May 9, 2024
The Feast of the Ascension
Dear siblings in Christ,
I once knew a very old and very grumpy retried priest who, every year, got agitated on this Thursday in the sixth week of Easter. Exactly 40 days after Jesus’ resurrection, today is the day we mark Jesus’ ascension into heaven, where he is “seated at the right hand of the Father”. Now, my grumpy friend found very little that he didn’t criticize, but this one sent him right ‘round the bend. “You can’t just say ‘life, death, and resurrection’ of Jesus! You have to include the Ascension! It’s not complete without the Ascension!”
The Feast of the Ascension, marked every year on this Thursday, commemorates Jesus rising into the sky in front of his followers. Ascension stories were not uncommon. Emperors, in particular, were said to be transported from this life to the next this way. And, you have to admit, at a practical level, Jesus resurrection from the dead creates a problem his ascending solves. How does he ever exit without actually dying? Does he just continue to live on earth forever?
Legitimate questions. But the theology of this relocation also matters. More than simply getting Jesus from earth into heaven, the Ascension has traditionally marked a new relationship between Jesus and his Father, and between Jesus and his followers. In his sermon on the Ascension of Jesus, Augustine of Hippo reflected on the letter to the Colossians:
Today our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven; let our hearts ascend with him. Listen to the words of the Apostle: If you have risen with Christ, set your hearts on the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God; seek the things that are above, not the things that are on earth. (Col 3:1-4) For just as he remained with us even after his ascension, so we too are already in heaven with him, even though what is promised us has not yet been fulfilled in our bodies.
It’s almost a reverse image of the Incarnation. In becoming human, Jesus was God on Earth, divinity clothed in human flesh. In ascending, Jesus was humankind in the presence of God, human clothed in divinity. Yes, Jesus being seated at the right hand of the Father (his Glorification) is worthy of the falling-down-on-your-face kind of awe. And I take great comfort in thinking of Jesus’ “reverse incarnation”, carrying all of us, in his own human nature, into that place where we no longer have need of faith because we see God face to face.
Maybe my grumpy friend was right. Maybe “it” isn’t complete (or at least not complete in its joy and comfort) until we step into this part of our story. As God was present on Earth through Jesus, so we are present before God in the heavenly realms through Jesus, our great High Priest. Through Jesus, you and I stand before God always. I’m going to hang on to that.
With love and in faith,
Jenny+
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