Luke 24:46-53 - Jezuiti

(celebrated in Canada this Sunday, and on the previous Thursday in the U.S.A.)
Luke 24:46-53
46Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah 1 is
to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47and that
repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to
all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these
things. 49And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised;
so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from
on high.’ 50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up
his hands, he blessed them. 51While he was blessing them, he
withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. 52And they
worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; 53and
they were continually in the temple blessing God.
COMMENTARY:
Luke is the only one of the four evangelists who specifically describes the Ascension 2 , although the fairly
sparse description here (basically just v. 51) 3 needs to be read in conjunction with our First Reading, the
longer and more detailed account given at the start of the Acts of the Apostles (since both books are
Luke’s compositions). That second, longer re-telling is equally part of Luke’s presentation of this key
moment in the transition between the Risen Jesus’s earthly presence and the ministry of the Spirit-guided
Church.
46-47: A person could search the Old Testament for a lifetime, and yet you would never find an exact
quotation that is quite as explicit and clear-cut as the way in which Jesus cites it in today’s Gospel.
Although there certainly are Old Testament texts which speak of the suffering of various righteous
persons and groups (including the unnamed “Servant of the Lord” in Isaiah)—and although there are texts
which speak of new life and some type of “revival” or divine saving action [on the third day] 4 , nevertheless
the Biblical witness is not as simple and straightforward as we might assume from Jesus’ words here.
1 or “the Christ”: Christ is a transliteration of the Greek, whereas Messiah is the transliteration of the underlying
Hebrew word from which the Greek is taken; both words have the same meaning: “the Anointed One”.
2 The “longer ending” of Mark contains a description of the Ascension, although it is widely considered today to be a
later addition to the Second Gospel, and not to be the original ending composed by Mark.
3 “Luke … lays little stress on the actual ascent at this point. His concern is with the disciples and their relationship to
Jesus” (I.H. Marshall, The Gospel of Luke: A Commentary on the Greek Text, p. 909).
4 E.g. Isaiah 49:6; 53:7-8; Psalm 16:10; Hosea 6:3, the book of Jonah, Joel 2:32, etc.

There certainly were a variety of messianic ideas circulating in first-century Judaism, although it seems
that very few (if any) Jews expected a Messiah-figure who would suffer and/or die 5 . Many of the Old
Testament texts which speak of suffering and death do not seem to have been generally considered
“messianic” at that time, and only acquired a messianic interpretation for Christians, in the light of the
events of Christ’s Passion, death and resurrection. We need to remember that Luke’s Gospel (like the
entire New Testament) is written in the light of the Church’s experience of the Resurrection. Many things
that were not always clear to Jesus’ original listeners during His lifetime became clearer in the months
and years after Easter, as the first Christians sought to understand these events on the basis of the Jewish
Scriptures. What we are reading in Luke is the Church’s remembrance of Jesus’ life and words, seen
through at least one generation of Christian reflection on those events.
Jesus’ words here are pointing the early Christians back to the Jewish Bible, and saying that these
inspired words contain a depth of meaning that was not entirely obvious to the Jews of earlier centuries,
but which have now been revealed to hold something further within them. It is not primarily a case of
searching out the exact wording, but of discovering new and previously unimagined meanings. This is
what specialists mean when they speak of Christian (or Jewish) “hermeneutics” (i.e. the science of
interpretation): the Christian interpretation is one possible way of reading these texts (and Christians
believe that this is deliberate, a meaning intended by God). Obviously, we do not suggest that it is the only
way, although we believe that it is a meaning that has been endorsed and confirmed by the events of
Jesus’ life and is, therefore, an authentic and inspired interpretation. Needless to say, Jews and Christians
view this “Christological interpretation” in quite different ways, and some Jewish scholars see this as a
largely incorrect and misleading hermeneutical avenue. Similarly, Christians must acknowledge that our
interpretation is not the only proper way of reading these Old Testament texts, and that the Jewish
reading is also a legitimate (and extremely important and valuable!) one 6 .
The key point here is that, contrary to many people’s conclusions at the time, the suffering, death and
resurrection of Jesus need not be understood as disproving Jesus’ claims to be the Messiah. In fact, Luke
is saying, there is a stream within the Old Testament which can be interpreted as prophesying precisely
these sorts of events—although the specific events of Jesus’ Passion and resurrection went beyond even
what could be subtly distilled from the Scriptures. Although the Scriptures can be read in a way that de-
5 One of the more intriguing exceptions to this conclusion seems to be a tradition preserved in an ancient Jewish
commentary on Psalm 90 (verse 15): “Make us glad, according to the days of our affliction…”. This interpretation, cited
by the great medieval scholar Rashi of Troyes, renders this verse: “Make us glad, according to the days of the Messiah”.
According to this line of interpretation, “the days of our affliction [i.e. in which you afflicted us]” should actually be
read “the days of our afflicted one [i.e. the Messiah, who is sometimes spoken of as suffering vicariously for Israel]”.
Pesiqta Rabbati [a collection of homiletic midrash on the Pentateuchal and Prophetic readings] graphically describes
the nature of these sufferings, and relates the Messiah’s voluntary acceptance of these sufferings: “Master of the
Worlds! With gladness in my soul and with joy in my heart I accept it, so that not a single one of Israel should perish;
and not only those who will be alive should be saved in my days, but even the dead who have died from the days of
Adam the first man until now. And not only they, but even the stillborn should be saved in my days; and not only the
stillborn, but even those to whose creation You gave thought but who were not created. This is what I want; this is what
I accept!” (Pes. Rab. 161b, as cited in Raphael Patai, The Messiah Texts, p.112). Strack and Stemberger (Introduction to
the Talmud and Midrash) date the final redaction of Pes. Rab. to the sixth or seventh century, with certain portions
perhaps dating back as far as the mid-third century.
Similarly, a passage in the Babylonian Talmud (tractate Sanhedrin 98a) speaks of the Messiah as a leper, who sits at
the gates of the city (or ‘of Rome,’ in certain editions). These traditions are, however, a tiny drop in a vast ocean of
rabbinic speculation about the Messiah, and are clearly the minority view. It is nearly impossible today to know
whether any of these traditions go back to the era of the historical Jesus.
6 Pontifical Biblical Commission, The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible (2002):
“Christians can and ought to admit that the Jewish reading of the Bible is a possible one, in continuity with the Jewish
Sacred Scriptures from the Second Temple period, a reading analogous to the Christian reading which developed in
parallel fashion. Both readings are bound up with the vision of their respective faiths, of which the readings are the
result and expression. Consequently, both are irreducible. On the practical level of exegesis, Christians can,
nonetheless, learn much from Jewish exegesis practised for more than two thousand years, and, in fact, they have
learned much in the course of history” (#22).

legitimizes Jesus, they can also be read in a way that accords with what happened to Him, and which
affirms His identity as God’s Chosen One.
“repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from
Jerusalem”: since Luke and Acts form two parts of a single story, we should not be surprised that this is
exactly what we will see unfolding in the early chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. Jesus’ followers will
begin their preaching in Jerusalem, emphasizing the need for repentance, and the offer of forgiveness
now available to all through Jesus. As local opposition grows, however, the apostles will begin to turn
further afield, to the Samaritans, the Syrians, and other neighbouring nations, until eventually the Gospel
message will reach the imperial capital of Rome, where Acts ends with Paul under house arrest there.
Jesus’ words are, therefore, proved true, confirming once again His status as a genuine prophet.
“in his name”: it is not simply that the disciples are to proclaim repentance and forgiveness, but that these
are to be proclaimed specifically in Jesus’ name, emphasizing that it is in and through Jesus that God’s
mercy now overflows for humanity in a new and even more radical, total way than ever before. Jesus is to
be the subject and focus of their missionary proclamation.
These words also echo Luke’s emphasis on the universal significance of Jesus (“to all nations”), and on
the inclusion of “outsiders” (Gentiles) in the salvation being offered. Jerusalem, however, remains the
starting-point, the “cradle” of the infant Church.
The Bible always envisaged that when God finally acted to fulfill all the promises made to Abraham,
Moses and all the prophets, then the whole world would be brought into the embrace of God’s
saving and healing love. This is what must now happen.
‘Repentance’ and ‘forgiveness of sins’ are not, therefore, simply a matter for the individual, though
they certainly are that. At the heart of being a Christian is the personal turning away from sin, and
celebrating God’s forgiveness, which is, after all, at the heart of the Lord’s Prayer. But these two
words go much wider as well. They are the agenda which can change the world. (Tom Wright, Luke
for Everyone, p. 301)
48: “you are witnesses to these things”: the apostles have certainly been the witnesses to Jesus’ suffering,
death and resurrection, but are also those who can testify that “these things” have happened exactly as
Jesus foretold. They will now go on to be witnesses of (and participants in) the missionary thrust that will
extend the Christian message throughout Israel, the Mediterranean, and other countries of the East. The
pronoun “you” seems to be emphatic in the Greek here.
In Greek, Jesus speaks here of His followers as µάρτυρες (martyres), a term which means “witnesses” in
Greek 7 , but is also linked to our English word “martyrs”—those who have borne the ultimate “witness” to
their faith, by the offering of their own lives and the shedding of their blood. And, indeed, the ancient
Christian tradition ascribes martyrdom to all of the apostles, who are celebrated liturgically with the red
vestments used for the feasts of those who died for their faith.
49: “I am sending upon you what my Father promised”: once again, we have a subtle but real
presentation of the interpersonal dynamics of the Trinity: Jesus sends the Spirit whom the Father has
promised (literally, “I am sending upon you the promise of my Father”) 8 . The pronoun “I” here seems to
be emphatic in the Greek, stressing Jesus’ role of carrying out the Father’s wishes and acting in the
Father’s name (thus suggesting their equality). Jesus Himself has been sent by the Father (see 4:18,35),
and now He is the one who will send the Spirit in the Father’s name, as the Father’s agent.
“stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high”: there seem to be at least three
points made in this sentence: (1) that there is something particular about Jerusalem (vs. another place)—
it is here that Jesus wishes to confer the Spirit; (2) that the “promise of the Father” consists of some new
7 At the beginning of the Gospel, Luke said that he had consulted with “eye-witnesses” (autoptai), a different word from
that used here.
8 Jesus is not specific here about the content of this “promise,” but it is possibly a reference to Joel 2:28.

spiritual power than will come from heaven; (3) that after their “clothing with power,” they are no longer
obliged to remain in Jerusalem (this is suggested by the preposition “until”); in fact, this gift is to mark a
threshold which sends them out in new directions. Jerusalem is to be the starting-point—but not the
ending-point—of their new mission. The expression “from on high” here may be a Jewish style of
euphemism for “from God,” in an effort to avoid unnecessarily speaking God’s name. “Clothed with
power” suggests this spiritual gift being draped over the apostles like a robe, a toga or something similar,
enabling them in new ways, and “covering” them with its protection, like a mantle.
50: “he led them out as far as Bethany”: although there is still some debate about the exact location of the
Biblical Bethany, tradition has long situated it on the crest of the Mount of Olives, opposite Jerusalem.
This was a small town where Jesus apparently had very good friends (Mary, Martha and Lazarus), and
from which His triumphal procession into Jerusalem had begun on Palm Sunday. There has been a
church on this site since the last fourth century, and since Crusader
times, a small octagonal shrine-chapel (see picture at left) has
marked the traditional spot of Jesus’ Ascension (it is now part of a
Muslim property, next to a mosque). Depending on the scholars you
read, the name “Bethany” is understood to mean either “House of
Figs/Dates” or “House of Misery/Poverty/Suffering” 9 .
“he led them out”: some scholars point out that the same verb is
used in the Greek Old Testament (=Septuagint) to describe Moses’
“leading out” of the Israelites in the Exodus, and it is possible that
Luke wishes us to see a hint of that here—a new Moses, inaugurating
a new Exodus of sorts, into a new Promised Land. This may be corroborated by the fact that Jesus blesses
His followers immediately before leaving them—just as Moses blessed the children of Israel right before
his death (Deut. 33).
“lifting up his hands, he blessed them”: the raising of one’s hands in a formal blessing is a gesture found in
Jewish liturgy and prayer from very early times. This was how the High Priest blessed the assembled
people in the Temple, and it is still how rabbis and cohanim (modern descendants of the Jewish priestly
caste) offer liturgical blessings today (from which the practice has been inherited in Christian liturgy and
practice).
Blessings were often part of final-departure scenes in Jewish literature 10 (e.g., Gen 27:4; 48:15-16).
This act of blessing is like that of the high priest, Simon, in Sir 50:19-20. With a priestly act, the
risen Christ puts his disciples who are to be involved in mission under the protection of God before
he leaves them. (Charles H. Talbert, Reading Luke-Acts in Its Mediterranean Milieu, p. 133)
9 “The name Bethany itself confirms the village’s function as a poor-house of Jerusalem. Jerome’s Onomasticon defines
its meaning as domus adflictionis, ‘house of affliction’. Jerome understood the name to be derived from the Hebrew bet
‘anî, or the identical phrase in Aramaic, bet ‘anyâ, ‘house of the poor’ or ‘house of affliction/poverty’. The Christian
Palestinian and Syriac versions of the New Testament both give the Aramaic version of this name, and confirm
Jerome’s understanding. Unfortunately, modern commentators have rejected Jerome’s explanation, preferring most
often to suggest a derivation from the personal name Anaiah (Neh 8:4 and 10:22) … A derivation from bet hini, ‘house
of figs,’ has been suggested, since the name of the nearby village Bethphage derives from bet phagê, ‘house of unripe
figs’ … It is … unlikely that one of these two neighbouring villages, which experienced exactly the same climate, would
have been named for a difference in its fig crop. The Christian Palestinian and Syriac versions were undoubtedly
correct to render Bethany as bet ‘anyâ, ‘House of the Poor’ … The modern semantic equivalent of bet ‘anyâ,
‘Bethany/bethany,’ is ‘Poorhouse/poorhouse’.” (Brian J. Capper, “The New Covenant in Southern Palestine at the
Arrest of Jesus,” in James Davila, ed., The Dead Sea Scrolls as Background to Postbiblical Judaism and Early
Christianity), p. 110.
10 A similar request for a pre-departure blessing is found in the apocryphal 2 Enoch [=Slavonic Enoch] 56, and the
wording is similar to 1 Enoch (“And I lifted up my hands in righteousness and blessed the Holy and Great One…”; R.H.
Charles edition, #LXXXIV, p. 184).

51: “While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven”: it is while
Jesus blesses His followers that He is taken up into heaven; thus, in some sense, the fact of the Ascension
is itself meant to be seen as bound up with the blessing (and not, therefore, as a curse, a punishment or a
deprivation). The Ascension is meant to be seen as a source of blessing—for, until Jesus ascends, the Holy
Spirit cannot be sent; Jesus’ departure is the necessary prerequisite for the coming of the Spirit, with all of
the rich diversity of gifts the Spirit will bestow in Jesus’ name.
“he withdrew from them”: this Greek verb (διΐστηµι, diïstēmi) is very uncommon in the New
Testament, used only 3x, and only by Luke (in Lk 22:59, here, and in Acts 27:28).
“was carried up to heaven”: once again, the use of the passive voice here (“was carried up”) may be a case
of the “divine passive,” in which an action is indirectly attributed to God, without specifically naming Him
(and would therefore mean, “God carried Jesus up to heaven”). The idea of being “carried up to heaven”
while still alive may conjure up the images of Enoch and Elijah, two figures who were “lifted up” to heaven
(Gen. 5:24; II Kings 2), and about whom a wealth of Jewish legends developed in the centuries around the
time of Jesus. Both Enoch and Elijah were spoken of as exercising key roles in God’s name, especially with
regard to the coming of the Messianic Era and God’s final judgement of the world.
52: “they worshipped him”: Luke seems to suggest that, with the Ascension, there is a new and deepened
awareness of Jesus’ identity and nature, and so the disciples “worship” Him (a term implying physical
prostration, normally reserved for worship of God [and, in Roman culture, the Emperor], and therefore
attributing divine qualities to Jesus). The verb “to worship” (“to bow down”) is used only 3x in Luke (here,
and twice in 4:7-8, in the account of the temptations in the desert, where the devil invites Jesus to
worship him). This is thus the only place in the Gospel where Jesus is spoken of as being “worshipped”—
the “Christological high point” of Luke, as some scholars describe it.
“[they] returned to Jerusalem with great joy”: the disciples return to Jerusalem, in obedience to Jesus’
command to remain there in anticipation of the Spirit’s coming. Now, however, their return to Jerusalem
(the city of Jesus’ suffering and death) is coloured not by fear or worry, but by joy—joy over what they
have just witnessed, and joy over what they now know to expect. Jerusalem has been changed for them
from a city of unhappy memories, death and defeat to a city of triumph and eager anticipation. Especially
in Luke’s Gospel, joy is the natural response of human beings who have experienced God’s action in and
through Jesus.
53: “they were continually in the temple blessing God”: despite whatever tensions may have existed
between the first Christian Jews and their rabbinic Jewish counterparts, the majority of the first
Christians in the Holy Land certainly considered themselves “at home” in the Temple, and continued to
pray and worship there, probably for many years (decades?) after the Resurrection and Ascension. Other
historical references inform us that the Jewish-Christian schism was neither as simple nor as immediate
as we might infer from the New Testament.
The image of these disciples being “continually in the temple blessing God” recalls the image of the aged
prophetess Anna, to whom Luke introduces us in 2:36-38, and who “never left the temple but worshipped
there with fasting and prayer night and day”. Luke emphasizes the importance of the Temple, but also the
virtue of continuous prayer (following upon the personal example of Jesus Himself, who often spent long
periods in prayer). The Temple provides the theological and symbolic bridge between the “old” and the
“new,” and emphasizes the continuity of Christianity with its Jewish foundations; Luke is clear that he
does not see Christianity as a “rupture” with Judaism, but as an organic (and logical) outgrowth of the Old
Testament and the teachings of early Judaism.
With the ascension, the Gospel reaches its climax. What began in the temple concludes in the
temple with praise to God, and the path of Jesus now reaches its goal. The programme has been
established for the second volume of Luke’s work, in which the church will obey the command of

the risen Jesus, to take the gospel to all the nations. (I.H. Marshall, The Gospel of Luke: A
Commentary on the Greek Text, p. 908)
Christologically speaking, the ascension means that Jesus, now enthroned at the Father’s right
hand, has established his universal rule, “far over every principality, ruling force, power or
sovereignty”. He is also “head of the Church, which is his Body” (Eph 1:21-23). The ascended
Christ, far from being absent, fills the whole cosmos in a new way: “The one who went down is none
other than the one who went up above all the heavens to fill all things” (Eph 4:10). From now on, it
is through his Spirit, whom “the Father has promised” (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4), and whom Jesus,
now “raised to God’s right hand,” has poured out (Acts 2:33) or in “the breaking of the bread” (as in
the Emmaus story, Luke 24:35) that Jesus is present in a new way to his followers. Ecclesially, the
ascension implies that the Church now begins to function as the visible embodiment of Jesus. With
the ascension, the time of the Church begins, marked by the gift of the Spirit and by Christian
response to the Spirit, in service of the reign of God. (“Ascension,” in Michael Glazier and Monika
Hellwig, eds. The Modern Catholic Encyclopedia, pp. 51-52)
Various early manuscripts of the passage have alternative readings for specific words and actions of
the departing Lord. Some scholars see the passage as closely resembling the original ending to
John’s gospel (John 20:19-29) and believe that a simple account has been amplified by
interpolations from John. The author’s purpose was the reiterate the absolute identity of the risen
Christ with the flesh-and-blood Jesus of his earlier narrative. This contrasted with the late 1 st -
century heresy called Docetism, which denied the humanity of Jesus by asserting that his divine
nature descended upon him at this baptism and withdrew before his crucifixion. It is possible that
elements of this heresy had already crept into the teachings of some Christian leaders by the time
Luke’s gospel was written in the 80s CE. (Rev. John Shearman; online at:
http://www.seemslikegod.org/Lectionary/YearB_Ascension.htm)
Gerald Darring, “The Perspective of Justice”; online at the Center for Liturgy, St. Louis
University:
We usually think of faith as an attitude of trust and belief on our part; we trust God’s word and believe its
message. The Ascension is perhaps the expression of a different faith: God’s faith in us.
God-become-human could have remained on earth and done everything required for the coming of the
kingdom. Instead, Jesus removed himself physically from the earth, making room for his followers. He trusted
them, he believed in them, he had faith that, once they were filled with the Spirit, they would work effectively
for the coming of the kingdom.
It remains for us to go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to all creation. It is our task to
relieve suffering, to end war, to remove ignorance, to heal wounds, to eliminate divisions, to promote
understanding, to spread love, to cause justice. We must tackle the problems of the world, and Jesus has
stepped aside, so to speak, so as not to get in our way.
Why do you stand here looking up at the skies? Get busy! There is work to do!
St. Cyril of Alexandria, On John’s Gospel 9:
[The reason for Christ’s departure was] his desire to open the way for our ascent to those heavenly places and
to prepare a safe passage for us by making smooth the road that had previously been impassable. For heaven
was then completely inaccessible to us—human foot had never trodden that pure and holy country of the
angels.
It was Christ who first prepared the way for our ascent there. By offering himself to God the Father as the
firstfruits of all who are dead and buried, he gave us a way of entry into heaven and was himself the first
human being the inhabitants of heaven ever saw. The angels in heaven, knowing nothing of the sacred and
profound mystery of the incarnation, were astonished at his coming and almost thrown into confusion by an
event so strange and unheard of. Who is this coming from Edom? they asked; that is, from the earth.

But the Spirit did not leave the heavenly throng ignorant of the wonderful wisdom of God the Father.
Commanding them to open the gates of heaven in honor of the King and Master of the universe, he cried out:
Lift up your gates, you princes, and be lifted up you everlasting doors, that the king of glory may come in.
And so our Lord Jesus Christ has opened up for us a new and living way, as Paul says, not by entering a
sanctuary made with hands, but by entering heaven itself to appear before God on our behalf. For Christ has
not ascended in order to make his own appearance before God the Father. He was, is, and ever will be in the
Father and in the sight of him from whom he receives his being, for he is his Father's unfailing joy.
But now the Word, who had never before been clothed in human nature, has ascended as a man to show
himself in a strange and unfamiliar fashion. And he has done this on our account and in our name, so that
being like us, though with his power as the Son, and hearing the command, Sit at my right hand, as a member
of our race, he might transmit to all of us the glory of being children of God. (English translation by Sister
Edith Barnecut, OSB, in Journey With the Fathers: Commentaries on the Sunday Gospels, Year C)
Rev. Dr. Barbara K. Lundblad (online at: http://www.day1.net):
The Spirit that anointed Jesus now anoints you and me. That’s what Jesus tried to tell his disciples before he
left them. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses.” …
Here on this earth, where I left my footprints.
Centuries later Dietrich Bonhoeffer kept the message going. “The body of Christ takes up space on the earth,”
he said. That is, the Body of Christ makes footprints. Bonhoeffer goes on, “A truth, a doctrine, or a religion
need no space for themselves. They are disembodied entities, that is all. But the incarnate Christ needs not
only ears or hearts, but living people who will follow him.”
“Why do you stand looking up into heaven?” Sometimes it’s still easier to look for a pure world up there or out
there, especially if we think of the church as the body of Christ. We see so many blemishes, so many things
wrong. Perhaps you’ve said, “Show me a church where ministers aren’t self-serving, where people aren’t
hypocritical, where love is genuine, and then I’ll become a member.” Well, we’ll wait a long time, for such a
church takes up no space on this earth. Or perhaps such a church lives only in our memories, a time when
disciples believed, when faith could move mountains, when motives were pure.
Annie Dillard writes about such longings in her book Holy the Firm:
“A blur of romance clings to our notion of these people in the Bible—as though of course God should come to
these simple folks, these Sunday School watercolor figures, who are so purely themselves—while we now are
complex and full at heart. We are busy. So, I see now, were they. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?
There is no one but us. There is no one to send nor a pure heart on the face of the earth—but only us, a
generation comforting ourselves with the notion that we have come at an awkward time. But there is no one
but us. There never has been. There are generations which remembered, and generations which forgot; there
has never been a generation of whole men and women who lived well for even one day.”
There is no one but us, not in this time and space. We can stand looking up into heaven or we can believe the
promise of Jesus: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my
witnesses.” You will make footprints in and through ordinary, imperfect communities of faith that seldom get
it right. Ascension Day is not a call to look up. It is to trust that Christ’s promise is down and in and around
us. We are not alone—you and I who dance and climb, who run and get knocked down, we who lie on the grass
or sit watching the late-night news. We are not alone. The Holy Spirit, promised by Jesus, surprises us at every
turn, saying, “Guess who?”
Rev. Hubert Beck (online at: http://www.predigten.uni-goettingen.de):
On the one hand, Jesus had finished all that he had been called to do and yet, at the same time, what he had
done was only the beginning of what he would continue to do through these disciples gathered before him and
through all those who would come after them as bearers of the glad tidings.
His ascension, therefore, is not so much to be looked upon or spoken of as an act of levitation, defying the laws
of gravity, to be admired and wondered at, as it is an “elevation of status” before the eyes of all humanity.
Witness was given to those watching that this Jesus with whom they had walked and talked, eaten and drunk,
had been exalted to the divine throne, “seated at God’s right hand in the heavenly places,” recognized as the

head of all things visible and invisible, far above all the creation within which he had lived and died and rose
again from the dead. The “cloud that took him out of their sight” is a rather common biblical way of speaking
about the presence of God (“a pillar of cloud” preceded the Israelites out of Egypt – “a cloud” filled the temple
when it was dedicated – “a cloud” came across the Mount of Transfiguration when Jesus was there with his
disciples, etc.). He was received back again into the divine glory that was rightfully his from before his birth! …
In this we find both fear and hope – fear that we can hide no sin from him, can go no place nor do any thing
without his knowing it – and yet hope that wherever sin is discovered the grace of God is also present in all the
abundance we have seen and known in this crucified, risen and ascended One. The fear of God’s wrath is never
without the counterpoint of the promise of God’s mercy for all who seek it, want it with all their heart, “hunger
and thirst after righteousness” (Matt. 5:6) and place all their confidence in the Christ who finished the work
assigned to him while the Good News of that accomplished work continues to be established anew and
proclaimed in every generation to all parts of the world through his body, the church. No sin is so big that
God’s redeeming grace is not still larger for all who seek it and want it . . . and that redeeming grace fills every
nook and cranny of the entire universe! It is to worship and adore this ascended Lord that we gather in this
place on this day and on every Lord’s Day.
Pope St. Gregory the Great (ca. 540-604), Homily 29 on the Gospels:
“The Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of
God” (Mark 16:19). He departed once more for the place where He had previously been; He returned, but from
a place where He continued to dwell. Truly, in this moment when He ascended into heaven in His humanity,
He united heaven and earth in His divinity. Beloved brothers [and sisters], what we should pay attention to in
today’s solemnity is the suppression of the decree which condemned us, and of the judgement by which we
were sentenced to corruption. Truly, human nature—to whom these words were addressed: “You are dust, and
to dust you shall return” (Gen 3:19)—this very nature is today raised up to heaven with Christ. And that is
why, my dear brothers [and sisters], we should follow Him with all our heart—follow Him where our faith tells
us He has ascended in His body. Let us flee from the desires which belong to the earth; may none of these
bonds here below be an obstacle to us who have a Father in heaven.
Let us also think about the fact that He who has ascended into heaven full of gentleness will return in a much
more demanding way … That, brothers [and sisters], is what should guide our actions: focus your minds on it
continuously. Even if you are battered back and forth by the affairs of this world, from this day forward, cast
the anchor of your hope in our eternal homeland (Heb 6:19). May your soul seek only the True Light. We have
just heard that the Lord has ascended to heaven; let us seriously consider what we believe. Despite the
weakness of human nature which still holds us here below, may love draw us to follow Him, for we are certain
that Jesus Christ, who has inspired this desire in us, will not disappoint our hope. (My translation from a
French original)

See, the Conqueror Mounts in Triumph
See, the Conqueror mounts in triumph; see the King in royal state,
Riding on the clouds, His chariot, to His heavenly palace gate.
Hark! the choirs of angel voices joyful alleluias sing,
And the portals high are lifted to receive their heavenly King.
While He lifts His hands in blessing, He is parted from His friends
While their eager eyes behold Him, He upon the clouds ascends;
He Who walked with God and pleased Him, preaching truth and doom to come,
He, our Enoch, is translated to His everlasting home.
He has raised our human nature in the clouds to God’s right hand;
There we sit in heavenly places, there with Him in glory stand:
Jesus reigns, adored by angels; man with God is on the throne;
Mighty Lord, in Thine ascension we by faith behold our own.
See Him, Who is gone before us, heavenly mansions to prepare,
See Him, who is ever pleading for us with prevailing prayer,
See Him, Who with sound of trumpet, and with His angelic train,
Summoning the world to judgment, on the clouds will come again.
Raise us up from earth to Heaven, give us wings of faith and love,
Gales of holy aspirations wafting us to realms above;
That, with hearts and minds uplifted, we with Christ our Lord may dwell,
Where He sits enthroned in glory in His heavenly citadel.
(Lyrics by Christopher Wordsworth, 1862)