The Ascension
…He ascended into heaven; he is seated at the right hand of the Father …
On Ascension Sunday our Sunday School children release helium filled balloons and watch them head up into the clouds and out of sight. Is this your understanding of Acts 1.9? … he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
The Record
The various Gospel accounts of the Resurrection follow a similar pattern –On the third day. Not so with the Ascension. Matthew finishes his Gospel with the Great Commission, but no mention of Ascension. John contains a number of references where Ascension is implied (3.13, 6.62, 20.17), but the Gospel narrative does not conclude with such an event. Both Mark (16.19 The Lord Jesus …… was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God) and Luke (24.51 “While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven”) seem to indicate the Ascension took place on the day of the Resurrection. However, the writer of Luke is also the writer of the Acts wherein it is stated that Jesus appeared to the apostles over a period of 40 days (1.3) after the Resurrection and was then, taken up before their very eyes (1.9). In the fourth century the Church decided that the Ascension was to be observed on the sixth Thursday after Easter (i.e. 40 Days after Resurrection) We now celebrate the event on the following Sunday.
Two Parts – One Process
We have seen in the previous posting that the Resurrection manifested itself in appearances – he came, he appeared. Now in the Ascension we see what we might call disappearances – he was taken up, a cloud hid him. Clearly, Resurrection and Ascension cannot be separated. They are two parts of one continuous movement which has been called the process of glorification. The last two verses of Luke’s Gospel read, Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God (24.52-53). Jesus was gone, but not gone. He had left his followers, but not left them. They remembered the Jesus of history, but they were now immersed in the Christ of faith. This is the point at which having learned the teachings, they are about to try and live them out. This is the result of Resurrection and Ascension.
Right hand of the Father
There is a picture of Jesus Christ at the right hand of God running through much of the New Testament. As William Barclay has observed; following the Resurrection and Ascension Jesus was no longer shackled by the limitations of humanity, but entered into a new existence in which he was present everywhere for those who loved him. Thus, the Ascension becomes the symbol of that new life through which it becomes possible for Jesus to fulfil his promise to be with us always.
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