Ascension Day is one of the less observed of the Church festivals. I don't pay much attention to times and seasons in the Church calendar NOTE 1 , but as for the actual historic Ascension of Christ, well, that was a very important event.
Let's put this in context. My earlier blog, "Did Jesus found the Church?"
drew attention to the many communities of Jesus-followers that existed in Judea during the lifetime of Jesus. Jesus lived and travelled
around Galilee, Judea and several other regions that were home to the Jewish people at that time. His journeys were not random.
He worked to a plan, and the clearest description of that plan is stated in the instructions he gave to the apostles when he sent
them out on a preaching mission:
"Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave.
As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you." NOTE 2
That's not a plan for brief appearances and one-night stands, but for engaging with people and building relationships. The apostles
used a similar plan when they continued spreading the Gospel after Jesus had risen and, of course, it was the procedure Jesus used
in his own earthly ministry. He was laying foundations for the Church.
The special Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit fell on the waiting disciples has often been called
"the birthday of the Church", so does my last sentence (ABOVE) contradict that idea? Not at all. Birth is the transitional stage between
the parasitic embryo and the living, breathing newborn human. There's an amazing story that brings a baby to that point, and it's
reflected in the formation of the Church. Notably, there are two annually remembered events that significantly precede Pentecost,
and both are widely recognised by Christians and by many non-believers. Both events are vital to our salvation, as Paul wrote:
Jesus "...was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification." NOTE 3
Crucifixion - Resurrection - Pentecost. We know about them, but there's something missing from this list. Between
Easter and Pentecost comes Ascension. But why? Following his rising from the dead, Jesus appeared to many of his disciples.
In fact, as the Apostle John tells us, Jesus spent much of that time giving further teaching to his closest followers.
Why couldn't that continue? He hinted at the reason when he said to Mary at the garden tomb:
"…Touch me not [don't hold onto me]; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my
brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." NOTE 4
The Ascension scene has been portrayed in art many times over the centuries, sometimes in
ways that appear faintly ridiculous, in some cases even portraying the Lord's feet sticking out from the bottom of a cloud!
That doesn't much help our understanding. But Luke did not overstate the imagery in his accounts. He described the event in
simple terms - it happened in or close to Bethany - Jesus blessed the disciples - he was taken up - a cloud hid him from
their sight NOTE 5. It's a short story, but it has huge significance. There's a rarely mentioned saying of Jesus that tells
us just why the Ascension matters:
"...it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go,
I will send him to you." NOTE 6
Birth = Separation.
Until separation occurs, birth has not happened.
Birth is a stage in a drawn-out process, and each part of that sequence of events is vital.
Viewed in that way, the period when Jesus was travelling, preaching and healing in public and teaching his disciples in private
was the embryonic stage. That was when the Church was being formed and prepared for its future life. Christ's crucifixion and
resurrection were the agonies of labour. The Ascension was the dividing line between embryonic pre-life when the child separates
from the mother. Pentecost was the first gasp, the fresh breath of new life. That was when the embryonic fellowship of faith
became a living, breathing Church, no longer dependent on the immediate presence of its founder, but enlivened by the internal
presence of God the Holy Spirit. After that, the Church was ready to do "greater works" than Jesus did - just as he had promised
(see below). But the Ascension was a key stage in the process:
"(What does 'he ascended' mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is
the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) So Christ himself gave the apostles,
the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ
may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the
whole measure of the fullness of Christ." NOTE 7
In his Ascension, Christ secured and brought down the Holy Spirit power that would be
released on the Day of Pentecost. A new-born baby has the potential to do marvels. It is ready to absorb and reproduce any
of the world's languages (consider that in relation to the outbreak of speaking in tongues on that Day of Pentecost). The
human child has physical and mental powers to be and to do things that no other creature on earth can achieve. The Church
without the Holy Spirit is like a helpless, dependent baby. With the Holy Spirit it has the power and potential to do what
those early disciples saw Jesus do - and much more. The promise of Jesus to the Church just prior to its birth was:
"Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even
greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." NOTE 8
"Even greater things..." How was that promise fulfilled? It became obvious very early in the church's history when Peter walked
the streets of Jerusalem and people were healed just by falling under his shadow NOTE 9. It was apparent in the mass conversions
during those early days in Jerusalem NOTE 10. It was demonstrated in the ministry of Philip in Samaria NOTE 11,
out in the desert with the Ethiopian official NOTE 12, and in his miraculous transmission to Azotus NOTE 13.
It was equally evident in Paul's ministry when people experienced healings just by touching strips of cloth that had been in Paul's presence NOTE 14.
Ascension matters. Pentecost could not have happened without it. But we must not be caught between these related events. The promise of Holy Spirit power was not made exclusively to the first century Apostles, but to "whoever believes in me". They are the birthright of the Church. Thank God for the whole, dramatic, gift of Christ's birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and his legacy to us - and let's remember his generosity by making full use of his gifts.