Where is Jesus now?
Jesus is alive in heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father, praying for God’s children — risen bodily, having taught his disciples for forty days before ascending.
“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. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.'”
Luke records this as an observed, physical event, watched by multiple eyewitnesses, not a private vision or a symbolic story. The messengers’ question is worth noticing too: not a rebuke, but a redirection — Jesus’s departure isn’t an ending to mourn, it’s the beginning of a promise to watch for, since he’s coming back the same way he left.
“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.”
Jesus isn’t in heaven passively waiting; he’s actively interceding, right now, for everyone who comes to God through him. “Save to the uttermost” carries the sense of completeness — not a partial rescue that leaves something unfinished, but a salvation carried all the way through, sustained by his continual intercession.
“Who is to condemn? 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.”
Paul stacks four facts here almost breathlessly: died, raised, at God’s right hand, interceding. Each one answers the question “who is to condemn?” a little further — the one with every right to condemn is instead the one who died for us, was raised, and is now actively advocating on our behalf.
Hard questions
Why should we believe that Jesus came back to life from the dead?
Because the resurrection is reported as a witnessed event, not a private conviction: soldiers guarding the tomb found it empty, multiple people saw and spoke with the risen Jesus over forty days, and over 500 people reportedly saw him at once (1 Corinthians 15:3–8) — an extraordinary claim to make publicly if it weren’t true, especially since many of those same witnesses went on to suffer and die rather than recant it.
If Jesus has a body, why can we not see him?
Jesus remains present with believers through the Holy Spirit even now (John 14:15–21), but his physical, resurrected body is currently in heaven, not on earth. Scripture is clear this is temporary: when he returns, it will be visibly, bodily, and everyone will see him (Acts 1:11) — the invisibility is a matter of timing, not a permanent state.
What is Jesus’s kingdom, and why do we pray for it to come?
Jesus already reigns as king over creation and in the hearts of those who follow him, but that reign isn’t yet visibly and universally acknowledged — not everyone submits to it, and the world doesn’t yet look the way his kingdom will one day make it look. Praying “your kingdom come” (Matthew 6:9–13) is asking for that reign to be lived out more fully now, and ultimately for its complete, visible arrival when Christ returns.