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ASCENSION SUNDAY
- Please scroll down for a
summary of the Ascension Day texts
Jesus Christ lived and died to bring unity to the human family. He enjoyed mystical
unity with the Father, preached unity among his peers and prayed for unity as a final
bequest (John 17). And in the disciples, he left the world a concrete example of what
unity among humanity can and should look like. Such unity takes on concrete expression in
the Acts lesson as the early and newly-forming disciples seek to fill in the gap left by
Judas. The epistle lesson too, albeit in a circuitous way, weaves together the theme of
unity between human and the divine, a unity between belief in God and belief in the Son.
This is a great Sunday to hold such a needed message up to the listening community.
Acts 1:15-17; 21-28-Filling in the Gaps
Our lesson contains an often overlooked part of the pre-Pentecost story. The election
of Matthias to the Twelve is done methodically and with due solemnity. The successor of
Judas needed to be a witness to the entire Christ-event. Luke also includes what seems to
be an arbitrary number of upper room-ites who happened to be hanging around for Pentecost.
Yet Luke’s sum is no mere exercise in holy bean-counting. One hundred and twenty is
the number that would have been the minimum number required by the Jews to constitute a
legal community. The numbers and election of Matthias add up to a New Israel of Twelve
Tribes.
1 John 5:9-13-Final Instructions and Encouragement
In the writer’s way of reasoning, an "if/then" construct moves the
listener/reader from the reliability of human testimony to that of divine testimony. And
on what divine testimony are we supposed to rely? "What God has testified about the
Son," is the writer’s answer. True believers, no doubt will know God’s
testimony to be axiomatic; anyone who denies such veracity, in essence, charges God with
bearing false witness. In a circular way of reasoning the writer proceeds from (a.) belief
in the truthfulness of human witness, (b.) to the truthfulness of God’s testimony
concerning the eternal life the Son has, (c.) to the eternal life that believers have,
(d.) to the privilege of approaching God in confidence.
John 17:6-19-Make Us One
The gospel lesson invites us to listen to a beautiful prayer for Christian Community.
The hour has come. That is, the death-burial-resurrection-glorification hour of Jesus has
come. The prayer’s beginning reviews the commission of Christ and its baton-like
passing on of it to his disciples. Jesus is glorified through his death and resurrection.
In the supreme moment of his self-giving and his transformation he demonstrates what God
is like toward disciples and the world.
Summary of the Ascension Day Texts:
The Ascension of Jesus took place in the presence of His disciples 40 days after the
Resurrection. It is traditionally thought to have occurred on Mount Olivet in Bethany.
According to the gospel writers Jesus was lifted up disappearing into the sky before their
eyes.
Ascension, according to the biblical witness, does not only refer to the
literal "being lifted upwards" but also to a theological reality of Christ's new
status of exaltation. Exaltation describes Christ's return to the throne of God -
thus constituting a spiritual exaltation. Paul in Eph. 1:20-21 points out that following
the resurrection our Lord was elevated above all possible rivals: "far above all rule
and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the
present age but also in the one to come."
Ascension Sunday provides us with the three passages below for each of the three years
in the lectionary cycle. We don’t, however, need to feel any compulsion to look for
new angles or exotic interpretations-we just to faithfully proclaim Christ’s absence
and presence among us. Both are true.
Acts 1:1-11-Up, Up and Away
This passage provides a transition in the drama of Jesus: it closes his earthly mission
and opens up a new mission for the disciples which is just about to begin. One mission is
concluded and another at the starting line. The passage further answers the question that
early Christians must have voiced: "If Jesus has been raised from death, then where
is he?" Luke supplies part of the answer, an answer that the Church proclaims in the
Eucharistic celebration: Christ has died; Christ is risen-(and with this lesson we can
add), "Christ will come again." With the ascension, Christ leaves the disciples
to rejoin the mysterious Godhead but with the promise that he "will come in the same
way as you saw him go into heaven."
Ephesians 1:15-23-Raised / Seated / Far Above / For All Time
This is one of the most beautiful intercessory prayers in the Bible. The impetus for
this prayer is thanksgiving; Paul thanks God for the Ephesus congregation that had
excelled in pastoral care-giving ("I have heard of your . . . and love toward all the
saints"). Thanksgiving soon gives way to intercession as the pray-er entreats God to
grant this congregation wisdom and illumination in order to know Christ, the Christ-life,
the wealth of the Christian community, and the power of God. At this point the prayer
becomes a teaching moment that explores the boundaries of the power of God as evidenced in
the resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ, "above every name that is named . .
."
Luke 24:44-53-Not Really Left Behind
This lesson will best be understood when connected to the first lesson (Acts 1); here
Luke closes his gospel account of Jesus with the ascension of Jesus (Luke 24), and he
begins his second book to "Theophilus" with a review of the ascension scene
(Acts 1). Behind both accounts is the subtle interplay between presence and absence. No
overt protestations on the part of the disciples, but nonetheless, a definite sense of
imminent absence and loss. Yet in both cases presence is also promised: "wait . . .
for the promise of the Father" (Acts 1) and "see, I am sending upon you what my
Father promised;" (Luke 24).
