Luke 22:44-53
Then [Jesus] said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."
Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God. (ESV)
Not Gone
The Ascension of our Lord
13 May 2010
Today is...Cinco de Mayo, the National Day of Prayer, or Ascension Day? It depends on your perspective. For us Christians it was Ascension Day. Ascension Day, one of the six chief festivals of the Christian church, passes by with no acknowledgment, especially from American Christians. Why? Because we treat it like a bereavement. We presume that the ascension is Jesus abandoning us; going away, and leaving us orphans in the world (Jn 14:18). If that is so, it ought to be a day when we blame and curse God for breaking his promises to us. Because so many Christians think of Ascension Day as the going away of Christ, it's no wonder it is so totally ignored.
Ascension Day is not about Jesus leaving us, but the ascension of our human nature born of Mary and its session at the right hand of our heavenly Father. How typical of us in our self-centeredness to think that Jesus is leaving us, when in fact Jesus is doing something for us in his ascension. See in His ascension the mounting up of your human nature above all principalities and powers, bursting into the heavenly realms, and being seated in the honor and glory at God's right hand. This ought to make crystal clear to us our ultimate glorification and place in heaven with Christ and our heavenly Father. We have ascended with Him to shouts of joy! We are not being deprived of Him. He is giving us heaven.
Leo the Great
"The most blessed Apostles and all the disciples, who had been both bewildered at the Lord's death on the cross and backward in believing His resurrection, were so strengthened by the clearness of the truth that when the Lord entered the heights of heaven, not only were they affected with no sadness, but were even filled with great joy. And truly great and unspeakable was their cause for joy, when in the sight of the holy multitude, above the dignity of all heavenly creatures, the nature of mankind went up, to pass above the angels' ranks and to rise beyond the archangels' heights, and to have its uplifting limited by no elevation until, received to sit with the eternal Father, the human nature should be associated on the throne with His glory, to whose nature it was united in the Son. Since then Christ's Ascension is our uplifting, and the hope of the body is raised, where the glory of the Head has gone before, let us exult, dearly beloved, with worthy joy and delight in the loyal giving of thanks. For today not only are we confirmed as possessors of paradise, but have also in Christ penetrated the heights of heaven, and have gained still greater things through Christ's unspeakable grace than we had lost through the devil's malice. For us, whom our virulent enemy had driven out from the bliss of our first abode, the Son of God has made members of Himself and placed at the right hand of the Father, with whom He lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen."
Prayer
O Christ, You ascended to take full possession and use of Your divine glory for our sakes and not to leave us orphans or to abandon us in the world. Help us to see Your ascension as giving us our place in Your presence that we, being faithful to Your word and truth, might take full possession of our home on the day when You call us to mount up with You through death. Amen.
For all the Junior Catechumens who will be questioned in a public confession of faith tomorrow at 7:00 p.m., that they might be faithful to death and so receive the crown of life
For all those who are seeking work, that the Lord would grant them the gift of labor in keeping with their calling
For Jesse and Olivia Riha, who were bereaved of their baby, Laura Olivia, at 22 weeks gestational age, that the Lord would give them strength and hope in the midst of grief
For Marcella Engler, undergoing medical testing this week, that the Lord would give wisdom to doctors and medical workers
Art: GRUNEWALD, Matthias Resurrectioon 1515