Solemnity of the Ascension - Hearts Burning Within

The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for the Easter season

Today’s Readings

Today we celebrate the feast of the Ascension. Technically, Ascension happens 40 days after Easter which is always on a Thursday. But most dioceses in the US transfer the feast to Sunday. Ten days after Ascension is Pentecost – 50 days after Easter. And that will close the Easter season. Pentecost is coming!!

Ascension Sunday is always the Acts and Ephesians readings with the gospel from the current year.

Ascension is a liminal, in-between time. The disciples exist in this time without Jesus’ presence but before the bestowal of the Spirit. In some ways, this feast is about letting go. The disciples had to let go of Jesus even though they had just “found” him through the resurrection.

St. Ignatius’ ‘Suscipe’ prayer seems apt here: “Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess. Thou hast given all to me. To Thee, O Lord, I return it. All is Thine, dispose of it wholly according to Thy will. Give me Thy love and Thy grace, for this is sufficient for me.”

The readings today are sort of a map for where we’ve been and where we’re going. The first reading from Acts is a summary of post-Resurrection events. The second selection from the letter to the Ephesians contains a prayer of hope and encouragement – for the liminal time. The Gospel according to Matthew tells us about our role in the future – which is now because all this happens in chairos (not chronos) time!

Acts 1:1-11

Verse 8 of this reading lays out the program for this book: you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses 1. in Jerusalem, and 2. in all Judea and Samaria, 3. and to the ends of the earth. We’re jumping back to the beginning of the book of Acts which is a continuation of Luke’s gospel.

Luke 24 records the resurrection, the Emmaus road story, appearances and Ascension – and they all happen on the same day. He ascends and they return to Jerusalem and the temple with great joy. From God’s viewpoint, these events are timeless – they exist outside of time, in chairos time.

In Acts, Luke says Jesus stayed for 40 days after the resurrection before the Ascension. From humanity’s viewpoint, there is a linear progression – chronos time.

Remember: this is not a factual history but rather a theological one. The Ascension plays different theological roles in the two books. Luke’s gospel focus is Jesus and the Ascension is an ending. Acts’ focus is the Church, for which the Ascension is a beginning. The Ascension is a hinge between the two works.

Verse 1 references Theophilus which means “lover of God.” This might have been an actual person, maybe Luke’s patron, financing the art of writing. Or it might be a generic term addressed to all of us as lovers of God. Or perhaps it’s both!

Also in verse 1 he says he “dealt with all that Jesus did and taught.” A better translation of this verb is “all that Jesus began to do and began to teach.” Jesus began the work that now continues in us, the church, today.

Verse 4 contains a curious word unique to Luke’s gospel. “Meeting” with them literally translates “sharing the salt” and is a euphemism for eating. One of my professors would often say the subtitle of Luke’s gospel is “guess who’s coming to dinner” because so many key moments happen in the context of a meal and that is also true of the book of Acts.

Verse 6 has the disciples asking Jesus if he will at this time restore the kingdom to Israel, referring back to verse 5 – the coming of the Holy Spirit. How did they go from talking about the baptism of the Spirit to restoring the kingdom? To get into the disciple’s mindset, it may be helpful to read Isaiah 44:3 which is all about the Messiah, Ezekiel 39:29 which is about what happens when the Messiah conquers, and Joel 2:28 which references the Messianic age. Jesus has set the stage talking about baptism and all the references that come to the disciples’ minds about baptism are in the context of the Messiah.

So that leads to the next natural question: we recognize you as the Messiah, so when are you going to do what we expect a Messiah to do? The Messiah was the one who would reunite the divided land, bringing healing and unity. The Messiah was the one who would throw off the yoke of Roman oppression. I think it’s telling that even after everything they’ve experienced in Christ’ presence … the disciples still don’t really get it!

One of the big debates in Judaism was whether God had pre-ordained the date for the messiah and Israel’s restoration or whether that date was based on Israel’s repentance.

The word the disciples used “restore” carries the meaning of going back to the original state. You’ll notice in the next verses that Jesus does not answer the question. Why? Because he has ushered in a new age – there is no going back to the former one. The implicit answer is no – Jesus will not return back the kingdom to the nation of Israel because God has something much bigger in store.

In verse 7 he redirects their focus from thinking about times and seasons to thinking about the work still to be done to usher in the kingdom; from the when to the how.

Verse 8 tells us we will be “witnesses” which is the Greek word martus, from which we derive the English word martyr. This is more than just talking about what they had seen and experienced. It implies dedicating one’s entire life to it.

In verses 9-11 the focus is on SIGHT. This was an actual experience. The disciples are SEEING this! All these references to looking/seeing – the Ascension actually happened and Luke seems particularly keen to establish that here.

Verses 10 and 11 remind us that mountaintop experiences are necessary but only temporary. We always have to take what we’ve seen and go back to the real world with it. It’s the same at the end of the liturgy: go in peace to love and serve the Lord. We can’t stay there in the sanctuary – we have to go out and share what we’ve experienced.

Fear pulls us inward; the spirit invites us outward.

Name some times when fear pulled your focus inward. Name some times when the Spirit invited your focus outward.

How has the Spirit’s power been evident in your life?

Ephesians 1:17-23

The earliest manuscript of this letter does not contain “in Ephesus” in 1:1 but all manuscripts after that put it in. This letter was probably something of a “form letter,” tailored to name each community receiving it. Ephesus was a very important center of the early Christian spread so their letter was probably copied more frequently than others and that’s how this version spread.

The book of Ephesians post-dates Paul, probably written by a later disciple but accepted by the church as being in Paul’s spirit and teaching. The letter provides guidance on the meaning of an earlier message for a new day, a new community, and new questions. For the early church communities, the main issue became the relationship of Jews and Gentiles. A key teaching of the letter to the Ephesians encourages the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles into a unity marked by appropriate respect towards each other.

The purpose of the letter was to be a handbook of instruction on the meaning of baptism. It would have been studied by those preparing for baptism and entry into the Christian community. One of the earliest Christian terms for baptism was photismos – the act of enlightening or illumination.

1:15-23 is thanksgiving and a prayer of intercession.

Verse 17 speaks of a “Spirit of … revelation” apokalupsis: an uncovering. Paul will use this word frequently in connection with Jesus “a revelation of Jesus” but he also uses it about his vision of Jesus on the road to Damascus. Notice that the purpose of such uncovering is to know Christ.

The intercessory prayer is threefold:

1. To know the hope that goes along with the call / commission

2. To see the richness of grace in which we live and move and have our being

3. The receive the power to which we all have access to fulfill our calling

How does this passage relate to the Ascension? What does it tell us about that Ascension? Paul reminds us, I think, that we didn’t have to witness that event in order to be commissioned by it and to take strength from it.

Of the 3 prayers, which speaks to you right now and why? Which prayer do you most need right now?

Think of someone in your life who needs your prayers and pray this prayer specifically for them.

Matthew 28:16-20

Today we read what is typically called “the Great Commission.” Why would the church choose the Great Commission passage on the Feast of the Ascension? Theologically it’s not so much about how he leaves but what he says as he does so. There’s a deep connection between Jesus’ leaving and the work that we must continue.

In Matthew 28:10, Jesus sends a message to the disciples through Mary Magdalene to meet him in Galilee. Verse 16 says that Jesus “ordered” them to a mountain in Galilee. This word means “assigned or appointed” and is primarily a military term meaning ‘to draw up in order, arrange in place, assign, appoint, order.” Growing up Southern Baptist we frequently sang a hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers!” Jesus is martialing the forces!

I love verse 17! They worshiped Jesus but they doubted. The word doubted is distazo from “di” meaning two or double and “statis” meaning stand. Going two ways, a double-stance. We might say vacillated. Faith and doubt/hesitation can indeed coexist! Sometimes we like to think that if we had seen and experienced Jesus in the flesh we would be better disciples. But this gives me comfort to know that even his closest disciples weren’t completely doubt-free even in the midst of a post-resurrection appearance.

In Matthew 10:5-6, Jesus sent these same disciples out but limited their mission to “the lost sheep of Israel.” Now in verse 19 he is expanding their mission to the whole world. This can feel like a daunting task and it is, if we try to do it on our own power. But verse 20 reminds us of the key ingredient, the secret sauce: Jesus is always with us! This takes us full circle back to Matthew 1:23: Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us.

Think back on times of doubt, hesitation and wavering. How was God present with you even in those times?

The Great Commission is a broad and very general task for the church. How might you rewrite these verses to make the commission your own. In what specific and concrete ways are you called to make disciples and teach others about Christ?

Questions to ponder

Name some times when fear pulled your focus inward. Name some times when the Spirit invited your focus outward.

How has the Spirit’s power been evident in your life?

Of the 3 prayers in the Ephesians passage, which speaks to you right now and why? Which prayer do you most need right now?

Think of someone in your life who needs your prayers and pray the Ephesians prayer specifically for them.