REFLECTION ON THE READINGS for 7th Sunday after Easter
The disciples have been through an immense roller-coaster of emotions during their three years or so with Jesus and particularly over the last few weeks.
There was the ministry in Galilee – wonderful miracles & healing and a sense of anticipation, if some bewilderment; to crucifixion – a time of despair and disappointment mixed with guilt and fear; then to resurrection – a mysterious yet wonderful new normality of life with Jesus.
And yet, here in Acts we find that despite all that has happened, the disciples still believe that Jesus is there to restore the prosperity of the people of Israel. They still haven’t grasped the bigger picture. But something will happen which means that they will no longer be able to ignore that. Somewhere just outside Jerusalem Jesus was “lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight.”
So, Jesus ascends “up” to heaven. “Up” is a spatial preposition – e.g. “The cat is climbing up the tree”. However, it doesn’t always have a spatial reference. Like every child at the end of the school year I went UP to the next class. But I didn’t necessarily go UP to a floor above – in fact depending on where they placed the classes I might have gone DOWN to a lower floor.
At Christmas we sang of the birth of Jesus with the words “He came down to earth from heaven” though we probably don’t believe that Jesus came down spatially from the sky to the earth. Rather that the Divine became man so that man could become divine; inhabiting the life of humans so that to human lives would be drawn into the life of God. And over the last few months we have followed that life, since the birth of Christ when he came DOWN to earth, through his presentation in the temple, his baptism in the Jordan, his ministry in Galilee, his crucifixion in Jerusalem, his resurrection and finally to this moment when Jesus Christ ascends “UP” to heaven.
God transcends space and time; in Jesus he became part of space and time but if he is to remain with us forever he must return again to a place beyond space and time – we might call it heaven and we call that transition “Ascension".
Afterwards, the disciples returned to Jerusalem – probably confused – yet having learnt to trust Jesus, to stick together and to pray in this “new normality”. This is the beginning of a relationship with the one from whom we can never be separated. They had the reassurance that their friend on earth was now their friend in heaven and that this was a link that nothing would break.
As Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans:
8: 38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love….
39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
That is the promise of our risen and ascended Lord.
There was the ministry in Galilee – wonderful miracles & healing and a sense of anticipation, if some bewilderment; to crucifixion – a time of despair and disappointment mixed with guilt and fear; then to resurrection – a mysterious yet wonderful new normality of life with Jesus.
And yet, here in Acts we find that despite all that has happened, the disciples still believe that Jesus is there to restore the prosperity of the people of Israel. They still haven’t grasped the bigger picture. But something will happen which means that they will no longer be able to ignore that. Somewhere just outside Jerusalem Jesus was “lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight.”
So, Jesus ascends “up” to heaven. “Up” is a spatial preposition – e.g. “The cat is climbing up the tree”. However, it doesn’t always have a spatial reference. Like every child at the end of the school year I went UP to the next class. But I didn’t necessarily go UP to a floor above – in fact depending on where they placed the classes I might have gone DOWN to a lower floor.
At Christmas we sang of the birth of Jesus with the words “He came down to earth from heaven” though we probably don’t believe that Jesus came down spatially from the sky to the earth. Rather that the Divine became man so that man could become divine; inhabiting the life of humans so that to human lives would be drawn into the life of God. And over the last few months we have followed that life, since the birth of Christ when he came DOWN to earth, through his presentation in the temple, his baptism in the Jordan, his ministry in Galilee, his crucifixion in Jerusalem, his resurrection and finally to this moment when Jesus Christ ascends “UP” to heaven.
God transcends space and time; in Jesus he became part of space and time but if he is to remain with us forever he must return again to a place beyond space and time – we might call it heaven and we call that transition “Ascension".
Afterwards, the disciples returned to Jerusalem – probably confused – yet having learnt to trust Jesus, to stick together and to pray in this “new normality”. This is the beginning of a relationship with the one from whom we can never be separated. They had the reassurance that their friend on earth was now their friend in heaven and that this was a link that nothing would break.
As Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans:
8: 38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love….
39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
That is the promise of our risen and ascended Lord.
