Ascension of Our Lord and Discipleship

(Photo courtesy: Jean-Mark Arkalian)

                                                          

                                                             Listen to my audio homily here

Today’s both first and the third readings are penned by St Luke (Acts 1: 1-11, Lk 24: 46-53).  If the Gospel reading is taken from the last part of St Luke’ Gospel, then the first reading is taken from the very beginning of the Acts of the Apostles.  Thus both readings, the way they are arranged symbolize ending of Jesus’ earthly ministry in a very fascinating way and begins a new chapter in the lives of his disciples through the overpowering of the Holy Spirit. 

The Acts of the Apostles speaks very movingly how the Risen Jesus was taken up to heaven. It speaks about cloud and two men in white. The imagery of cloud is found throughout the Old Testament to signify God’s holy presence. When Israel went out of Egypt, the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud (Ex 13:21). When Moses climbed Mount Sinai to stand before God, the Lord descended in a cloud (Ex 24:18). And in the New Testament, we read about the Transfiguration and the cloud from which God the Father announced Jesus as “my Son, my Beloved” (Mt 3:17). The Psalm 46 for today says “God goes up with shouts of joy; the Lord goes up with trumpet blast” to replete with the foretelling of the Ascension. The point is that the manner of the Ascension reveals again Christ’s divinity, His relation to Father. 

Interestingly Ascension of the Lord takes place outskirts of Bethany where Jesus had great friends Martha, Mary and Lazarus. And he had raised dead Lazarus and given life to him. Bethany is very close to Jerusalem. And this city of Jerusalem is a city of David, a city which accommodated the ark of the covenant and where God dwell, a city where God resided, a city which also put Jesus to death, but now becomes very part of Jesus’ ascension episode. In other words, Jerusalem is a city of divinity. The resurrected Jesus is fully divine. The disciples cannot hang on him. They listen to him; he appears and disappears.  Interestingly, even though Jesus went through the crucifixion, death and burial near Jerusalem, he did not appear to his disciples in Jerusalem but in Galilee (Mark 16:7).  At the tomb he appeared to Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary".  Now with the ascension of Jesus in Jerusalem the work of divinizing people begins there. This work is carried out by his beloved disciples. Jesus reminds his disciples what had already foretold that they “in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this” (24:47). If Jesus started his preaching ministry in Galilee and other parts of North of the country, but the ministry of the apostles begins in the South of the country from Jerusalem.  The work of disciples in giving testimony to Jesus does not end in Jerusalem or in Galilee but as the Acts of the Apostles tells us “not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to the ends of the earth” (1:8).

The Ascension is part of what we call the Paschal Mystery. There are four inter-related parts: suffering and death; resurrection; ascension; and the sending of the Spirit. They are closely interlocked as one reality. If the resurrection says that the crucified Jesus is alive, the Ascension says that the living Jesus has entered into glory, sharing on an equal level the glory of his Father. This is expressed in many different ways in different writings of the New Testament. We have three of these viewpoints or understandings in each of today’s readings. On God’s right hand in the Letter to the Ephesians 1: 17:23 (Second Reading of today) the fact is stated with great solemnity but without saying how it took place. The author speaks of the strength of [God’s] power at work in Christ, when he used it to raise him from the dead and to make him sit at his right hand, in heaven, far above every Sovereignty, Authority, Power, or Domination, or any other name that can be named, not only in this age, but also in the age to come. 

Consider also our words in the Creed, which we profess every Sunday Mass: “He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.” There is a sense of ending because the Ascension marks the end of the human physical presence of Christ amongst us - for now, at least; He promised to come again. The Ascension is both ending and beginning, one of the many “both-and’s” of Catholicism.

This brings us to consider the second offering from St Luke: his Gospel account in which we hear the sense of a beginning, the beginning of the Church. The Ascension was not the end of the Father’s work but heralded a new era in salvation history.

With the ascension of the Lord, from now on wherever there is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness…”, wherever there is truth, love, compassion, justice, freedom, beauty the Spirit of Jesus is there. While the scene in Acts takes place in Jerusalem (for Luke the focal point of all that Jesus means for the world), Matthew has the disciples back on their home ground in Galilee. For, it is in the familiarity of home, not up in the skies, that Jesus is to be found. They are at the mountain “where Jesus arranged to meet them”. This is the mountain where Jesus once revealed himself to three disciples at the Transfiguration (chap. 17) and where he touched them (“Stand up; do not be afraid.”). This is not really an ascension scene. It is understood that the Risen Jesus is already in the glory of the Father. We have here rather an appearance of the Risen Jesus, an appearance that relies on faith. So, on the one hand they worship and, on the other, they have doubts – an experience all of us can have from time to time. The emphasis here is not on the appearance of Jesus but on what he has to say to his disciples. It is in three parts – past, present and future. Jesus, source of all authority.

First, Jesus tells them that all authority of the Creator God himself, has been given to him. To commit oneself totally to Jesus is to commit oneself to God. 

Second, Jesus gives the command to “make disciples” of people everywhere. He is thus passing on much of his own authority to his disciples. Pentecost will be the confirmation of this. They are to do what he did. They will have the power to reconcile the sinful with God and with the community and to decide who are not yet ready for reconciliation and full participation in the community’s life. The community has standards to keep in order to be a living and credible witness of Jesus and his Gospel. It has a corporate right to maintain those standards. They are to teach, to heal, to break down the divisions that separate people. Baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit will be the symbol of incorporation as members of Christ’s Body, as disciples of Jesus. Always with us.  

Third, the Risen and Ascended Jesus is not far away. He is with his followers and will be with them to the end of time. It is a reminder of the promise made at the very beginning of Matthew’s Gospel, before the birth of Jesus: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name will be called Emmanuel (which means, God is with us)” (Matt 1:23) and again later on, “Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matt 18:20). 

The gift of the Spirit is not mentioned but is clearly implied by the promise of the ongoing presence of Jesus. Today’s feast then is a celebration of Jesus’ glory after his suffering and death – a glory in which we also hope to share. At the same time, we celebrate the ongoing presence of the Risen Jesus among us, a presence which calls on every one of us to be living witnesses to that presence here in our own community and to the ends of the earth.

Questions for reflections:

1. How can I be a good news to others?

2. Where can I find a sacred space in my life?

- Olvin Veigas, SJ

02 June 2019