The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for the Easter Season
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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’ physical 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 I have and call my own, You have given to me; to you, Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace. That is enough for me.
as paraphrased by David L. Fleming, S.J.
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 Mark tells us about our role in the future – which is now because all this happens in kairos (not chronos) time!
Acts 1:1-11
Luke 24 records the resurrection, the Emmaus road story, appearances, and Ascension – and they all happen on the same day. Jesus ascends and the disciples return to Jerusalem and the temple with great joy. From God’s viewpoint, these events are timeless – they exist outside of time, in kairos 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. Perhaps it’s both!
Also in verse 1, he says he “dealt with all that Jesus did and taught.” A better translation of these verbs 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 Messianic age.
This leads them 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’s presence … the disciples still don’t really get it!
One of the big debates in Judaism at that time 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 are meant 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
Ephesians 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 (ie “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. To 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 that we didn’t have to witness that event in order to be commissioned by it and to take strength from it.
Of the three 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.
Mark 16:15-20
Most scholars say that the original manuscript of the gospel of Mark ended with Mark 16:8:
Then they went out and fled from the tomb, seized with trembling and bewilderment. They said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
Some early manuscripts (between the 4th and 7th centuries), contain what is commonly called the “shorter ending:”
And they reported all the instructions briefly to Peter’s companions. Afterwards Jesus himself, through them, sent forth from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation. Amen.
the “shorter ending”
This “shorter ending” ties up the text much better but it doesn’t appear until several centuries after the gospel was written and its use was not widespread.
Then there is today’s passage, which is also referred to as the “longer ending.” It appears in more manuscripts but not in some of the more important ones. Most scholars say it was composed as early as the 2nd century. One commentary listed “for further study” on these verses no less than six scholarly books and two journal articles and these deal only with whether these verses were part of the original manuscript. If we compiled a bibliography on the content of these verses, it would be overwhelming!
Vv 15-16 echo what we know as the “Great Commission” in Matthew: to go preach the gospel and baptize throughout the world. Vv 17-18 speak of “signs” that will accompany such proclamation: driving out demons, speaking new languages, snake handling, drinking poison, and curing the sick.
There are ‘snake-handling’ churches (especially in rural Appalachia) that take this very literally. These churches came out of the Pentecostal movement of the early 20th century. Some in these churches will also drink poison, although it’s worth noting that the death rate is high! In Acts 28 Paul is bitten by a poisonous snake but not harmed.
The Latin Vulgate is the basis of the Roman Catholic biblical canon and the Vulgate contains the “longer ending,” which means that Catholics accept these verses as sacred and inspired scripture.
In v19 Jesus ascends and the disciples then go out and get to work. V20 tells us that their work was confirmed by the signs, presumably those spoken of in vv17-18. We have only the book of Acts to see what the early church was like. Some of these signs are attested there (curing the sick, driving out demons, the gift of tongues) while others are not.
It’s tempting to focus on the fantastic sometimes, the things that are just at the edge of believable. My experience tells me that God comes mostly in the everyday and ordinary pieces of my life. Maybe God will ask you to handle a snake or its metaphorical equivalent. More likely, God will ask you to love your spouse whose particular habit drives you crazy or to take a meal to someone you don’t particularly like or to say a kind word to someone who shifted the blame onto you for a mishap at work. Some of these things might feel like handling a snake sometimes! This Easter season has called us over and over again to love, and to do so concretely. And I think that is what this passage is about.
What are some spectacular ways that you’ve known the working of God in your life? What are some ordinary ways that has happened?
How are you proclaiming the gospel?
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 three 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 this prayer specifically for them.
What are some spectacular ways that you’ve known the working of God in your life? What are some ordinary ways that has happened?
How are you proclaiming the gospel?
Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
© 2023 Kelly Sollinger