Meditation for Ascension Day

Walking in the Truth

Today's Scriptural Truth

"So when they met together, [the disciples] asked Him, 'Lord, are You at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?' He said to them, 'It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea & Samaria, & to the ends of the earth.' After He said this, He was taken up before their very eyes, & a cloud hid Him from their sight.
      "They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 'Men of Galilee,' they said, 'why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.'"  Acts 1:6-11

" . . . And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."  Matthew 28:20b

Today's Devotional Thoughts

• Did the disciples' comment re:  restoring the kingdom to Israel indicate that they still didn't quite get it? That these somewhat "thick" Galileans still were more enthralled with the image of Jesus as a Warrior Messiah rather than a Savior Messiah?
• A reminder for us . . . What kind of Messiah are we looking for? A Savior to deliver us from economic & political oppression? A Savior to deliver us from our sins & spiritual oppression?
• Regardless of their intent, Jesus quickly stifles the direction of this conversation.
• He also sets the stage for what will become the first Christian Pentecost. Ten days after His Ascension, things will really get shook [shaken?] up . . . 
• Many churches don't observe Ascension Day any more . . . at least not on Ascension Day. Many incorporate it into their Sunday morning worship, rather than host a special worship service on THU evening--40 days after Easter Sunday. Is that an accommodation to our culture?
• Jesus was "taken up" . . . "a cloud hid Him" . . . & they were looking "into the sky" . . . all of which suggests the popular notion that Jesus floated up, up, & away . . . 
• . . . Into heaven, which must be a place far above the galaxies we can only  observe with our pitifully inadequate astronomical resources . . . Our glimpses of heaven are apparently reserved for our imagination & whatever we can make of that mysterious Book of the Revelation of St. John.
• At the same time, we know from Matthew that Jesus promised to be with us "to the very end of the age" . . . That was a comforting Gospel promise to the disciples in the 1st century A.D. . . . and it remains a comforting Gospel promise to disciples--that would be you & me--in the 21st century.
• The two men "dressed in white" are surely angels . . . Please allow me to paraphrase what they say to the disciples, which I'm going to suggest takes on the tone of a reprimand . . . 
• "Hey, guys, why are you standing around like a bunch of dense, Galilean fishmongers, gaping at the clouds with your mouths hanging open? Get back to Jerusalem like you were told & go about your business--like you were told!" [I'm going to speculate that angels were not too concerned about being politically correct.]
• They were being sent back to Jerusalem to wait for the [spoiler alert!] promised Holy Spirit. What have we been sent to accomplish?

Today's Prayer *

Grant, we pray, almighty God, that even as we believe Your only-begotten Son, our Lord jesus Christ, to have ascended into heaven, so we may also in heart & mind ascend & spiritually dwell there with Him; who lives & reigns with You & the Holy Spirit, one God, now & forever. Amen

* Source:  Lutheran Worship, 1982, pp. 55-56.