Today Christians the world over celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ (also known as Ascension Day or Holy Thursday). The feast day comes forty days after Easter to mark the period of time Jesus spent on earth after the resurrection. This year is a particularly special solemnity because the date coincides for both Eastern (Orthodox) and Western (Catholic) Christians, as did the date of Easter.
The biblical accounts of the Ascension are recorded only by Mark (16:19-20), and Luke (24:50-53, Acts 1:6-11). They record the event in varying detail. Although Matthew does not record the details of Jesus ascending into heaven, he does record Jesus’ final exhortation to the Apostles commonly called the Great Commission, which is recorded also by Mark “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’” (Matt 28:18-19, ESV). Luke expounds further upon the Ascension in his letter to Theophilus, what we now know as The Acts of the Apostles (1:6-11). In this expanded account Luke includes the details of two angels appearing to Apostles to remind them that Jesus, “will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11, ESV). This belief in Jesus’ return is one of the great hopes of the kingdom gospel.
This account of what Jesus said is similar to the Great Commission recorded in Matthew and Mark, but provides a different emphasis “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8, ESV). These final instructions from Jesus before his return to the Father in heaven serve as a fitting reminder of the twin responsibilities of the Church to evangelize and provide spiritual formation. This task of evangelization and spiritual formation was not just for the Jews or people in and around Jerusalem, but panta ta ethne (all peoples) to the end of the earth. This is the task to which we are called as well. All of us. Yes the Lord sets aside some to serve as ministers of the gospel (deacons, priests, and bishops). He even calls some to leave their homeland to serve as missionaries in other parts of the globe. Yet the Great Commission is for all of us. Each one of us has a part to play in making disciples. We are all called to share and embody the gospel in our spheres of influence with our family, friends, and community. (For additional study on this topic please see the article titled “A Call to Personal Evangelism”
As we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord and eagerly await his return, may we be about the business to which he has called us. Who can you share the gospel with today?
Collect (Prayer) of the Day
Almighty God, whose only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven: May our hearts and minds also there ascend, and with him continually dwell; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (taken from the Book of Common Prayer, 2019).
Bible Reading
Acts 1:9-11 (ESV)
And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Photo Credit: “Christi Himmelfahrt” by Gebhard Fugel, 1893.
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