He ascended into heaven

The resurrection isn’t the final act of the Easter story – when Jesus rose from the dead he didn’t just come back to life but he rose all the way to heaven! Jesus’s ascension concludes Luke’s gospel (24:51) and the story is then told more fully by Luke at the start of Acts (1:9-11). That event made clear to the disciples that the resurrection appearances were over, and that Jesus was now “exalted to the right hand of the Father” (Acts 2:33; John 7:33-34).

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He who had laid aside equality with God to become a man who would humble himself even to death on a cross, now has both the direction and the position totally reversed: “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place... that every knee should bow... and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Phil.2:6-11). This early statement of Christian faith about Jesus doesn’t even mention that he rose from the dead! His exaltation inevitably includes his resurrection.

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So the exaltation is the essential conclusion to the Easter story (Acts 2:36). And that means that the essential response to Easter must go beyond rejoicing that Jesus is alive. Rather, as Thomas recognised, only one response will do: “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28).