The Ascension of the Lord

Now What?

          Ascension has all the makings of a story’s end.  Jesus, who has been crucified, and now resurrected, is once again with his disciples teaching them to anticipate the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Then in a moment of great transcendent glory, departs “lifted up into the clouds”.  We have been following the story since Christmas and Jesus’ birth. Now it is only fitting that as we watch him ascend, there is a feeling of completion; the drama will certainly end with the arrival of the Holy Spirit.

            In truth, the story continues; the kingdom has arrived (Jesus is eating with his disciples as evidence of the arrival of the kingdom in Mark’s gospel, but is not adequately translated according to a prominent biblical scholar). The story continues, though, to the Eschaton and the righteous judgment of humanity and the end of earthly history.

            The ascension completes the human ministry cycle of Jesus but begins the reign of Christ within the Church. The Kingdom is more than a representation of Christ to humanity, it continues as God’s presence among us. For Christians, the Holy Spirit gives us communion with God the Father and Son, we now “abide” with God. For non-believers, we become more than simply messengers of doctrine, we have the potential to be Christ’s presence.

The liturgical cycle reflects this well. Most of our time is spent after Pentecost. This is the time to compare our lives with the life of Christ and his ministry.  The Advent-Christmas cycle we revisit God’s incredible love for humanity and the birth of Jesus. Then, in the Lent-Easter cycle we celebrate the mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection, ascension and the spark of the Holy Spirit which sets the Earth ablaze with God’s Kingdom once again. The final chapter has not been written, and there is much work yet to be done.