The Exaltation of Christ: From Humiliation to Glory

The exaltation of Christ represents the triumphant climax of the gospel story. After suffering humiliation—becoming human, being rejected, tortured, and crucified—Jesus is raised from the dead, ascends to heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father, crowned with glory and honor. This exaltation vindicates Jesus’ claims, demonstrates God’s approval of His atoning work, and establishes His sovereign authority over all creation.

The pattern of humiliation followed by exaltation is central to Christian theology. Philippians 2:5-11 presents this arc in what many scholars consider an early Christian hymn: Christ “humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord.”

The “therefore” is crucial. Because of Christ’s willing self-humiliation and obedience unto death, God exalted Him. The exaltation is not accidental or arbitrary but the Father’s vindication and reward for the Son’s perfect obedience and redemptive sacrifice. What looked like defeat—a crucified messiah—was in fact the path to ultimate victory and glory.

The exaltation encompasses three related events: resurrection (Christ raised from the dead), ascension (Christ returning to heaven), and session (Christ seated at God’s right hand). Together these establish Christ’s lordship, His ongoing priestly work, and the assurance that He will return to consummate His kingdom.

Resurrection: The First Stage of Exaltation

Victory Over Death

While resurrection will be treated extensively elsewhere, it must be noted as the beginning of Christ’s exaltation. When God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day, He reversed the verdict of the cross. The religious and civil authorities had condemned Jesus; God vindicated Him. They declared Him a blasphemer and criminal; God declared Him righteous.

Peter’s Pentecost sermon emphasizes this vindication: “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it” (Acts 2:32). The resurrection proves Jesus is who He claimed to be—the Son of God, the Messiah, the Lord. Paul writes that Jesus “was appointed the Son of God in power…by his resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4). The resurrection doesn’t make Jesus the Son of God (He always was), but it powerfully demonstrates and publicly declares this reality.

The resurrection also represents victory over humanity’s greatest enemies: sin, death, and the devil. By rising from the dead, Christ proves that death could not hold Him. First Corinthians 15:54-57 celebrates: “‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’…Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Resurrection Body

The resurrected Jesus is not merely a revived corpse but transformed, possessing a glorified body. He can be touched (John 20:27), can eat (Luke 24:42-43), yet can also appear in locked rooms (John 20:19) and eventually ascend to heaven. Paul describes this as a “spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:44), not immaterial but transformed and empowered by the Spirit, no longer subject to decay, weakness, or death.

This glorified resurrection body is the firstfruits and prototype of believers’ future resurrection bodies (1 Corinthians 15:20-23). Christ’s exaltation includes bodily exaltation—the affirmation that matter matters, that God redeems not just souls but bodies, and that the physical creation has eternal significance.

Ascension: The Return to Glory

The Event of Ascension

Forty days after His resurrection, Jesus ascended bodily into heaven in the presence of His disciples. Luke records the event at the end of his Gospel and the beginning of Acts:

“When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven” (Luke 24:50-51).

“After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven’” (Acts 1:9-11).

The ascension is not Jesus becoming omnipresent or merely spiritual but Jesus, in His glorified humanity, returning to the Father’s presence in heaven. He goes to a place (“I go to prepare a place for you,” John 14:2-3), and He will return from that place. Heaven is not just a state of being but a location—where God dwells, where the throne is, where Christ now sits.

Why the Ascension Was Necessary

The ascension serves several purposes:

Completion of Christ’s earthly work: Jesus declared from the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30). The work of atonement was complete. But His earthly ministry needed to end so that the next phase—His heavenly ministry—could begin.

Prerequisite for Pentecost: Jesus told His disciples, “It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7). The Spirit’s coming in fullness at Pentecost depended on Jesus’ departure. The age of the Spirit, when Christ would dwell in all believers through the Spirit rather than with some believers in the flesh, required the ascension.

Taking up heavenly throne: Jesus needed to ascend to assume His position of cosmic authority and ongoing intercession at God’s right hand.

Promise of return: The ascension establishes the pattern for the second coming. He ascended bodily and visibly; He will return bodily and visibly. The angels’ words at the ascension assure this: “This same Jesus…will come back in the same way” (Acts 1:11).

The Meaning of “Lifted Up”

John’s Gospel uses the phrase “lifted up” with deliberate double meaning. Jesus says, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him” (John 3:14-15). Here “lifted up” primarily means lifted up on the cross.

But Jesus also says, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32). John clarifies: “He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die” (John 12:33). Yet “lifted up” anticipates not just crucifixion but exaltation. The cross is the first stage of being “lifted up” to glory.

Isaiah 52:13 prophesies this pattern: “See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.” Three verbs of exaltation following the Servant’s suffering and death (described in Isaiah 53). The crucifixion itself becomes paradoxically glorious—the means by which the Son of God is “lifted up” both to die and to be exalted.

Session: Seated at God’s Right Hand

Psalm 110 and Messianic Enthronement

The New Testament repeatedly cites Psalm 110:1 to describe Christ’s exaltation: “The LORD says to my lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’” This psalm is cited more than any other Old Testament passage in the New Testament, demonstrating its centrality to early Christian understanding of Christ’s exaltation.

Jesus Himself cites this verse to challenge the Pharisees’ understanding of the Messiah (Matthew 22:41-46). If David calls the Messiah “my lord,” how can the Messiah merely be David’s son (descendant)? The answer: the Messiah is greater than David—He is David’s Lord, God’s Son, who will sit at God’s right hand.

Peter at Pentecost proclaims: “David…spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah…God has raised this Jesus to life…Exalted to the right hand of God…For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’ Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah” (Acts 2:31-36).

The session at God’s right hand means:

Supreme Authority

To sit at the king’s right hand signifies sharing his throne and authority. When Solomon honored his mother Bathsheba, “a throne was brought for the king’s mother, and she sat down at his right hand” (1 Kings 2:19)—the place of highest honor and authority.

Christ seated at God’s right hand means He possesses “all authority in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). Ephesians declares that God “raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church” (Ephesians 1:20-22).

Nothing in the created order—no earthly power, no spiritual being, no cosmic force—exceeds Christ’s authority. He is Lord of all.

Completed Work

Hebrews emphasizes that Christ “sat down” after completing His atoning work: “After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven” (Hebrews 1:3). The Old Testament priests never sat down because their work was never finished—sacrifices had to be continually repeated. But Christ’s sacrifice was once for all, complete and perfect. He could sit down. The work was done.

Yet His sitting is not inactive retirement but active reign: “But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool” (Hebrews 10:12-13). He reigns, exercising authority, until all enemies are subjected to Him.

Ongoing Intercession

While Christ’s atoning work is complete, His priestly work continues in a different form. He now intercedes for His people: “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” (Romans 8:34).

Hebrews develops this extensively: “We have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God” (Hebrews 4:14). “He is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Hebrews 7:25). As our heavenly high priest, Christ represents us before the Father, bringing our prayers and needs, ensuring that we are not condemned but accepted in Him.

This provides enormous assurance to believers. When we sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1). When we pray, we don’t approach God alone but through our mediator who sympathizes with our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15-16). When accusations come, who can condemn? Christ who died and was raised sits at God’s right hand interceding for us (Romans 8:33-34).

The “Standing” Exception

Interestingly, when Stephen is martyred, he sees Jesus “standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55-56), not sitting. Various interpretations have been proposed: Jesus stands to welcome His faithful martyr, or to testify on Stephen’s behalf, or to prepare to execute judgment on those killing His witness. Regardless, the standing posture suggests active engagement, not passive observation—the exalted Christ is present with and responsive to His suffering people.

Theological Significance

Vindication and Validation

The exaltation vindicates Jesus’ claims. He claimed to be the Son of God, the Messiah, the one who would rise from the dead. His enemies mocked these claims at the cross: “He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God’” (Matthew 27:43). But God did rescue Him—by raising Him from death and exalting Him to His right hand.

The resurrection-exaltation sequence proves that Jesus is who He claimed to be. It validates His teaching, His mission, His authority. As Paul writes, He “was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4). The exaltation is God’s “Amen” to Jesus’ life and work, God’s declaration: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; He has accomplished redemption; He is Lord of all.”

The Pattern for Believers

Christ’s exaltation establishes the pattern for believers. Just as He suffered humiliation before exaltation, so will His followers. “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). The path to glory runs through suffering, cross-bearing, death to self.

But just as Christ’s suffering led to exaltation, so will believers’ suffering. “If we endure, we will also reign with him” (2 Timothy 2:12). “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory” (Romans 8:17).

Moreover, in a mystical sense, believers are already exalted with Christ. “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6). Colossians instructs: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1). Believers’ identity and destiny are bound up with Christ’s exaltation.

Cosmic Lordship

Christ’s exaltation establishes His lordship over all creation. The earliest Christian confession was Kyrios Iesous—“Jesus is Lord” (Romans 10:9; 1 Corinthians 12:3). This was a radical claim in the Roman Empire, where “Caesar is Lord” was the required confession. To say “Jesus is Lord” was to deny ultimate authority to any earthly power.

Philippians 2:9-11 envisions universal submission to Christ: “God exalted him 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, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

This submission will be consummated at Christ’s return, but it is already reality in heaven. Christ reigns now. All authority has been given to Him now. Though His enemies do not yet acknowledge His lordship, their day of forced submission will come. Meanwhile, believers joyfully submit to His lordship, anticipating the day when all will do the same.

Assurance of Christ’s Return

The ascension provides assurance of Christ’s return. The angels declared, “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). He ascended bodily and visibly; He will return bodily and visibly.

The session at God’s right hand is temporary—“until” His enemies are made His footstool (Psalm 110:1; Hebrews 10:13). He reigns now but will one day return to establish His kingdom visibly on earth, to judge the living and the dead, to make all things new.

Christ’s exaltation means we await not just a spiritual hope but a returning King, not merely life after death but resurrection of the dead and a new creation. The bodily ascension guarantees the bodily return.

In Christian Worship and Practice

Ascension Day

The church traditionally celebrates Ascension Day forty days after Easter, commemorating Christ’s ascension into heaven. While less prominent in popular observance than Christmas or Easter, Ascension Day affirms an essential aspect of Christ’s work. He is not merely a past historical figure but the living, reigning Lord who will return.

The Apostles’ Creed

The Apostles’ Creed, one of Christianity’s oldest and most universal statements of faith, confesses belief in Christ’s exaltation: “He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.”

This confession reminds believers that Christ’s story doesn’t end with crucifixion or even resurrection. He reigns now in heaven, active and engaged, and will return in glory.

”Christ the King” Sunday

Many Christian traditions celebrate “Christ the King” Sunday on the last Sunday of the liturgical year, emphasizing Christ’s sovereign rule over all. This celebration flows from the exaltation—because God exalted Him to the highest place, Christ is King over all creation, and one day every knee will bow before Him.

Prayer and Confidence

Knowledge of Christ’s exalted position and ongoing intercession profoundly shapes Christian prayer. Believers approach God’s throne of grace with confidence (Hebrews 4:16), not because of their own merit but because of their exalted mediator. They know their prayers are heard, their needs are known, and their advocate sits at the Father’s right hand.

This provides assurance in suffering, persecution, or doubt. No matter how circumstances appear, Christ reigns. No matter how powerful earthly authorities seem, Christ has all authority. No matter how inadequate our prayers feel, Christ intercedes for us.

Challenges and Questions

The Intermediate State

Where is Christ’s physical body now? Christian theology affirms He ascended bodily to heaven and sits bodily at God’s right hand. But where is “heaven”? Is it a physical location in space, or does it transcend spatial categories? This remains mysterious. Scripture speaks of heaven as a real place yet also as transcending normal physical categories.

The Nature of Christ’s Reign

How does Christ’s present reign relate to earthly realities? He has all authority, yet evil still ravages the world. He is Lord of all, yet many do not acknowledge Him. Christian theology speaks of the “already but not yet”—Christ reigns already, but His reign is not yet fully manifested or universally acknowledged. He reigns now in and through His church, His people, and His providential governance of history, but He will one day return to establish His kingdom visibly and eliminate all opposition.

The Problem of Delay

Why has Christ not returned yet? Two thousand years have passed since the ascension. The New Testament seems to expect His imminent return. Peter explains that God is patient, “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). The delay is merciful, allowing time for the gospel to reach all peoples. Yet the question persists, and believers must live faithfully in the tension of “already exalted” yet “not yet returned.”

Significance

The exaltation of Christ is the gospel’s exclamation point. The story doesn’t end with a crucified savior but with a risen, exalted, reigning Lord. The cross was not defeat but the path to victory. Death was not the final word; resurrection and exaltation were.

This changes everything. Because Christ is exalted:

• Our sins are forgiven: His exaltation proves His sacrifice was accepted by the Father.
• Death is defeated: He who conquered death reigns in life; believers will too.
• We have an advocate: Our High Priest intercedes for us at the Father’s right hand.
• All authority is His: No earthly or spiritual power surpasses Christ’s lordship.
• He will return: The One who ascended will come again to judge and to reign.
• We have hope: Sharing in His sufferings, we will share in His glory.

The exaltation means Jesus is not a dead hero to be remembered but a living Lord to be worshiped and obeyed. He is not merely an example to follow but a Savior to trust, a King to serve, a High Priest who secures our access to God.

For two thousand years, Christians have confessed: He is risen! He is Lord! He reigns! And He will come again. The humiliated one has been exalted. The crucified one sits on heaven’s throne. The Lamb who was slain is worthy to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise (Revelation 5:12).

“God exalted him 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, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).