Following on from the last Insight – The Value and Challenge of Routine I felt that it would be helpful in this Insight to recognise the importance of routines that are remembered in the Christian Calendar such as the celebration of Ascension Day,
The Feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ comes forty days after the resurrection of Jesus at Easter and a week before the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The ten-day period between Ascension and Pentecost is known as Ascension tide.
Acts 1: 1 – 11 is the only narrative that is considered as an original text. This compares to Mark 16: v 19 ‘after the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God‘ and Luke 24: 51 ‘while he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven is uncertain’ that are seen as later editions in the gospels.
Jesus Taken Up Into Heaven
Thank you Christi Himmelfahrt by Gebhard Fugel, c. 1893
Acts 1: 1 – 11 – “In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive.
He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
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.”
The Long and Short of it!
In thinking about the details of the Ascension of Jesus it may be understood as a long and literal journey into the presence of God the Father in Heaven. This compares to the thought of it being a shorter journey wherein Jesus was quickly “lifted” and may represent a ‘symbolic movement’ rather than an activity of a great distance.
Ascended into a Cloud
Included in the ascension account is a great cloud, that hid Jesus from the sight of the disciples and can be understood as a veil of Jesus’s divine presence being taken from their earthly sight?
The major conclusion, from of all that went on during the ascension of Jesus, is that it brings to an end his Post- Resurrection appearances with the exception being, when he presents himself to Saul in Acts 9 during his journey to Damascus.
Jesus ends his once and for all revelation of his Father God in human form and returns to a universal presence, aided on earth for Christian believers, by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit as revelled on the day of Pentecost.
Descended – Ascended
In life there are many experiences when we feel we are at the start of a journey that will only last for a short time. There are other occasions when we feel it is the beginning of a long road that will be full of challenges, joys, provisions and various expectations.
Academically I was always a very average scholar which then tilted me towards taking up an apprenticeship as a Heating Engineer. Looking back I am very grateful for that time as it has given me many practical skills and an engineering mind-set to be able to assess and then work towards how best to repair and build tasks and projects where required.
Thank you Shox Wake
Over the years I have had a number of various work and ministry experiences. In graduating as a mature student at Manchester University I recall that uplifting moment when I ascended the steps in Whitworth Great Hall to receive my degree in Theology and Religious Studies that represented a pinnacle in my academic life only to be followed by other descending and ascending life experiences.
Ordinary that became Extra Ordinary
Jesus experienced a miraculous birth but for around thirty years he lived a very ordinary life. He worked with his father Joseph as a very skilled carpenter in his local community and beyond.
When the time was right, for a period of three years, the Holy Spirit gifted him with an extra ordinary ability to preach, teach, heal and train up twelve disciples. Jesus’s ascension made way for the Holy Spirit to enter into the hearts of all believers to represent his continued presence on earth even in his physical absence.
Ascension understood in Theological Terms
In theological terms, the ascension is very close to the resurrection and seen as a vindication and exaltation of Jesus’s ministry. So when we think about the outcome of Jesus’s ascension, he is present in heaven in a glorified human form that acts as a continual sign of his completed work of redemption on earth.
In heaven Jesus continues his priestly role in prayer for all the saints. The ascended Jesus is seated at the right hand of God who in his own timing at the Parousia – the second coming of Jesus, will be universally seen and acknowledged.
Thank you Chandlervid85 freepik.com
There are a number of other Bible references around the importance and meaning of the Ascension of Jesus that include ‘was and is’ as outlined below and are worth thinking about.
John 14: 2 – My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?
Acts 3: 21 – Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.
Romans 8: 34 – Christ Jesus who died—was raised to life— and is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Ephesians 1: 20 – Christ was raised from the dead and is seated at his right hand in the heavenly realms,
Hebrews 1: 3 – The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
Hebrew 4: 14 – Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
Hebrews 7: 25 – Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
1 Peter 3: 22 – Jesus who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand – with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
So what can we learn from The Feast of Ascension?
- That Jesus goes and prepares a place for us in heaven – as found in John 14: 2
- Jesus is seated in heaven and intercedes for us all, after his completed and final atoning work on the cross. Think about what that might mean practically for each believer, as referenced in Romans 8: 34 and Hebrews 7: 25
- Continue to think about the promise that Jesus is waiting until all his enemies are subdued. One day he will return at the Father’s command to finally establish God’s kingdom here on earth as in heaven.
- Recall some of the occasions in life where you have descended and ascended, by design or by default and how you responded to those incidences?
Within the church there are elements that routinely follow the Christian Calendar and in remembering such activities, it brings a sense of order and stability to individual and collective faith and practise.
Outside the church where people have no idea or routine in recalling the life and ministry of Jesus, the role of the church and individual faith and practise can seem pointless and irrelevant. If that is the case, they will also have no sense of God’s calling or presence upon their lives and other routines that have a value and can be a challenge will predominate for better or for worse!
Selah: (Pause to think calmly on what has just been read) and check out A Time to Worship
Graham
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