I think of the Feast of the Ascension as a day of promise, a promise delivered some 2000 years ago and one we can still lean on.
The Feast of the Ascension always falls on a Thursday, 40 days after Easter. Why 40? It’s biblical, of course. According to the book of Acts, Jesus appeared to His disciples for “a period of 40 days” after Easter–that would be a Thursday. That day while the disciples were gathered together on the Mount of Olives He took His final leave.
Did they know He was about go? It’s not quite clear but there’s something valedictory about His remarks. I can picture the disciples looking nervously at one other. How were they going to get along without Him? What were they going to do? How would they explain what had happened to them?
As always, Jesus is several steps ahead of them. He tells them to stick around in Jerusalem, to stay together because soon they would be sent the Holy Spirit. “John baptized with water, but in only a few days,” He said, “you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
That would take place on Pentecost, 10 days hence. For now He promises that they will be His witnesses “in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
When, they wonder, when will all this happen? “Lord, are you going to restore the king to Israel now?” they ask.
God doesn’t work on such worldly timetables. “It isn’t for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has set by his own authority,” Jesus responds.
Then–almost in mid-sentence–Jesus disappears. “He was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight,” the Bible says. In my favorite painting of the Ascension you see all the disciples looking up to heaven. All they can see are His feet. They stare and stare, no doubt wishing He would return.
Read More: Mornings with Jesus Devotional
They might have remained stuck in their tracks if two men robed in white–angels it would seem–hadn’t appeared. “Why are you standing here, looking toward heaven?” the men ask. “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you saw him go into heaven.”
There’s the promise of Ascension. What goes up must come down. Jesus left this earth but in His wake, God has sent the Holy Spirit. And as we do the work of building the kingdom of God on earth, we can know, no matter how discouraged we get, how hopeless it might seem, He’ll be back. Now that’s something to celebrate.
Happy Ascension!
