The Ascension

After Jesus had been raised from the dead on Easter Day he appeared to all his Apostles at different times and in different places for 40 days.  On the fortieth day, which was a Thursday, he appeared to his Apostles for the last time, and because it was the last time he said goodbye to them in a way he had never done before.

If you are away from home staying with friends or relations and are just going out for a walk, you probably stop at the door of the house and call out, “Bye for now – see you in about an hour”.  But if it’s the last day of your visit and you’re going back home again, you don’t go off like that.  Instead, your friends come to the station with you and stand on the platform and wave as the train pulls out.

The Mount of Olives

And so when Jesus went back to his home in Heaven from which he had come all those years before, he didn’t quietly leave his Apostles as he had done so many times since Easter.  Instead he led them through the streets of Jerusalem, out of the city gate, past the Garden of Gethsemane and up the Mount of Olives.  There, after telling them to stay in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit of God came into their souls, Jesus lifted up his hands, still bearing the marks of the nails, and blessed them.  Then, with his hands still raised in blessing, he went up from the Mount of Olives towards the sky and a cloud of light came round him which hid him from their sight.  The Apostles kept their eyes fixed on the cloud, hoping to see him again, but when the cloud had gone the sky was empty.

Almost at once they saw two angels who, in order that the Apostles should really understand that this was Jesus’ last appearance, said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven?  This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (NRSV, Acts 1:11).

So Jesus returned to God the Father and to his home in Heaven.

The joy of the Apostles

If you went to the station to say goodbye to someone you were very fond of, you wouldn’t be very happy after the train had gone.  Yet the Apostles, after saying goodbye to Jesus on the Mount of Olives, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, which is quite the opposite of what you might have expected.

There are several reasons for this.  First, they knew that from now on, although they would not be able to see Jesus, yet he would always be with them wherever they were.  For when God the Holy Spirit came into their innermost souls in a few days time, Jesus himself would come with him as he had promised: “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you”.  “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid.  You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you’ ” (NRSV, John 14:18,27,28).  “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (NRSV, Matthew 28:20).  No wonder, therefore, that the Apostles returned to Jerusalem with great joy, because they were looking forward to having Jesus back again when the Holy Spirit came to them at Pentecost (Whitsunday).

There was another reason why the Apostles were so full of joy.  It was because Jesus gave them a very important mission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you” (NRSV, Matthew 28:19).

Yet another reason why the Apostles were so happy was that Jesus, after having suffered so much on this earth, was now at last going back to his Father and to the glory and peace and happiness of Heaven, and so they were glad for his sake too (John 14:28).

He ascended

This day on which Jesus returned to Heaven we call Ascension Day which means ‘Going Up Day’.  So we say in the Creed that he ascended – that is, went up – into Heaven.

Although we know that Heaven is simply the place where God is seen and so is not really “above the bright blue sky”, yet we often talk of it as if it were.  This is because we think of what is better or more important as being ‘up’.  At school you go up to a higher class until one day you are at the top of the school.  When you leave school you may rise to a high position in your work. In the same way we talk of the good and bad fortunes of life as the ‘ups and downs’.

We also think of what is happier as being ‘up’.  If you are feeling miserable you are downhearted and need cheering up.

“I am with you always”

So, when we say that Jesus ascended or went up to Heaven, we mean that he went to Heaven which is a better and happier place than this world.  We do not mean that it is a long way away.  Since Heaven is where God is seen, how could it be far away when God is not far away?  As St Paul said, “…he is not far from each one of us.  For ‘in him we live and move and have our being’ ” (NRSV, Acts 17:27,28).  So on Ascension Day Jesus in his risen and glorified body took his place in that heavenly life which surrounds us on every side.

And ever since then he has been with all faithful Christians, men and women, girls and boys.  When he was on earth, he could be in only one place at a time – such as Jerusalem or Nazareth – but now he is with us always and everywhere all through our life.

SUMMARY

1. Forty days after Easter, on Ascension Day, Jesus appeared to the Apostles for the last time and for that reason left them in a special way.  He went up towards the sky for a little way and then disappeared.

2. Ascension means ‘going up’.  We talk of Heaven as being above simply because it is a better and happier ‘place’, and so on Ascension Day Jesus went back to Heaven and took his place in that heavenly life where God is seen and which surrounds us on every side.  That is why he is always near us wherever we are.