Sorry kids, no actual balloons floating over the Berlin wall and causing an apocalyptic even. But Jesus floats up into heaven!
Luke 24:44-53; Ephesians 1:15-23; Psalm 93; Acts 1:1-11
And just like that, Jesus is gone. Okay maybe not just like that. But there were angels and clouds and Jesus going up into them. And maybe not quite gone either. I mean, kinda gone. But not really totally gone. Gone in body, but not gone in Spirit. And yes, that was one very intentional pun.
Today is Ascension Sunday, the day where we remember Jesus’ leaving the disciples and returning to heaven. There’s a lot of interesting stuff happening, but I’m going to focus on little part, even though that little part is going to need a lot of background. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Those are, in Luke’s account (who wrote both Acts and the Gospel that bears his name) the last words of Jesus to his disciples.
But first let’s piece together the full story of the Ascension. One thing we need to remember is that ancient writers don’t really care about time. That is to say, it’s ok to put things in a weird order if it advances the story, because the point is not to be 100% accurate but to get your point across. This isn’t just the way Bible writers did things, it’s the way everyone did. I mention this because if you read Luke 24 straight through, it sounds like the resurrection and ascension happen on the same day. But we know from Acts 1:3 that the ascension was forty days after the resurrection and a few days before Pentecost (which by the way means “the fiftieth day”, because the feast was 50 days after the Passover). So just keep in mind that there was some extra time going on here.
So in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus appeared to the disciples on walking to Emmaus from Jerusalem, they figured out they were walking with Jesus, and they ran back to Jerusalem to tell the rest of the disciples that Jesus is alive. They start discussing this (and I’m sure the discussion went, essentially, “Umm … y’all are crazy. Cleopas, Peter, otherguywhodoesn’thaveaname. People don’t come back from a crucifixion”) but Jesus shows up and says, “Hi!”. Unfortunately the disciples assume he’s a ghost, and as I’ve mentioned several times this Easter season, Jesus has to do some work to change their minds. First he shows them his hands and feet, and to touch home because “a ghost does not have flesh and bones” and then he asked for and ate a piece of fish.
Once the disciples were convinced Jesus wasn’t a ghost he opens their minds to understand the Scriptures. As an aside, this becomes one of the main ways we interpret things in the Old Testament, because Jesus says “everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms”. So we know that the Old Testament points to Jesus. But then he tells them, and I’m skipping over to Acts now, not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for the Holy Spirit to show up. Now, we’ll talk a little more about the Holy Spirit next week, but Jesus also says that when the Holy Spirit comes that the disciples will be his witnesses.
Now we’re to what I think the focus is for this day. It isn’t so much that Jesus ascended into heaven, but more that now we’re supposed to be his witnesses in the world. Much of our role as Christians is for people to experience Him because of us. This doesn’t necessarily mean speaking, but more of a be-ing. We just ARE examples of Jesus to others, through our actions, words, and everything that we are. Now to be clear, this is a very old idea. If you go all the way back to Genesis, we are created in God’s image and likeness. There is a lot of debate over what exactly that means, but part of our role in creation is to do things that God would otherwise do. We’re to rule and care for creation for God. In one sense, we’re to be examples of God to creation. Hmm. Sounds familiar? Jesus calls us to be his example to all the ends of the earth, and in creation God calls us to be examples of him to creation.
Jesus’ words to the disciples is a continuation of what humanity was created for. And, really, it’s something we do every day. Consciously or not, we are examples of God to those around us. So the question really is, are we a good example of Jesus Christ, or a bad one?