Ascension

Ascension Day
The Good News of Jesus’ Ascension into Heaven

The time after Easter wraps up today, Thursday, with what is called the Ascension. 

• Don’t feel guilty if you didn’t have it marked on your calendars. 
• At one point in church history, it was the high holy day when Christians rejoiced that God has made Jesus King over all the nations of the Earth. 
• Now, it’s just another Thursday.

It’s not hard to see why Ascension is largely ignored. For one thing, if Christ has been given dominion over the Earth, then Jesus doesn’t appear to be doing a very good job. 

• What about the horrific war being waged against Ukraine? 
• Or the shortage of baby formula? 
• Or fuel costs going up?
• Another violent massacre inspired by racism? 

Maybe that’s why we ignore the Ascension. 

But another reason we ignore the Ascension is the embarrassing, unbelievable imagery of it. 

It’s a primitive, superstitious picture in a rational, scientific world.

The physics of it is all wrong. 

• Jesus is lifted up into the air like he’s had too much fizzy lifting drink. 
• Jesus, the first astronaut, going up, up, up and away, exit stage heaven. 
• Why wouldn’t we ignore such a ridiculous image in the 21st century? 
• It’s the perfect example of why it’s so hard for modern people to take the Bible seriously. To take belief in God seriously.

In Acts 1, two angels asked the disciples, “Why are you standing here staring into heaven?” But why wouldn’t they be looking up to the sky? Isn’t that the whole problem with the Ascension? With believing in God in general?

This idea that God was “up there.” 

There's a lot that can be said about changes in understanding since the 1st century. 

But, if I can jump to the point. The point of the Ascension is that, 

• having taken on our humanity at Christmas, 
• having experienced our humanity to its fullest on Good Friday, 
• and having that humanity emptied from the grave on Easter, 
• Jesus takes our humanity, our changing flesh and blood, our transitory lives and volatile history, into the timeless life of the Trinity.

The point of the picture that Luke paints is not the physics. The takeaway is instead the twofold good news.

Firstly, in the Book of Acts, Luke shows us what Paul tells us in his letter to the Colossians; namely, that your life is right now hidden with Christ in God. No matter where you go in life or how far you wander from the Way, on account of Christ’s rising your true geography will always remain in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Secondly, Luke preaches the simple Gospel message with an elementary picture; specifically, Luke shows us that the promise, “Your sins are forgiven,” comes from the only constant, unchanging thing in existence and therefore it’s not just a promise. It’s an anchor. For all of us who are always in motion, pulled constantly between our sins and our self-justifications, that’s good news indeed.