miraculously fed His people, defended His people, healed His people, rescued His people from their enemies, and even defeated death for His people.

As Elijah went to cross the Jordan River and Elisha followed after him, the sons of the prophets in Jericho said to Elisha, “Do you know that today the LORD will take your master away from you?” And Elisha responded, “Yes, I know. Please don’t talk about it” (2 Kings 2:5). How could anything be better than the days when Elijah, God’s prophet, walked the land? How would things not get worse when their spiritual head and guide would be taken from them? How would Elisha and the rest of the prophets carry on without the power of God manifest in this wondrous prophet of Israel who had been the voice of God and the instrument of His salvation?

After miraculously crossing the Jordan river, the water having been divided as it was when the people of Israel crossed in the same place to enter their promised land, Elijah asked Elisha what he might do for him before he was taken away. Elisha didn’t ask for a lock of hair, or a special ring or staff. He didn’t even ask for the cloak (or mantle) of Elijah by which the waters were divided. Elisha asked for a double portion of the spirit of Elijah, and was assured that if he saw Elijah taken up, it would be so.

“Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it” (2 Kings 2:11-12). And so the double portion of the spirit fell on Elisha. And the one who was most despondent at the prospect of losing his teacher, took up his fallen mantle with confidence. And the waters of the Jordan parted for him to cross over.

With a double portion of the spirit upon him, at the word of Elisha the LORD gave water to His people where the wells were bad (2 Kings 2:22) and where there was no water in the wilderness (3:20). When Elisha stayed with a widow, not just one jug of oil was filled, but all the jugs that she could find in the land and borrow from her neighbours (4:5-6). At the promise given through Elisha a barren woman conceived and bore a son (4:17); and also when that child died, he raised him back to life (4:34-35).

He fed 100 men with 20 loaves of barley and had some left over (4:44). He healed the foreigner, Naaman, of his leprosy (5:14) without even seeing him, just giving him a message to go and wash in the Jordan River seven times. And as he had seen one chariot of fire appear to take Elijah from him, Elisha prayed for the king’s servant to see the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding them (6:17) for their protection.

Not only did the acts of the LORD on behalf of His people increase through Elisha after the great prophet Elijah was taken up to heaven and a double portion of his spirit passed on, but an even greater revelation was given of the great prophet to come, the Word of God in the flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ.

And of all the many ways in which the double portion of the spirit showed through the greater works of Elisha, the greatest of all was what was revealed through him about the Son of God coming into the world. For in Jesus we have not merely a prophet speaking the Word of God and one through whom God’s mighty acts of deliverance were given to the people of Israel, but in Christ alone we have the eternal God, having taken on our human nature to bring salvation for all nations in a way in which Elijah and Elisha could be but foreshadows.

The divine light itself came into the world in the person of Jesus Christ who filled water pots with gallons and gallons of wine; who commanded the storms and the waves; who did not have to part the water to walk through on dry ground but strode upon the surface of the sea, who miraculously fed thousands, healed not just one leper but people with every disease of body and spirit, who raised not only one widow’s son but several people and even was Himself raised from death after giving His life for the salvation of the world.

John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17). And he bore witness that at Jesus’ Baptism, not any portion, but the full person of the Holy Spirit descended from heaven in the form of a dove and rested upon Jesus. It remained upon Him (John 1:32). Following after the prophet like Elijah, came our Lord Jesus Christ, possessing not a portion but the whole of the Holy Spirit, doing greater works, speaking greater promises, accomplishing the full and complete eternal salvation for people of every nation and language and land.

And when the day for His departure drew near, like Elijah Jesus gave His disciples the opportunity to ask what He might do for them. In the Gospel readings over the last few Sundays we heard these words from Jesus on the night when He was betrayed. “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive that your joy may be full” (John 16:24).

And it was Jesus’ desire that as He was taken up from them, they would ask for the Spirit to be given in rich measure. “I am going to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you” (16:5-7).

Jesus promised to His disciples, not just a portion of His Spirit, but the abiding presence of the Person of the Holy Spirit among them. “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about me” (John 15:26). So, forty days after His resurrection, having shown Himself alive to hundreds of people, in keeping with His promise, as they were looking on (like Elisha saw Elijah go), “He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9).

But He did not leave them, nor us, despondent about His departure. We do not have to worry about what we will do without the presence of the Preeminent Prophet, the Word of God in the flesh. We do not have to be anxious about how bad things could get without Him. We do not have to question, ‘What will we do now?’.

As He proved through the taking of Elijah into heaven, the work of the LORD will not cease. It will not even decrease. The great salvation of God that came with the coming of Jesus into the world has not come to an end.

Jesus’ forerunner, John the Baptist, said about the One who came after him, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). And then he further explained: “He who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what He has seen and heard, yet no one receives His testimony. Whoever receives His testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. For He whom God has sent utters the words of God, for He gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life...” (John 3:32-34).

Jesus has ascended into heaven, but like Elijah leaving Elisha, He has not left us without His Spirit and power for salvation. Elisha received a double portion of the spirit of Elijah. We have received the Holy Spirit of God without measure, not as quantity, but as a fullness. And the ascension of our Lord to the right hand of God is the promise that His Spirit will pour out upon us richly in every time of need.

Our celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost is yet to come, but today’s celebration of the Ascension of Our Lord emphasizes for us that the Lord’s ascension was not an abandonment. We have not been left alone to deal with the horrors of the world. We have not been orphaned without protection from the enemies of devil and demons. We have not been left without the power of God to defeat death and the grave. We have not been deprived of the cleansing of sin and conscience.

Rather, our Lord’s bodily ascension into heaven assures us that He has bestowed upon us all the gifts that we need to live victoriously over our enemies, with confidence in our salvation, assured that the power of God continues to be present in the prophetic office where His Word of power is preached, and where His gifts of Baptismal washing and miraculous feeding continue.

Like Naaman was healed by washing in the waters of the Jordan River at the command of Elisha, we are cleansed from the leprosy of sin by the washing of regeneration and renewal given by our Lord’s command in Holy Baptism. Like the army of hundreds were fed and watered by a miraculous provision during the days of Elisha, we are strengthened for the fight of faith by the miraculous feeding of the body and blood of our Risen and Ascended Victor.

With these gifts through which the Holy Spirit is generously and abundantly bestowed for our continued life of salvation, the Ascension of Our Lord is our celebration. The sorrow of all losses turns to the promise of joyful anticipation; the fear of the wicked world gives way to certain victory; and the anxiety of abandonment is itself banished, for we can be more sure than ever, that the power of God for salvation continues to be present among His people.