When Jesus rose from the dead, he came to life in a better-than-new body, never to die again. But if that’s the case, where is Jesus now? Why don’t we see him walking around our world with nail-scarred hands? Why can’t we invite him over to our house for meatloaf and potatoes? Where is Jesus the Christ right at this moment?

The risen-from-the-dead Jesus actually did walk the Earth for 40 days. He appeared to many people and taught them more about God’s kingdom. But then something incredible happened. We can read it in Acts 1:9: “He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.” Jesus simply started to rise up, up, up into the sky. And he kept doing that until he completely disappeared into the clouds! The book of Acts tells us that Jesus was taken up to heaven, the place where God dwells in a special way. We have a fancy word to describe this day. We call it the “Ascension” because Jesus ascended (or went up) to heaven.

Colossians 3:1 gives us a few more details of where Jesus is right now. “Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” Jesus the Christ ascended to heaven to sit at the right-hand side of our Father in heaven. In the Bible, to sit at the right hand of God means to be given the highest place of honor possible. As Philippians 2:9-10 puts it, “Therefore God exalted him (Jesus) to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” At God’s right hand, Jesus is ruler of all. Everyone must bow before him!

But Jesus doesn’t just sit on a throne all day. Romans 8:34 says, “Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” To “intercede” means to stand in the middle for someone. Jesus is at God’s right hand, praying for us!

The devil himself could stand before God and say about you, “Look at this scumbag! Let me tell you about all the horrible things they’ve done! Why would you want someone like that in your kingdom?” Even if he did, we would have nothing to fear! Jesus is there at God’s right hand, standing in the middle for us. And he can say to that devil, “I have paid for their sins completely. They are forgiven and free!”

Rom. 8:34; Col. 3:1; H1 1:3; 10:12; 12:2