A case could be made from John’s Gospel for regarding the crucifixion as the climax of Jesus’ ministry.  For it is from the cross that Jesus is recorded as crying, triumphantly, “It is finished!”

More frequently, the resurrection is placarded as marking the completion of Jesus’ work.  The crucified Jesus, preaches Peter, was raised from the dead (Acts 2).  Paul preached ‘Jesus and the resurrection’ (Acts 17:18).  In 1 Cor 15:3f the summary of the gospel is that ‘Christ died for our sins…was buried…and was raised on the third day.’

But most of the NT sees Christ’s ascension/exaltation as the climax.

In Jn 20:17, the risen Lord tells Mary not to cling to him, because he has not yet ascended.  And the message she is given for the disciples is that ‘I am ascending to the Father’.

Luke divides his two volumes, not at the resurrection, but at the ascension (Acts 1:1f).

It is the climax in Peter’s Pentecost speech (Acts 2:33, citing Psa 110, the mostfrequently cited Psalm in the NT).

In Phil 2:8f, Paul misses out the resurrection, and jumps straight from Christ’s humiliation to his exaltation.

In Rev 12:5, the male child is snatched up to the throne of God.

We miss this emphasis on the ascension, writes Ian Paul, because we have misunderstood Daniel 7:13f and its place in the teaching of the NT.  In Daniel, ‘the Son of Man’ represents Israel, now oppressed and persecuted, but ultimately to be rescued and vindicated.  Jesus, in taking up that title, is claiming to be the ‘new Israel’, and to fulfil her destiny.

But key to the present discussion is the language, in Dan 7, of the Son of Man ‘coming with the clouds of heaven’.  This is not, as often thought, the language of coming from heaven to earth (as in 1 Thess 4:17), but rather the opposite: coming from earth to heaven.  It is the language of ascension.  This understanding unlocks other NT texts (that would otherwise be very puzzling):

Mk 14:62 – “you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

This cannot refer to the Parousia, unless Jesus was totally mistaken as to the timescale.  Moreover, it is an almost exact quotation from Dan 7, and describes Jesus’ ascension to the throne of God.

Similarly, Mt 24:30 –

“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

Jesus goes on to say (v34) that ‘this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.’  Again, he must be referring to an event in the immediate, not far-off, future.  He must be referring to his ascension.

Nevertheless, there is an intimate relationship between Christ’s ascension and his return at the end of the age.  The connection is made clear by the angel:

Acts 1:11 – “This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way you saw him go into heaven.”

As Ian Paul observes:

‘Jesus ascends to the throne of God, to sit ‘at his right hand’, exercising the power and authority of God by means of the Spirit. If Jesus is now Lord de jure then one day he must become Lord de facto. He final revelation as Lord of all is the inevitable consequence of his exaltation to the Father now.’

As for the meaning and significance of the ascension, Ian Paul suggests:

1. Authority. Jesus is enthroned with the Father. It is because of the Ascension that the lamb who was slain is seated with the one on the throne and shares his worship (Revelation 4). It is in the Ascension that ‘all authority has been given to me’ (Matt 28.18). And this authority means that Stephen is confident that he is held by a higher power, even to the point of death—his final vision is of Jesus ascended in Daniel 7 terms (Acts 7.55–56)
2. Humanity. In the incarnation, God entered into human existence. In the Ascension, that humanity is taken up into the presence of God. We have a High Priest interceding for us who is not unable to sympathise with our challenges, dilemmas, suffering and weakness (Heb 4.15–16)
3. Responsibility. The Ascension marked the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry; he has now given us responsibility to continue this work, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Jesus is not distant or indifferent, but he has delegated.
4. Fidelity. Jesus ascending in the clouds to heaven promised that he will return ‘in the same way’ (Acts 1.11). His return is never called the ‘second coming’ in the NT, because it is not paired with his ‘first coming’ (the Incarnation) but with the Ascension. As God has put all things under his feet, one day his authority de jure will be an authority de facto.

Based on this post by Ian Paul.