2 Kings 2:11

2 Kings 2:11

(with Luke 24:51)

The translation of Elijah and the ascension of Christ.

I. The first point which may be mentioned is the contrast between the manner of Elijah's translation and that of our Lord's ascension. (1) The place of the one event was on the uplands or in some of the rocky gorges beyond Jordan, and that of the other, the slope of Olivet, above Bethany. Elijah's career ended amidst the stern silence where he had so often sought asylum and inspiration; Christ ascended close by, and yet out of sight of, the great city, neither shunning nor courting spectators. (2) The prophet's end was like the man. It was fitting that he should be swept up to the skies in tempest and fire. Our Lord's ascension was full of the spirit of His whole life. A silent gentleness marked Him even in that hour of lofty and transcendent triumph. (3) Elijah was carried up; his earthly frame and human nature had no power to rise. Christ ascended by His own inherent power. He was not taken; he went.

II. Another striking point of contrast embraces the relation which these two events respectively bear to the life-work which preceded them. The mantle that passed from Elijah to Elisha was the symbol of office and authority transferred; the functions were the same, whilst the holders had changed. The sons of the prophets bow before the new master; "the spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha." We turn to Christ's ascension, and there we meet with nothing analogous to the transference of office. No mantle falling from His shoulders lights on any in that group; none are hailed as His successors. His link is one; "the help that is done on earth, He doeth it all Himself."

III. Whilst our Lord's ascension is thus marked as the seal of a link in which He has no successor, it is also emphatically set forth, by contrast with Elijah's translation, as the transition to a continuous energy for and in the world. Elijah's work is done, and nothing more is to be hoped for from him. Christ's work for the world is in one sense completed on the Cross, but in another it will never be completed until all the blessings which that Cross has lodged in the midst of humanity have reached their widest possible diffusion and their highest development.

IV. The ascension of Christ is set forth, by contrast with Elijah's translation, as bearing on the hopes of humanity for the future. That parting on Olivet cannot be the end; we look for His coming again.

A. Maclaren, The Secret of Power,p. 174.

The ascension of the Lord was prefigured, foreshown, and, we may say, anticipated in part by the translation of Elijah.

I. Elijah's work was done; his long controversy with Israel, with an apostate king and a rebellious people, was drawing to a close. He was to be withdrawn in a wonderful way from the earth. Our thoughts carry us on to One who, like the prophet of the elder dispensation, had finished the work which His Father had given Him to do, and who now, about to leave the earth, announced to His faithful disciples that legacy of love, that double portion of the Spirit, which He would bequeath to them.

II. Compare the actual translation of Elijah with the ascension of our Lord. Elijah is translated; a chariot of fire and horses of fire are commissioned to snatch him away from the earth and carry him to heaven; but our Lord is borne upward by His innate power. He is not translated; He ascends. He came from heaven, and He returns toheaven, as to His natural home.

III. In. what follows after Elijah has been taken up, we have a dim foreshadowing of the history of the Church, above all the Apostolic Church, after the ascension of its Lord. (1) Elisha wrought a miracle with the mantle of Elijah; the mantle of our ascending Lord has fallen upon the Church. (2) Elisha wasted not his time in idle lamentations; he girt himself to his own work. The Apostles returned to Jerusalem; and when they received the promise of the Father, they became witnesses to Christ "in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth."

IV. Notice: (1) Christ's ascension is the complement of His resurrection. (2) We have not now a King only sitting on the throne of power, but a High-priest as well, who has passed within the veil, there to appear in the presence of God for us. (3) We should find in the contemplation of our ascended Lord a motive to heavenly-mindedness, for where our treasure is, there our heart should be also.

R. C. Trench, Sermons Preached in Westminster Abbey,p. 202 (see also Sermons New and Old,p. 1).

Reference: 2 Kings 2:11. G. Huntington, Sermons for the Christian Seasons: Advent to Trinity,p. 215.