In the Luke reading that we have just heard, Jesus blessed the disciples as they stood with him in Bethany. They then watched as he ascended up into heaven in front of them. What a rollercoaster they had been on over those last 6 weeks: the events of Holy Week when Jesus was feted as the Messiah but ended up being crucified. Then came the amazing events of that first Easter morning. Learning that Jesus had conquered death and come back to life. Coming to terms with the fact that although he was alive, he came and went at his will and unexpectedly. They were reassured that he was around, and seemed to be spending time with them without any crowds threatening to take his attention away from them. They had just got used to that new experience and then here he was saying what seemed to be a last goodbye. Jesus had returned to his Father for ever. Wow! Now I don’t know about you but if I had been the disciples I would have felt pretty devastated at this.

But were they down-hearted? Did they get the handkerchiefs out? No!

The rollercoaster journey had changed the disciples beyond all recognition. I don’t suppose they fully understood about Jesus even when he ascended but they had learned to expect the unbelievable and they knew that they could trust Jesus even if they didn’t understand what was going on. So they knew that when he said: “stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high,” that they could rely on that happening even if they had no idea what it meant.

The Acts reading gave us a little more idea about what, or who, this power would be:

I remember watching a film sometime ago about Saul, who became the Apostle Paul. It started with a scene of the disciples at some point between the Resurrection and the Ascension. They were very keen to tell everyone about Jesus coming back from the dead but weren’t really sure how to go about it. Because they were trying to do it by themselves. There is so much that we take for granted and this scene really taught me to acknowledge how helpless we would be without the Holy Spirit guiding us and helping us to share the Good News of Redemption. Perhaps the disciples understood as they saw Jesus leave that somehow, they didn’t know how, he would be with them in a very intimate way, more even than when he was on earth spending time with them.

So why did the Ascension happen? Jesus told his disciples that he had to return to the Father so that he could send the Holy Spirit. Now I suspect that strictly that is not true. The Spirit has been on earth since its creation, when the She moved across the face of the waters. But Jesus’ time on earth had to come to an end and it was much better that this be a definite end rather than just ‘fading out’, with him appearing less and less. That would have been unsettling for his followers and may have prevented, or delayed, them going out into the four corners of the world. In the same way that the Incarnation had a definite start, so it needed to reach a conclusion so that the important task of spreading the Gospel far and wide could begin in earnest. While Christ was on earth, even as the remarkable man that he was, he was only able to be in one place at a time. But back with his Father, and with the Spirit living within those early Christians, it was indeed possible to change the world.

But what does the Ascension teach us about Jesus?

First it reminds us that Jesus is King – he ascended to sit at the right hand of the Father, something that he told the chief priests he would do when he was tried on Good Friday:

Another nail in the Cross as far as the Jews were concerned but another reminder that Jesus the Man was also Jesus the Son of God. His brief, set against eternity, sojourn on Earth was over and on Ascension Day Jesus left his earthly life and returned to his throne in heaven.

Secondly it reminds us the heights to which human nature, as it was created to be, can rise. We were created in God’s image and that image, that nature, as seen in Christ is special and world-changing. But it is not only in Christ, even in imperfect humanity we can see God at work in our very nature: parents sacrificing themselves for their children, people giving help to strangers, others showing compassion to the sick and dying, neighbours looking out for the elderly people next door and across the street. Human nature does not have to be a distasteful, trivial, sinful thing. It is capable, as Christ showed us, of the utmost graciousness, profundity and beauty. Christ ascending to his throne bears human nature in all its loveliness.

Thirdly the Ascension reminds us that the one who sits on the throne of heaven understands what it is like to be human. During his short time on earth Christ learned about the human condition first-hand and so he can understand, he can sympathise, with how difficult life can sometimes be. As I am fond of quoting:

Christ knows it is hard to live God’s way and he, and we, know that we will fail time and again. But he sympathises with us and will help us as we try to get nearer to the divine standard. We have a friend in heaven who will be there to greet us when we leave this life, and is with us here in a very special way as well, until that time.

Finally the Ascension reminds us that in due course God’s Kingdom will be fully realised on earth. As a result of Pentecost Christ’s Kingdom can be found in the hearts of faithful men and women now but in the future God’s Kingdom will be throughout the world. All of creation will see Christ’s power and glory and will fall on its knees to worship our astonishing, wonderful, gracious and loving God. We do not know when that will be – it would seem that the person who predicted it would be 10 days ago got it wrong! But when that day comes everyone will know that Jesus is Lord and the whole voice of creation will proclaim it.

Amen