Where Is Jesus’s Body?
1. Ascension as Distinct Event
Christ’s resurrection and ascension are not identical. Acts 1:3 places forty days of teaching between the two events. In Acts 1:9, Jesus is lifted up and a cloud hides him from sight.
Questions naturally arise:
How high was he lifted?
How quickly did he vanish?
Was the cloud immediate or gradual?
Scripture gives no answer to these details. Yet the account presses a deeper question: Where is Jesus’s body now? The ascension is not simply about Jesus leaving but about salvation being secured, magnified, and applied.
2. Body and Cloud
Luke records that “a cloud took him out of their sight.” Clouds often symbolize divine glory in Scripture (Exodus 40:34; Daniel 7:13). The detail matters: a body must exist to be hidden.
Some, such as Murray Harris, have argued that Christ’s body dematerialized or became non-fleshly at the ascension. But this view risks a quasi-gnostic separation of Christ’s humanity from his saving work. The physical, resurrected body did not dissolve. Jesus remains fully God and fully man in heaven.
Examples reinforce this:
Enoch (Genesis 5:24) and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11) already inhabit heaven in physical form.
Believers await their resurrected bodies in the new creation (1 Corinthians 15).
Therefore, Christ’s humanity continues. His body is not discarded but exalted.
3. Torrance on Space, Time, and Ascension
The Scottish theologian Thomas Torrance engaged modern physics to frame the ascension. Einstein demonstrated that space and time are inseparably interwoven.
From this, Torrance reasoned:
The ascension is both a space-time event (occurring at a specific location in Acts) and a transcendent event (Jesus enters God’s realm).
Jesus departs this universe without ceasing to be a man from this universe.
Heaven, therefore, is not alien to physicality but open to embodied existence.
The incarnation and ascension form complementary poles:
Incarnation: the Word enters a body without leaving heaven.
Ascension: the Word enters heaven without leaving a body.
This protects the deity of Christ at his descent and the humanity of Christ at his ascent.
4. Presence through the Spirit
The paradox of the ascension is that Jesus is not less present but more present.
By ascending, Christ pours out the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:33).
The Spirit unites believers to Christ, making his presence real in every place and time.
Sinclair Ferguson and others highlight the convergence of Christ’s ministry with the Spirit’s ministry.
Thus, far from abandonment, the ascension brings greater intimacy. Christ’s body is in heaven, but his Spirit dwells within his people.
5. Care for Creation
Torrance stresses that the ascension affirms the goodness of material existence. Jesus’s human body is welcomed into heaven, signaling that the created order is not discarded.
Three implications arise:
Heaven is not hostile to physical existence.
The future resurrection is guaranteed by Christ’s own embodied ascension.
Salvation encompasses not just souls but the renewal of space-time reality.
Heaven has, in Torrance’s words, been “transformed” by Christ’s bodily entry—though “transformed” may be too strong, it at least shows that heaven is open to creatures.
6. Ongoing Saving Work
The ascension is not the conclusion of Jesus’s mission but its continuation.
He is our prophet: continuing to speak through his Word by the Spirit.
He is our priest: interceding at the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 7:25).
He is our king: reigning and subduing all things under his authority (Ephesians 1:20–22).
Jesus did not shed his humanity like a skin. As Bavinck and others insist, Christ will retain his human nature for all eternity. He saves us not only by what he did but by what he does now.
7. Three Concluding Thoughts
Presence – The ascension means Christ is nearer, not farther. His Spirit applies his presence to believers everywhere.
Creation – The ascension validates creaturely reality. Heaven receives a human body, promising our embodied future.
Salvation – The ascension assures us of Christ’s ongoing work. He saves us still, applying redemption moment by moment.
The ascension, therefore, is not a story of departure but of triumph. We have a man in heaven, our Savior and Lord.
Bible verses about Christ’s ascension and heavenly ministry
“And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” (Acts 1:9)
“But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” (Luke 22:69)
“So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.” (Mark 16:19)
“Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” (Romans 8:34)
“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body.” (Philippians 3:20–21)
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)
“He holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:24–25)
“When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:4)
“Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him.” (Revelation 1:7)
“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.” (Revelation 19:11)
