If you had one final question you could ask of Jesus, what would be your question? The apostles have that opportunity in the reading from Acts and their question: “Jesus, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”
It is the question “Are we there yet?” Or “how much longer?” Maybe you have felt that way at times. After years of questioning and waiting, hoping and wondering. When will there be justice, peace, completion, an end to the project, love found, hopes realized? When will we get the money, the job, heaven? “Is it time?” “Are we there now?” And it is at that moment in the book of Acts that Jesus was lifted up and a cloud took him out of sight.
Today, we commemorate the Ascension of Jesus into heaven: an event, which according to Luke’s Gospel was 40 days following Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus needed to ascend to heaven, Jesus said, so that the Holy Spirit could descend at Pentecost. I was told this past week that the Ascension is when Jesus officially began working from home.
What do you make of Jesus’ ascension? Or maybe you have thoughts of others’ ascension to heaven? We read that Jesus’ followers got stuck and were not sure where to focus. Two angels had to come and ask them, “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” and urged them on their way back to Jerusalem and the temple.
One church member this past week commented on how this mysterious account of Jesus’ ascension is only in Luke’s gospel. Luke, the physician, was surely scientifically minded, and yet this mysterious account seems less than quantifiable realistic science. Yet someone else commented that, for one probing the depths of the science in quantum physics, the life in mitochondria, and building rockets to circle the moon, might be more open to such mysteries.
If you visit the Holy Land today, you can go to the place where it is believed that Jesus actually ascended to the Mount of Olives. There is a shrine that has been built around what is supposed to be the imprint of Jesus’ right foot — his last point of physical contact with the earth. The spot has been fought over by Christians and Muslims for centuries. The Chapel of the Ascension, which was built to surround the footprint, has been destroyed and rebuilt at least four times. Do any of us really believe that Jesus would want us to spend so much time focused on his footprint, fighting over and about it, and want to control that little spot of earth? I can imagine Jesus asking to “Move on!”
We do this in the church, but we also do this in our own personal lives. We can allow ourselves to be drawn into unnecessary distractions, whether it’s online or drama among us, or simply our own attempts to control and manage life. Rather than focusing and living out our faith into an unknown and open future by God’s Holy Spirit, we stand in place, gazing in the wrong direction.
Jesus’ ascension is a challenging mystery – no doubt. What is the Ascension about? Jesus leaves the earth so that he might be present to us now through the Holy Spirit–the Holy Spirit we officially welcome and celebrate next week on Pentecost Sunday. Jesus ascends to heaven that he might fulfill all things, that his presence might be known in all places, that we might become the body of Christ for the world, through the Holy Spirit.
The Episcopal Book of Common Prayer asks: “What do we mean when we say that he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father?” Answer: “We mean that Jesus took our human nature into heaven where he now reigns with the Father and intercedes for us.”
Martin Luther taught that by ascending, Jesus conquered sin, death, and the devil, ensuring that these forces no longer have power to terrify the believer. Jesus is not resting in a distant place, but by ascending “up” above all heavens, Jesus is no longer bound by earthly, physical limitations, allowing Him to be near us.
The Eastern Orthodox Church teaches that the Ascension is the very culmination of the mystery of the Incarnation that Jesus’ body is no longer confined to earth but located in us.
By ascending, the disciples of Jesus were enabled to take up Christ’s call to receive the power of the Holy Spirit and to become witnesses of Christ’s love and saving power to the very ends of the earth.
From the Scripture text of Luke, Jesus fulfills the books of Moses, the law and prophets, and the Psalms, offers reconciliation and forgiveness, and then ascends into heaven. The disciples, in the absence of Jesus, are not stuck in their sorrow and despair but go into the temple to find hope by offering their praise to God.
And from the book of Ephesians, that Jesus ascends to the right hand of God, grants us a power and inheritance to carry out God’s work in healing the sick, casting out demons, and raising the dead.
John Donne’s poem titled “Ascension” calls Jesus’ ascension “joy at the uprising of this Sun (S-U-N) and Son (S-O-N)”. Writing in Christian Century, Rachel Mann writes that this “uprising” has an “older, literal sense: literally rising up toward heaven, but e it also means a revolt, a revolution against what is and has always been.”
As Christ ascends, so we are given the call and power to rise up. To rise up against the contemporary tax collectors and money changers. To rise up and help the hungry and the thirsty. To rise up and love the abused, ill, the unsheltered, and those who have never known love. To rise up against injustice and the silencing of those who have a message to deliver or a song in their heart. To rise up and inform people that “if it is not about love, it’s not about God.” Rise up and sing your song. Rise up with your heart wide open and share love. God is with you. God will always be with you.
One church member this past week commented on how this mysterious account of Jesus’ ascension is only in Luke’s gospel. Luke, the physician, was scientifically minded, and yet this mysterious account seems less than scientific. Yet someone else commented that, for one exploring the depths of the science of quantum physics, the life in mitochondria, and building rockets to circle the moon, might be more open to such mysteries.
If you visit the Holy Land today, you can go to the place where it is believed that Jesus actually ascended to the Mount of Olives. There is a shrine that has been built around the imprint of a foot, and it is deeply held by many that it is the footprint of Jesus’ right foot, his last point of physical contact with the earth. This spot has been fought over by Christians and Muslims for centuries. The Chapel of the Ascension, which was built to surround the footprint, has been destroyed and rebuilt time and time again. Do any of us really believe that Jesus would want us to spend so much time focused on his footprint, fighting over and about it, and vying for control over that little spot of earth? I can imagine Jesus asking to “Move on!”
We do this in the church, but we also do this in our own personal lives. We can allow ourselves to be drawn into unnecessary distractions so easily, whether it’s social media or some drama occurring among our friends or family, or simply our own attempts to control and manage the challenges we face. Rather than focusing and living out the radical invitation of Jesus to live by faith as disciples called into an unknown and open future by God’s Holy Spirit, we stand in place, gazing in the wrong direction.
Jesus’ ascension is a challenging mystery – no doubt. What is the Ascension about? Jesus leaves the earth so that he might be present to us now through the Holy Spirit–the Holy Spirit we officially welcome and celebrate next week on Pentecost Sunday. The same Holy Spirit who descends on the newly baptized today and remains with them forever. The same Holy Spirit who breathes God’s very breath in you. Jesus ascends to heaven that he might fulfill all things, that his presence might be known in all places, that we might become the body of Christ for the world, through the Holy Spirit.
The Episcopal Book of Common Prayer asks: “What do we mean when we say that he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father?” Answer: “We mean that Jesus took our human nature into heaven where he now reigns with the Father and intercedes for us.”
Martin Luther taught that by ascending, Jesus conquered sin, death, and the devil, ensuring that these forces no longer have power to terrify the believer. Jesus is not resting in a distant place, but by ascending “up” above all heavens, Jesus is no longer bound by earthly, physical limitations, allowing Him to be near us.
The Eastern Orthodox Church teaches that the Ascension is the very culmination of the mystery of the Incarnation. Jesus’ body is no longer confined to earth but located in us.
By ascending, the disciples of Jesus were enabled to take up Christ’s call to receive the power of the Holy Spirit and to become witnesses of Christ’s love and saving power to the very ends of the earth.
From the Scripture text of Luke, Jesus fulfills the books of Moses, the law and prophets, and the Psalms, offers reconciliation and forgiveness, and then ascends into heaven. The disciples, in the absence of Jesus, are not stuck in their sorrow and despair but go into the temple to find hope by offering their praise to God. And from the book of Ephesians, that Jesus ascends to the right hand of God, grants us a great empowerment and inheritance to carry out God’s work in the world.
John Donne’s poem titled “Ascension” calls Jesus’ ascension “joy at the uprising of this Sun and Son”. Writing in Christian Century, Rachel Mann writes that this “uprising” has an “older, literal sense: literally rising up toward heaven, but it also means a revolt, a revolution against what is and has always been.”
As Christ ascends, so we are given the call and power to rise up. To rise up against the contemporary tax collectors and money changers. To rise up and help the hungry and the thirsty. To rise up and love the abused, the unsheltered, and those who have never known love. To rise up against injustice and the silencing of those who have a message to deliver or a song in their heart. To rise up and inform people that “if it is not about love, it’s not about God.” Rise up and sing your song. Rise up with your heart wide open and share love. God is with you. God will always be with you.
