Acension Sunday

Psalm: Psalm 47 or Psalm 93 

Acts: Acts 1:1-11 

Gospel: Luke 24:44-53 

Epistle: Ephesians 1:15-23

Last Sunday was Ascension Sunday; the Sunday the church celebrates when Jesus ascended to heaven after the Resurrection.  This episode in Jesus’ life does not get as much attention as other events in Jesus’ life. Indeed in many churches on Sunday it wasn’t mentioned. But the event plays an important role in the Gospels and the New Testament as a whole.

This week we read the very end of Luke and the beginning of Acts. These two works go together and are both written by Luke. Luke ends his Gospel and begins Acts with the account of the Ascension. This places the emphasis on this moment in Jesus’ life. Jesus’ Ascension provides one the catalyst for the early Church to begin its work. When Jesus left, he told the disciples to wait for his Spirit to come, and then they would be sent out to proclaim the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Acts is then the account of this proclamation of the Gospel and it begins with Jesus ascending to heaven.

Paul provides another important aspect of the Ascension in Ephesians 1.  He writes:

Which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, are above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church. (1:20-22)

Christ now reigns with the Father over all things. One of the earliest creedal statements of the Church is “Jesus is Lord.” (1 cor. 12:3, Rom 10:9) Saying Jesus is Lord is to put Jesus as the supreme ruler, king and power in all of creation. We say this without thinking much about its full implications, but in the New Testament period, they had a lord and it was Cesar. To confess another lord was to risk persecution and accusations of insurrection. Today when we confess Jesus is Lord, it means he is Lord over any national civic leaders or countries we feel allegiance to. The Kingdom of God is bigger and above any one country or leader. When we confess Jesus is Lord, it means we live different than the rest of the world because we are a part of another Kingdom and have another Lord.

This week was short because I was not home last weekend. But this week spend some time reflecting on the Ascension and what it means for our lives today. How do our lives need to change in light of the confession that Jesus is Lord? Are we living in the power of the Spirit as Jesus promised at his Ascension? Just some thoughts to think about this week.

Grace and Peace.