Podcasts about ascension jesus

Ascension 2024 (May 12)Pastor Rob reminds us of the crafty gifts we gave to our mothers on Mother's Day (and other such days) using a poem called “Lanyard.”  While such gifts are sentimental and cute, they really don't adequately repay the mother for all that she has done.The disproportional love of parent to a young child is a great illustration of God's love for us, which is far greater than we can comprehend.  On the Ascension Jesus gives his last instructions to his disciples.  Not surprisingly, he asks not for lanyards from them.  Rather, he asks for them to be his witnesses, those who speak the truth.The truth we speak about — including on Mother's day — includes the reality that sin and death are powerful forces in this life that grind away at relationships and bring us grief.  But chiefly we bear witness to God's extravagant grace in Jesus Christ.

The apostles rejoiced in the blessing they received Jesus has replaced the temple and its sacrifices as our way to God Because the Lord blesses us, we in turn bless Him

Most of the sermon was written by the Rev. Susan Rockwell, but was delivered by Fr. Morgan Reed with her permission.

Acts 1:1-11

ENCORE EPISODE Goodbyes can be very painful. In this episode you'll hear how through his Ascension Jesus shows us another side to goodbye.Readingshttps://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052123-Ascension.cfm

2023/05/14 - The Ascension: Jesus our High Priest (Acts 1:1-11) | Pastor Wade Chan by Indelible Grace Church

Andrew Phillips-11/27/22-The ascension-Jesus is lifted up

Guest speaker, Andy Wright (Hub Community Church) spoke passionately about five things Jesus said to his disciples between his resurrection and ascension:1. The Model – The Father sends Jesus; Jesus sends us2. The Magnitude – All the World; everywhere!3. The Method – Make more Disciples4. The Message – Cross, Resurrection, Repentance, Forgiveness5.The Means – Power of the Holy Spirit

A Sermon for Whitsunday Acts 2:1-11 by William Klock   Last Sunday we recalled the Ascension of Jesus and remembered it's significance—that it offers a powerful visual confirmation of his lordship over creation.  And yet many Christians fail to make that connection.  For many, the ascension just means that Jesus isn't physically present with us anymore.  And I think this has happened because we as the Church have too often neglected to understand the events of Jesus' life and the life of the early Church within the context of the big story of God and his people.  When we do that me miss the deeper significance of pretty much everything.  For the last century or so, Evangelicalism has been dominated by a theological system that understands Jesus' kingdom essentially to be an entirely future reality.  And that leaves the Church spiritually impoverished.  Think of our study of Revelation and themes it stresses: tribulation, perseverance, and kingdom.  But if the kingdom is only a future reality, perseverance in the face of tribulation becomes impossible—or something we must do soley on our own strength.  Now Pentecost.  Something similar has happened with Pentecost.  Not necessarily in the same way, but nevertheless, we've allowed a cheapened view of things to downgrade what Pentecost actually means.  In the case of Pentecost, a lot of Christians have turned it into little more than a personal experience.  And as much as the reality of Pentecost is a personal experience for us as Christians, when that becomes our main focus, we tend to lose the bigger picture, the big picture of redemption. So let's back up to the Ascension for a moment to get some perspective before we head into Pentecost.  Again, the point of the Ascension is that Jesus has taken his throne and that he will reign from there until, as St. Paul says, every last enemy is put under his feet—until every enemy of God and his people, of his kingdom and his new creation has been conquered.  And if Jesus is reigning, that means that his kingdom is here and his kingdom is now—even if its full consummation is still future.  This is what the Old Testament points to throughout its pages.  It's what the New Testament affirms about Jesus and his coming and his mission.  Kings don't take their thrones without their sovereign rule being inaugurated and that's as true of Jesus as it is for earthly kings. As I've thought about this I've come to suspect that one of the major reasons we've missed the reality of God's kingdom is that we haven't fully grasped the mission of the Church—of God's new creation here on earth.  We pray every day, “Thy kingdom come.  Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” but we never fully grasp just what we're praying in those words.  And that's what I want to talk about this morning.  And that brings us back to Pentecost.  What's the significance of Pentecost?  Why is Pentecost important? The best place to start is our Epistle from Acts 2 this morning.  St. Luke tells us there of this amazing thing that took place as the Holy Spirit came in a rush of wind and fell on the disciples in something that looked like tongues of fire.  Suddenly they were praising God in other languages.  Jews from all over the empire were there and heard these Galilean men telling of the mighty acts of God in their own languages.  None of these visitors was quite sure what was going on.  Some of them thought the disciples were drunk.  And that's when Peter stood up and gave his first sermon.  He began with Joel's prophecy as he walked the people through the Old Testament and then explained how Jesus, in his death and resurrection and then in his ascension not only fulfilled those prophecies, but how Jesus actually fulfilled Israel's failed mission.  As he says in verse 36, “Therefore let the whole house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.” It's an amazing picture Luke gives us, but as we read it we probably missed the really significant little note he gives us right at the beginning.  In verse 1 Luke begins by telling us that all this happened “when the day of Pentecost arrived”.  And we think, “Well, of course…this is why we refer to that day as Pentecost!”  What a lot of people don't realise is that it wasn't Luke or the Church that decided to call that day Pentecost.  That day was already called Pentecost.  That's what the Greek-speaking Jews called the day fifty days after Passover—“pente”, “fifty”.  In Hebrew it was called the Feast of Weeks—specifically, seven weeks after Passover.  And the connection between this Jewish festival and what happened on that day Luke tells us in Acts when the Spirit descended on the disciples is important. Passover and Pentecost go all the way back to the beginning of Israel's story in the Exodus.  Remember back to the first Passover.  The Lord sent his angel to take the lives of the firstborn of all Egypt.  But he made a provision to spare the firstborn of Israel.  He gave Moses instructions for the people: Each family was to slaughter a lamb.  They were to eat the lamb and they were to paint its blood on the doorposts of their home.  When the angel of death saw the blood of the sacrificed lamb he would literally “pass over” that home and spare those inside.  The next day the Lord led his people out of their bondage in Egypt.  He rescued them again as he parted the waters of the Red Sea so that they could escape Pharaoh's army and he led them to Mt. Sinai in the wilderness where he gave them his law.  The law he gave to the people through Moses was the charter of his covenant.  To be God's people is to manifest his glory and his faithfulness to the world.  “On earth as in heaven,” as we pray.  That was Israel's calling and it had been ever since the Lord had called Abraham: to be a light to the gentiles so that the nations might know the glory of the Lord and be drawn to him.  The Lord wrote his law on tablets of stone so that Israel would know what to do to fulfil her mission and ministry—that she would know what it is to live in covenant with the Lord.  God rescued his people, leading them in an exodus from their bondage to the Egyptians and on the fiftieth day he met them and gave them his law.  That was the origin of the feast of Pentecost.  And that was its significance for Israel down through the years.  At Passover they remembered how God had rescued them.  Year after year they sacrificed lambs and painted the blood on their doorposts to remind them of the way in which the Lord had saved them.  And every year, fifty days later they commemorated and celebrated the giving of the law that taught them how to live as the Lord's people. All of that's packed into that statement Luke makes in Acts 2:1 about the day of Pentecost having come.  And that points to the meaning of Pentecost as we remember and celebrate it as Christians.  On that last Passover of the Old Covenant era, Jesus went to Jerusalem.  He and his friends ate that age old covenant meal in the upper room, but as they did so, Jesus gave it new significance.  Now the Passover bread was his body.  Now the wine was his blood.  The next day, Jesus gave his body and blood for the sins of his people.  And on that first Easter morning he rose from the grave, not only conquering sin and death, but leading his people in a new exodus.  This time is wasn't an exodus from human slavery, but an exodus from slavery to sin and death and into the new promised land of the long-awaited age to come. For forty days Jesus taught his people from the Law and the Prophets, showing them all these connections.  He gave his people a new mission.  And yet it wasn't a completely new mission.  It was the same mission that Israel had had all along: to manifest the glory of the Lord to the nations and to call them into covenant with him.  But this time the Lord was equipping his people as he never had before.  He had promised through the prophet Ezekiel: “I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them.  I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 11:19).  This is what humanity needed all along.  The law was external—written on stone tablets.  What humanity needed was a new heart, a new life, given and made possible by the indwelling Spirit of God.  And so, at his ascension, Jesus gave his disciples their mission: go out into the world, proclaim the good news—the message that Jesus is Lord, that there is a new and eternal King, make disciples of the nations, and baptise them into the God who loves and redeems his rebellious people.  Once again, “On earth as it is in heaven.”  But this is also why he told them to go to Jerusalem and wait.  The exodus made Israel God's people.  In fact, we see throughout the Old Testament that it was in the Exodus that the Lord adopted Israel and called her his firstborn.  But being adopted is different from being given the tools needed to actually live as part of the family and to carry out the mission. Think about that.  Imagine being adopted into a family, but not being told the house rules or the family expectations.  That was what Israel needed to live the Lord's adoption.  And that's the purpose that the law served when it was given at Sinai.  It was the family rules.  And just so with Jesus' disciples.  Jesus is now the Lord's firstborn.  He has taken Israel's role on himself and as we pass through the waters of baptism in faith—our own Red Sea experience—we are adopted as Jesus' brothers and sisters into the Lord's family.  But we need to be equipped to live as members of the Lord's family.  And so, on the fiftieth day after their exodus, after their rescue from slavery to sin and death, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to his people.  Instead of external tablets of stone, he gave his life-giving and empowering Spirit to breathe life into his sons and daughters that they—that we—might truly live as his people, as his family.  Instead of an external law pointing us to God, God comes to us himself, pours himself into us, and turns our hearts to him.  “On earth as it is in heaven.” That day was a commissioning too.  Pentecost mirrors Jesus' own baptism.  Think back to the beginning of the story of Jesus' ministry.  He was baptised by John and as he came up out of the waters of the Jordan River the Holy Spirit descended on him and the Lord spoke from heaven: This is my beloved Son; in him I am well-pleased.  At Pentecost the Lord did the same thing for the Church.  He sent his Spirit not only to indwell us, but to commission us to carry out the mission that Jesus began.  On Pentecost the Lord declared to his Church, to all those who are in Christ: These are my beloved sons and daughters; in them I am well-pleased.  And as Jesus was sent from his baptism into the wilderness to suffer Satan's harassment and to triumph over him in the power of the Spirit, so from our baptism at Pentecost, the Church is sent out into the wilderness: to charge into the darkness with the light of Christ, to proclaim the good news that Jesus is Lord and that he has conquered sin and death and Satan.  We're not called to go timidly into the world to offer people a new option on the smorgasbord of world religions.  No, we're to charge into the territory of Satan and of Caesar to proclaim that there is a new Lord, that the kingdoms and systems of this old age are coming to an end and that Jesus is Lord.  In Jesus and then in the Church, heaven and earth are coming back together, the fracture caused by our rebellion is being healed, all things are being made new, and this corrupt and broken world is being set to rights under the power and authority of the King.  Our message is one that we should be proclaiming not with timidity and fear, but with power and authority.  Ascension and Pentecost give us the assurance we need that Jesus reigns, that his kingdom is here and now, and that however bad things may look today, he will with absolute certainty subdue every enemy and return on the clouds the conquering king at the end of the age. No matter how bad things look.  No matter how bad things get.  As we've seen in the message of Revealtion, there's no reason to be afraid.  There's no reason not to have confidence in our mission.  Ascension and Pentecost should be reminders of that.  Last week we sang those words of the old hymn “See the Conqueror”:   Thou hast raised our human nature In the clouds to God's right hand There we sit in heavenly places There with Thee in glory stand   Jesus reigns adorned by angels Man with God is on the throne Mighty Lord in Thine ascension We by faith behold our own We by faith behold our own   In his Ascension Jesus gives us assurance.  He in his resurrected and exalted humanity has raised our humanity and this earthly realm to heaven.  That's one half of his final promise to restore heaven and earth.  And Pentecost embodies the other half of the promise: In sending the gift of the Holy Spirit to indwell his people, the Lord has sent heaven to earth.  Humanity has risen to heaven with Jesus and heaven has descended to earth with the Holy Spirit and so we know that heaven and earth cannot remain sundered and separated forever.  One day they will be restored.  All that remains is for Jesus to subdue his enemies. In the meantime, Brothers and Sisters, we the Church have been made the temple of the living God.  Think about what that means.  In the beginning God created a garden temple where he and his people lived in fellowship with each other.  Human beings lived in the presence of God.  Our sin broke that fellowship.  Sin and death drove us from the garden.  Sin and death forced apart earth and heaven.  The tabernacle and the temple were built as models of that garden temple in miniature.  They became the centre of Israel's life, because in the temple God and human beings could find fellowship, even if it was a limited and broken fellowship.  Then Jesus came and he became the temple himself.  In his incarnation he united humanity to God and in giving his Spirit to us, to the Church, the Lord has made us his living temple.  In us, thanks to Pentecost, God is made known to fallen and broken humanity.  In us the new creation has begun.  And in us the Lord is working to restore his fallen and broken world to himself.  As ancient Israel caught a glimpse of heaven in the temple, so the world is meant to catch a glimpse of heaven in us, in the Church—a view of humanity and God once again set to rights through the mediating work of Jesus. And how do we do that?  Brothers and Sisters, just as Israel was given a new set of “family rules” to show her how to be light in the darkness, we as God's new Israel have been given the same.  Not a legalistic set of dos and don'ts—although it does certainly involve that—but a call to live the law of love exemplified first in the Lord's relationship with Israel and then brought to full fruit in the ministry of Jesus.  We're called to manifest faith and to manifest hope and, most of all, to manifest love to a world with no faith and no hope, to a world filled with fear and hate.  We're called to live out the manifesto, the charter given by Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount: hungering and thirsting for righteousness, showing mercy, making peace.  We're called to show the world that Jesus has given us a new way of living.  In fact, it's not a new way.  It's the old way that was lost when we fell into rebellion and sin, but now it's back and it's possible because this time it's not just a set of rules carved on stone; it's a new being and a new life imparted to our hearts by the very Spirit of God living in us and giving us his new life. Brothers and Sisters, there's an awful tendency to forget all of this when we turn Pentecost into a private experience as often happens.  Pentecost is about the people of God being equipped by the Spirit to live as his people, not just privately, but publicly—not for the sake of ourselves, but for the sake of the world.  Pentecost is about the Spirit bearing fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, it's about the people of God being changed and renewed in our hearts that we might proclaim that Jesus is Lord.  And we do all this as heralds of his kingdom, proclaiming its good news.  That's the idea of “gospel” or “good news”.  The New Testament brings together two meanings in that word meaning “good news”.  For the Jews “good news” brought to mind the language of Isaiah.  “Good news” meant a messenger coming to a people languishing in exile; a messenger sent to tell them that their enemies had been defeated and that the Lord had returned to Zion.  To Greeks and Romans, “good news” brought to mind an imperial herald, sent to the far reaches of the empire with the message that a new Caesar had ascended to the throne.  In Jesus both of those meanings are brought together.  In Jesus we have a new and eternal King; in Jesus the Lord has returned to Zion to dwell in the midst of his people.  The power of Pentecost is the power and life of the Spirit given to us to proclaim his kingdom and to live it before the eyes of the world.  “On earth as it is in heaven.” Let us pray: O God, who on this day taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Acts 1:1-11

Feast of the Ascension - "Jesus doesn't ascend and disappear. He is with us always and we can live rooted in him and his Gospel as well as be the light to others."

Feast of the Ascension - "Jesus doesn't ascend and disappear. He is with us always and we can live rooted in him and his Gospel as well as be the light to others."

Jesus: The Sacrificial Lamb & Resurrected Lord: Outline  Service Date: Sunday, May 1st   Sermon Title: Jesus' Ascension   Today's Big Idea: “We are God's witnesses, from here to the ends of the Earth.”  

Date: May 1, 2022 Scripture: Acts 1:6-11 Speaker: Kimmel Theme:  Jesus has returned to heaven, but not before specifying what the disciples are to do. The question is, are we following Jesus' orders and their example?

Date: May 1, 2022 Scripture: Acts 1:6-11 Speaker: Kimmel Theme:  Jesus has returned to heaven, but not before specifying what the disciples are to do. The question is, are we following Jesus' orders and their example?

Andy Wright shares on Jesus' important messages to his disciples between his resurrection and ascension

When Sorrow Turned to Joy By Robin Spengler John 15:26 and 16:5-28 This evening we will be looking at John 16 and some of what the Apostle recorded in this final conversation between Jesus and the remaining 11 disciples. John 16:5-6 = But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. This scene takes place after Judas had left the room to betray Jesus. They had completed the Passover meal and Jesus warns that He would be leaving them. The disciples are filled with great sorrow, their teacher was leaving them. Sorrow - There is always sorrow when parting from a loved one. Jesus had previously spoken of, The future denial of Peter (John 13:38). His leaving to prepare a place for them (John 14:2). Him being the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6). He and the Father being one (John 14:7). Asking the Father to send them a helper (John 14:16). Him being the true vine and His disciples being the branches (John 15:1-5). The disciples being hated by the world (John 15:18-19). Yet they had still not fully understood what Jesus was doing. John 16:22 = So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your Joy from you. It is interesting that Jesus does not talk about the Crucifixion at this point but assures them that they would see Him again. Jesus was referring to the resurrection. The Resurrection - On the third day Jesus would rise from the dead. He would appear to the eleven and 500 other witnesses. In the 40 days between the resurrection and the ascension, most of Jesus’ teachings were about the kingdom of God. Jesus was preparing them for something much bigger. John 16:28 = “I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” This is a clear statement; Jesus had come from the Father in Heaven and now He was returning to the Father in Heaven. Jesus’ mission on earth was complete. The Ascension Jesus is seated at the right hand of God the Father (Eph 1:20-23). This means that all authority has been given to Jesus (Matt 28:18). Jesus is crowned immortal King of Kings and his Kingdom is everlasting (1Ti 6:15-16). John 15:26-27a = But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about me. And you also bear witness. The life that Jesus has called us to is not natural, its supernatural. Anyone who tries to be a Christian in their own strength is denying Christ. This is why Jesus asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit, also referred to as the Spirit of Christ (Phil 1:19 and many other references). We now get to the heart of this teaching – Pentecost. The name comes from the Greek word Pentekostos. This literally means 50. Pentecost is always celebrated 50 days after the Jewish Passover. It is one of three main Jewish festivals. Jews from all over Asia Minor and further would come to Jerusalem to celebrate the wheat harvest. It was on this day that 120 disciples of Jesus (Ac 1:15) were gathered together worshipping God. The prophecy of Joel (Joel 2:28-29) and the words of Jesus (John 16:5-15) were fulfilled on this day. Meaning for the Church. The pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost was the completion of Jesus’ ministry on earth. Every true believer in Christ is empowered supernaturally to live out the Christian life (Romans 8:9). It is possible to receive an infilling of the Holy Spirit through prayer (Ac 8:17). This is given to empower for ministry (Ac 9:3-9). The Law of Moses celebrated at the festival has now been replaced by the Law of the Spirit (Romans 8:1-2). At Babel, the human race was scattered all over the earth and spoke different languages (Gen 11:1-9). At Pentecost, each disciple was given a new language to tell the visiting Jews about Jesus in their own language, uniting people who were once estranged. The wheat harvest celebration is replaced with Jesus Christ who is our Bread of Life (John 6:51). It may also be said that the Church was born at Pentecost. But that’s not all, there is an even greater purpose for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Kingdom of God had come into the world! If you are a Christian you are in God’s Kingdom on earth and Jesus is your King. Never think of the kingdom as something in the future or only in Heaven. The kingdom is now although it is incomplete. There is still sickness, suffering, sin, and death. We say the Kingdom has been inaugurated but not yet consummated. The Kingdom will only be consummated with the 2nd coming of Jesus. Christians have the Holy Spirit which enables supernatural living in this kingdom. Love, peace, and Joy are supernatural fruit of the Spirit of Jesus. This supernatural life is yours, Christian. Now go out and live it!

Mark 16 & Acts 1:1-11

Homily for May 16, 2021, Solemnity of the Ascension Jesus was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God

We are each pf us a work of God, fashioned and renewed and made fruitful by God's grace. That is the point of what we celebration the Ascension (Jesus renewed union with the Father) and Pentecost when God becomes active and apparent in our lives and world in new and vigorous ways.About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica.For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.com

Goodbyes can be very painful. In this episode you’ll hear how through his Ascension Jesus shows us another side to goodbye.

John 17:1-11aWhen Jesus had said this, he raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to all you gave him.Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began.I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me.I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them.And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you."Gospel Study: Fr. Jim WilligGospel Narration: Fr. J Michael Sparough, SJPrimary Music: Michael KramerAdditional Music: Gettin Through It by Brent Wood licensed to Nathaniel Stubblefield via SoundstripeProducer: Nathaniel Stubblefield

A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh. Today is Ascension Day. Forty days after the resurrection, Jesus was taken up into heaven. After forty years, Israel entered the promised land. After forty days of fasting, Jesus began his ministry. After appearing to his disciples for forty days, Jesus ascended into heaven and he started something new. There is the wilderness phase followed by conquering the land of Canaan, a fasting period that begins the ministry of Jesus on earth, and post ascension, what is the new era? The disciples go into all the world with power to do his will on earth as it is in heaven. To complete what Jesus began, our vision and image of Jesus cannot be limited to the gospels. At the Ascension Jesus is no more the human Jesus of the gospels. He is now the exalted Jesus of the Book of Revelation. This is how Paul explains: "Christ, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:6-11). Jesus is back in heaven and is reinstated with all the divine fullness. From his fullness he gives authority to his disciples to reclaim the whole earth for him. Look to Jesus! Obey his command! Establish his kingdom!

There Came from Heaven Acts 2:1-11 by William Klock Last Sunday we recalled the Ascension of Jesus and remembered it’s significance—that it offers a powerful visual confirmation of his lordship over creation.  Now Pentecost.  Do we understand the significance of Pentecost?  I think that for a lot of Christians, Ascension is little more than a reminder that Jesus isn’t physically present with us anymore.  There’s a whole theological system or movement in Evangelical Christianity that has pushed the reign and kingdom of Jesus into the future and every time I run into one of these people I want to ask: What about the Ascension?  Actually, I’ve done just that and what I find every time is that the significance of the Ascension has never really dawn on them.  And I think something similar has happened with Pentecost.  Not necessarily in the same way, but nevertheless, we’ve allowed a cheapened view of things to downgrade what Pentecost actually means.  In the case of Pentecost, I think what’s happened is that a lot of Christians have turned it into little more than a person experience.  And as much as the reality of Pentecost is a personal experience for us as Christians, when that becomes our main focus, we tend to lose the bigger picture, the big picture of redemption. So let’s back up to the Ascension for a moment to get some perspective before we head into Pentecost.  Again, the point of the Ascension is that Jesus has taken his throne and that he will reign from there until, as St. Paul says, every last enemy is put under his feet—until every enemy of God and his people, of his kingdom and his new creation has been conquered.  And if Jesus is reigning, that means that his kingdom is here and his kingdom is now.  This is what the Old Testament points to throughout its pages.  It’s what the New Testament affirms about Jesus and his coming and his mission.  Now, there’s a big machine out there in Christians TV and publishing that’s figured out you can make a lot of money publishing sensationalist books about the future and they feed Christians a steady diet of theology that says Jesus’ kingdom hasn’t yet come, but the fact that Jesus ascended should tell us otherwise.  King’s don’t take their thrones without their sovereign rule being inaugurated and that’s as true of Jesus as it is for earthly kings. As I’ve thought about this I’ve come to suspect that one of the major reasons we’ve missed the reality of God’s kingdom is that we haven’t fully grasped the mission of the Church—of God’s new creation here on earth.  We pray every day, “Thy kingdom come.  Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” but we never fully grasp just what we’re praying in those words.  And that’s what I want to talk about this morning.  And that brings us back to Pentecost.  What’s the significance of Pentecost?  Why is Pentecost important? The best place to start is our Epistle from Acts 2 this morning.  St. Luke tells us there of this amazing thing that took place as the Holy Spirit came in a rush of wind and fell on the disciples in something that looked like tongues of fire.  Suddenly they were praising God in other languages.  Jews from all over the empire were there and heard these Galilean men telling of the mighty acts of God in their own languages.  None of these visitors was quite sure what was going on.  Some of them thought the disciples were drunk.  And that’s when Peter stood up and gave his first sermon.  He began with Joel’s prophecy as he walked the people through the Old Testament and then explained how Jesus, in his death and resurrection and then in his ascension not only fulfilled those prophecies, but how Jesus actually fulfilled Israel’s failed mission.  As he says in verse 36, “Therefore let the whole house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.” It’s an amazing picture Luke gives us, but as we read it we probably missed the really significant little note he gives us right at the beginning.  In verse 1 Luke begins by telling us that all this happened “when the day of Pentecost arrived”.  And we think, “Well, of course…this is why we refer to that day as Pentecost!”  What a lot of people don’t realise is that it wasn’t Luke or the Church that decided to call that day Pentecost.  That day was already called Pentecost.  That’s what the Greek-speaking Jews called the day fifty days after Passover—“pente”, “fifty”.  In Hebrew it was called the Feast of Weeks—specifically, seven weeks after Passover.  And the connection between this Jewish festival and what happened on that day Luke tells us in Acts when the Spirit descended on the disciples is important. Passover and Pentecost go all the way back to the beginning of Israel’s story in the Exodus.  Remember back to the first Passover.  The Lord sent his angel to take the lives of the firstborn of all Egypt.  But he made a provision to spare the firstborn of Israel.  He gave Moses instructions for the people: Each family was to slaughter a lamb.  They were to eat the lamb and they were to paint its blood on the doorposts of their home.  When the angel of death saw the blood of the sacrificed lamb he would literally “pass over” that home and spare those inside.  The next day the Lord led his people out of their bondage in Egypt.  He rescued them again as he parted the waters of the Red Sea so that they could escape Pharaoh’s army and he led them to Mt. Sinai in the wilderness where he gave them his law.  The law he gave to the people through Moses was the charter of his covenant.  To be God’s people is to manifest his glory and his faithfulness to the world.  That was Israel’s calling and it had been ever since the Lord had called Abraham: to be a light to the gentiles so that the nations might know the glory of the Lord and be drawn to him.  The Lord wrote his law on tablets of stone so that Israel would know what to do to fulfil her mission and ministry—that she would know what it is to live in covenant with the Lord.  God rescued his people, leading them in an exodus from their bondage to the Egyptians and on the fiftieth day he met them and gave them his law.  That was the origin of the feast of Pentecost.  And that was its significance for Israel down through the years.  At Passover they remembered how God had rescued them.  Year after year they sacrificed lambs and painted the blood on their doorposts to remind them of the way in which the Lord had saved them.  And every year, fifty days later they commemorated and celebrated the giving of the law that taught them how to live as the Lord’s people. All of that’s packed into that statement Luke makes in Acts 2:1 about the day of Pentecost having come.  And that points to the meaning of Pentecost as we remember and celebrate it as Christians.  On that last Passover of the Old Covenant era, Jesus went to Jerusalem.  He and his friends ate that age old covenant meal in the upper room, but as they did so, Jesus gave it new significance.  Now the Passover bread was his body.  Now the wine was his blood.  The next day, Jesus gave his body and blood for the sins of his people.  And on that first Easter morning he rose from the grave, not only conquering sin and death, but leading his people in a new exodus.  This time is wasn’t an exodus from human slavery, but an exodus from slavery to sin and death and into the new promised land of the long-awaited age to come. For forty days Jesus taught his people from the Law and the Prophets, showing them all these connections.  He gave his people a new mission.  And yet it wasn’t a completely new mission.  It was the same mission that Israel had had all along: to manifest the glory of the Lord to the nations and to call them into covenant with him.  But this time the Lord was equipping his people as he never had before.  He had promised through the prophet Ezekiel: “I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them.  I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 11:19).  This is what humanity needed all along.  The law was external—written on stone tablets.  What humanity needed was a new heart, a new life, given and made possible by the indwelling Spirit of God.  And so, at his ascension, Jesus gave his disciples their mission: go out into the world, proclaim the good news—the message that Jesus is Lord, that there is a new and eternal King, make disciples of the nations, and baptise them into the God who loves and redeems his rebellious people.  But this is also why he told them to go to Jerusalem and wait.  The exodus made Israel God’s people.  In fact, we see throughout the Old Testament that it was in the Exodus that the Lord adopted Israel and called her his firstborn.  But being adopted is different from being given the tools needed to actually live as part of the family. Think about that.  Imagine being adopted into a family, but not being told the house rules or the family expectations.  That was what Israel needed to live the Lord’s adoption.  And that’s the purpose that the law served when it was given at Sinai.  It was the family rules.  And just so with Jesus’ disciples.  Jesus is now the Lord’s firstborn.  He has taken Israel’s role on himself and as we pass through the waters of baptism in faith—our own Red Sea experience—we are adopted as Jesus’ brothers and sisters into the Lord’s family.  But we need to be equipped to live as members of the Lord’s family.  And so, on the fiftieth day after their exodus, after their rescue from slavery to sin and death, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to his people.  Instead of external tablets of stone, he gave his life-giving and empowering Spirit to breathe life into his sons and daughters that they—that we—might truly live as his people, as his family.  Instead of an external law pointing us to God, God comes to us himself, pours himself into us, and turns out hearts to him. That day was a commissioning too.  Pentecost mirrors Jesus’ own baptism.  Think back to the beginning of the story of Jesus’ ministry.  He was baptised by John and as he came up out of the waters of the Jordan River the Holy Spirit descended on him and the Lord spoke from heaven: This is my beloved Son; in him I am well-pleased.  At Pentecost the Lord did the same thing for the Church.  He sent his Spirit not only to indwell us, but to commission us to carry out the mission that Jesus began.  On Pentecost the Lord declared to his Church, to all those who are in Christ: These are my beloved sons and daughters; in them I am well-pleased.  And as Jesus was sent from his baptism into the wilderness to suffer Satan’s harassment and to triumph over him in the power of the Spirit, so from our baptism at Pentecost, the Church is sent out into the wilderness: to charge into the darkness with the light of Christ, to proclaim the good news that Jesus is Lord and that he has conquered sin and death and Satan.  We’re not called to go timidly into the world to offer people a new option on the smorgasbord of world religions.  No, we’re to charge into the territory of Satan and of Caesar to proclaim that there is a new Lord, that the kingdoms of Satan and of Caesar are coming to an end and that Jesus is Lord.  Our message is one that we should be proclaiming not with timidity and fear, but with power and authority.  Ascension and Pentecost give us the assurance we need that Jesus reigns, that his kingdom is here and now, and that however bad things may look today, he will with absolute certainty subdue every enemy and return on the clouds the conquering king at the end of the age. There’s no reason to be afraid.  There’s no reason not to have confidence in our mission.  Ascension and Pentecost should be reminders of that.  Last week we sang those words of the old hymn “See the Conqueror”:   Thou hast raised our human nature In the clouds to God’s right hand There we sit in heavenly places There with Thee in glory stand   Jesus reigns adorned by angels Man with God is on the throne Mighty Lord in Thine ascension We by faith behold our own We by faith behold our own   In his Ascension Jesus gives us assurance.  He in his resurrected and exalted humanity has raised our humanity and this earthly realm to heaven.  That’s one half of his final promise to restore heaven and earth.  And Pentecost embodies the other half of the promise: In sending the gift of the Holy Spirit to indwell his people, the Lord has sent heaven to earth.  Humanity has risen to heaven with Jesus and heaven has descended to earth with the Holy Spirit and so we know that heaven and earth cannot remain sundered and separated forever.  One day they will be restored.  All that remains is for Jesus to subdue his enemies. In the meantime, Brother and Sisters, we the Church have been made the temple of the living God.  Think about what that means.  In the beginning God created a garden temple where he and his people lived in fellowship with each other.  Men and women lived in the presence of God.  Our sin broke that fellowship.  Sin and death drove us from the garden.  Sin and death forced apart earth and heaven.  The tabernacle and the temple were built as models of that garden temple in miniature.  They became the centre of Israel’s life, because in the temple God and human beings could find fellowship, even if it was a limited and broken fellowship.  Then Jesus came and he became the temple himself.  In his incarnation he united humanity to God and in giving his Spirit to us, to the Church, the Lord has made us his living temple.  In us, thanks to Pentecost, God is made known to fallen and broken humanity.  In us the new creation has begun.  And in us the Lord is working to restore his fallen and broken world to himself. And what’s our mission?  How do we shine the light of Christ in the darkness?  Brothers and Sisters, just as Israel was given a new set of “family rules” to show her how to be light in the darkness, we as God’s new Israel have been given the same.  Not a legalistic set of dos and don’ts, but a call to live as Jesus did.  We’re called to manifest faith and to manifest hope and, most of all, to manifest love to a world with no faith and no hope and that’s filled with fear and hate.  We’re called to live out the manifesto, the charter given by Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount: hungering and thirsting for righteousness, showing mercy, making peace.  We’re called to show the world that Jesus has given us a new way of living.  In fact, it’s not a new way.  It’s the old way that was lost when we fell into rebellion and sin, but now it’s back and it’s possible because this time it’s not a set of rules carved on stone; it’s a new being and a new life imparted to our hearts by the very Spirit of God living in us and giving us his new life. Brothers and Sisters, there’s an awful tendency to forget all of this when we turn Pentecost into a private experience as often happens.  Pentecost is about the people of God being equipped by the Spirit to live as his people, not just privately, but publicly—not for the sake of ourselves, but for the sake of the world.  Pentecost is about the Spirit bearing fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, it’s about the people of God being changed and renewed in our hearts that we might proclaim that Jesus is Lord.  And we do all this as heralds of his kingdom, proclaiming its good news.  This idea of “gospel” or “good news” in the New Testament brings together two meanings.  For the Jews “good news” brought to mind the language of Isaiah.  “Good news” meant a messenger coming to a people languishing in exile; a messenger sent to tell them that their enemies had been defeated and that the Lord had returned to Zion.  To Greeks and Romans, “good news” brought to mind an imperial herald, sent to the far reaches of the empire with the message that a new Caesar had ascended to the throne.  In Jesus both of those meanings are brought together.  In Jesus we have a new and eternal King; in Jesus the Lord has returned to Zion to dwell in the midst of his people.  The power of Pentecost is the power and life of the Spirit given to us to proclaim his kingdom and to live it before the eyes of the world. Let us pray: O God, who on this day taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

May 28, 2020 - We are told in Scripture as well as through the teachings of the Church Fathers that when Jesus Ascended the angelic hosts were amazed. They were amazed as they saw Christ ascend through the heavens leading a train of souls into Paradise. And they were amazed how far the Word of God, Jesus Christ, had gone to save His most precious creation out of His immeasurable love for mankind. This sermon focuses on the love of God on display as Christ Ascends to the Father placing humanity before the Father for all eternity.

Luke 24:44-53 Rev. Stacey Lundy

Feast of the Ascension - "Jesus is raised to be with the Father in the fullness of his glory. There was a pattern of Jesus lifting himself up to the things of Heaven and the Father. How can we follow his example?"

A new MP3 sermon from Grace Reformed Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Ascension: Jesus is Lord Subtitle: Special Sermons Speaker: Rev. Sam Perez Broadcaster: Grace Reformed Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 5/24/2020 Bible: Mark 12:13-17 Length: 57 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Grace Reformed Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Ascension: Jesus is Lord Subtitle: Special Sermons Speaker: Rev. Sam Perez Broadcaster: Grace Reformed Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 5/24/2020 Bible: Mark 12:13-17 Length: 57 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Grace Reformed Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Ascension: Jesus is Lord Subtitle: Special Sermons Speaker: Rev. Sam Perez Broadcaster: Grace Reformed Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 5/24/2020 Bible: Mark 12:13-17 Length: 57 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Grace Reformed Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Ascension: Jesus is Lord Subtitle: Special Sermons Speaker: Rev. Sam Perez Broadcaster: Grace Reformed Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 5/24/2020 Bible: Mark 12:13-17 Length: 57 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Grace Reformed Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Ascension: Jesus is Lord Subtitle: Special Sermons Speaker: Rev. Sam Perez Broadcaster: Grace Reformed Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 5/24/2020 Bible: Mark 12:13-17 Length: 57 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Grace Reformed Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Ascension: Jesus is Lord Subtitle: Special Sermons Speaker: Rev. Sam Perez Broadcaster: Grace Reformed Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 5/24/2020 Bible: Mark 12:13-17 Length: 57 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Grace Reformed Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Ascension: Jesus is Lord Subtitle: Special Sermons Speaker: Rev. Sam Perez Broadcaster: Grace Reformed Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 5/24/2020 Bible: Mark 12:13-17 Length: 57 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Grace Reformed Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Ascension: Jesus is Lord Subtitle: Special Sermons Speaker: Rev. Sam Perez Broadcaster: Grace Reformed Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 5/24/2020 Bible: Mark 12:13-17 Length: 57 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Grace Reformed Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Ascension: Jesus is Lord Subtitle: Special Sermons Speaker: Rev. Sam Perez Broadcaster: Grace Reformed Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 5/24/2020 Bible: Mark 12:13-17 Length: 57 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Grace Reformed Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Ascension: Jesus is Lord Subtitle: Special Sermons Speaker: Rev. Sam Perez Broadcaster: Grace Reformed Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 5/24/2020 Bible: Mark 12:13-17 Length: 57 min.

Feast of the Ascension - "Jesus is raised to be with the Father in the fullness of his glory. There was a pattern of Jesus lifting himself up to the things of Heaven and the Father. How can we follow his example?"

The Ascension: Jesus is Ruling

The Ascension: Jesus, Our Intercessor

How you relate to your spouse, to your kids, to your parents, to your neighbor and the world tells a story. Are you comfortable with what story that's telling?

The Ascension: Jesus in Heaven

The Book of Acts opens with the Ascension -- Jesus's post-resurrection departure to heaven (Acts 1:1-11). The hopeful Disciples soon become bewildered: Why didn't Jesus take them with him? But he is clear: They are left behind to carry on and carry out his work and witness in the world.  We, ourselves, might want to escape sometimes, but our charge and commission is the same: We are left behind for a reason. 

Feast of the Ascension: Jesus returning as Christ By Fr. Richard Rohr

The Importance of the Ascension The triumphant ascension of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is a sadly neglected subject. And yet it’s of great importance to us as Christians. In his book Accent on the Ascension Carl Brumback claimed that if the Lord Jesus Christ had not ascended: The infallible proof of the incarnation would be lost His sacrificial death on Calvary would have been in vain Access into the presence of God would be denied to all It would be impossible to be saved None would be indwelt or infilled by the Holy Spirit We would have no advocate with the Father The Church would be bereft of its blessed hope Accounts of the Ascension Mark 16:19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and sat at the right hand of God Luke 24:50-51 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven Acts 1:9-11 After he had said this, he was taken up before their very eyes and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking up intently 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’. Eight Aspects of the Ascension Jesus demonstrated his deity He reclaimed his rights He assures us of access into heaven He has poured out his Spirit He acts as our advocate He sends out his servants He prepares a place for his people He awaits his advent Jesus demonstrated his deity John 6 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that … everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life… 41 At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42 They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?"   In these verses Jesus claims quite clearly to have come from heaven. The Jews understandably find such a claim extremely difficult to believe Jesus replies that the evidence that he has come from heaven is that he will one day be seen to return to heaven (v.62)   60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" 61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? 62 What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!     The ascension is the final proof of the incarnation If there had been any remaining doubt in the disciples’ minds as to who he was, it was dispelled by the ascension They had seen him go! (Acts 1:11) Far above all principality and power and might and dominion! By his ascension Jesus demonstrated his deity. He reclaimed his rights Philippians 2:5-8 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! When Jesus left heaven, he made himself nothing He was essentially one with God and possessed all the attributes that make God God but he voluntarily stripped himself of all his privileges and assumed the place of a slave and was born as a human being This does not mean that during his life on earth as a man He ceased to be God He did not choose to draw upon the attributes of deity which as God he still possessed His miracles were performed by faith through the power of the Holy Spirit Illustration: a prince in a far country who voluntarily refuses to draw on his royal assets back home is still a prince He did this that he might come and die for us sinners But having died for us and having risen again the third day to demonstrate his power over death he finally ascended forty days later He returned to his Father and reclaimed his rights Philippians 2:9-11 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. He assures us of access into heaven Without the ascension, Christ’s sacrificial death would have been in vain In the Old Testament, says Brumback: ‘The supreme moment in the ministry of the High Priest was not at the altar but at the mercy-seat. On the Day of Atonement the High Priest became the representative of all the priests who had ministered at the altar throughout the year; the offering on that day was the one from which all other sin-offerings derived their efficacy; hence the ministry at the altar was an exceedingly solemn and sacred moment for the High Priest. But the high point of the great day came when he bore the blood of the sacrifice beyond the veil… Until the blood was sprinkled on the mercy-seat, there was no atonement, no remission of sins. For no matter how perfect the sacrifice, the blood was not efficacious unless the High Priest took that blood within the veil’. But, thank God, Jesus has ascended By his own blood he has entered the Holy Place as our great High Priest (Hebrews 9:12) and because he has so entered, we too may have boldness to enter (Hebrews 10:19-22) By his ascension Jesus assured us of access to heaven. He has poured out his Spirit The ascension was the necessary prelude to Pentecost The descent of the Spirit was dependent on the ascent of the Son. Jesus had said: Unless I go away the Counsellor will not come to you, but if I go I will send him to you (John 16:7) During the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry the Holy Spirit had not yet been given, for Jesus had not yet been glorified (John 7:39). But as a result of his ascension Jesus was glorified Peter, preaching to the crowd on the Day of Pentecost, declared: Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear (Acts 2:33). Because of his ascension Jesus has poured out his Spirit. We have now considered four aspects of the ascension These all relate to the past They tell us what Christ has accomplished by his ascension The remaining four aspects relate to the present and the future Christ’s ascension is not merely a fact of history It is vitally relevant to us here and now   He acts as our advocate We will discuss this subject more fully in the next talk but it is important to remember that it was because of the ascension that We have someone who speaks to the Father in our defence (1 John 2:1) As our heavenly lawyer, Jesus defends us against the accusations of Satan, ‘the accuser of the brethren’.   He sends out his servants Ephesians 4:8-11 tells us that when Jesus ascended he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men It is the ascended Christ who gives men and women to the Church who will equip others for works of service – apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers As we work for him on earth we do it in the knowledge that he is at the right hand of God exalted in majesty and power! For more on this subject, see Body Builders   He prepares a place for his people Another amazing aspect of the Lord’s ascension is that he has gone to prepare a place for us (John 14:3) The exact details we do not know We still see through a glass darkly (1 Corinthians 13:12) It is enough for the time being to know that we shall be where he is He awaits his advent Jesus said: If I go…I will come back (John 14:3) He has gone, and he is coming This was confirmed by the angels at his ascension: 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 1:10-11). But that too is a subject for another talk

Welcome to Smith Memorial UMC Online. Today we celebrate Ascension Sunday. Check us out online at www.smithmemorialumc.com.

At His ascension Jesus lifts up His hands.Those hands are:- blessing hands- strong hands- pierced handsTime:MorningMinister:Rev. Jack MoeskerTexts:Luke 24:50Luke 24:36–53Series:Luke

Feast of Ascension: "The bigger story of the Ascension and our place in it."

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension. This feast I think may be one of the most underrated in the liturgical calendar and that's because the Ascension itself is arguably one of the most underrated of the mysteries in Jesus whole life. Why? Because it represents the climax of what we call the Paschal Mystery. We tend to think of the Paschal Mystery strictly in terms of Holy Week; that is to say his death and resurrection. However, His death and resurrection are not complete without his Ascension. This understanding is woven into all of our Eucharistic Prayers: “We celebrate the memorial of our redemption, O Father, in this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Recalling his death, resurrection, and ascension, we offer you these gifts.” In the Nicene Creed, we confess that “On the third day he rose again, in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.” He ascended into heaven … Who is he? Today’s Gospel passage John 17 gives us glimpse of the mystery of Christ. This human being, Jesus the Messiah, is fully-human, born within time and space. But in the mystery of his Incarnation, John tells us that in the beginning was the Word. Pulling from John’s Gospel, the creed tells us that he came down from heaven by the power of the Holy Spirit; he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man … fully human and fully divine … two natures in one person. Jesus is praying to his Abba, his Father. He is reflecting on his incarnation and completing his mission, the redemption of the whole cosmos, the entire created order: again the Creed … maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen (earth and heaven). Today’s reading in Acts 1 let’s us know that Jesus will continue his ministry and fulfill his promise … I am always with you, to the very end of the age by the sending of the Holy Spirit. The full plan of redemption involves not only Jesus’ death and resurrection … the climax is the Ascension. Why? When we say that Jesus is Lord, we are speaking of the Ascension. His ascension into heaven is speaking of his exaltation at the Father’s right hand. We’re speaking of another realm … not another place within time and space. We do not live in a two story universe … for he made all that is, seen and unseen. And in Jesus, he has united the seen and unseen … in his death, resurrection and ascension. What does this mean? What is the meaning of Christ’s Ascension into heaven? It expresses our belief that in Christ human nature, the humanity in which we all share, has entered into the inner life of God in a new and hitherto unheard of way. It means that man has found an everlasting place in God. Heaven is not a place beyond the stars, but something much greater, something that requires far more audacity to assert: Heaven means that man now has a place in God. The basis or this assertion is the interpenetration of humanity and divinity in the crucified and exalted man Jesus. Christ, the man who is in God and eternally one with God, is at the same time God’s abiding openness to all human beings. Thus Jesus himself is what we call “heaven”; heaven is not a place but a person, the person of him in whom God and man are forever and inseparably one. And we go to heaven and enter into heaven to the extent that we go to Jesus Christ and enter into him. In this sense, “ascension into heaven” can be something that takes place in our everyday lives … For the disciples, the “ascension” was not what we usually misinterpret it as being: the temporary absence of Christ from the world. It meant rather his new, definitive, and irrevocable presence by participation in God’s royal power … God has a pace for man! … In God there is a place for us! … “Be consoled, flesh and blood, for in Christ you have taken possession of heaven and of God’s kingdom!” (Tertullian). From the book Benedictus by Pope emeritus Benedict XVI