Feast of the Ascension - Year C
Two versions of Jesus’ ascension are set before the praying assembly today, in the text from Acts (1:1-11) and in the Gospel (Lk. 24:46-53). Both include the essential kerygma; both include the promise of the Spirit as the powerful and ever-present enabler of Jesus’ continuing mission through the church. Both include the statement that Jesus was taken up from earth to heaven and both include the charge of the risen Jesus that his own should be witnesses of who he was and what he did before the world. However, they serve two different functions. The Gospel version of Jesus’ return to glory functions as a doxology that concludes the Lucan telling of the Good News, and the Acts account serves to introduce the mission of the church.
Notice also, that while the Gospel recounts the ascension of Jesus on Easter Sunday evening, Luke, in Acts, has chosen to separate the ascension from the resurrection by a period of 40 days. This enables Luke to establish his own historical-theological framework, with its post-Easter instruction of the apostles stretched over a 40-day period.
What did the disciples learn from the risen Jesus during their special time with him? Did the reality of his resurrection take hold of them? Did they begin to perceive him as truly alive? Did they come to realize that the Jesus who died on the cross was the same Jesus who rose and appeared among them? Were they becoming cognizant of their place in God’s plan of salvation and the responsibilities they would assume after Jesus’ returning to glory?
After the disciples had spent so much time with the risen Jesus, their question to him about the restoration of the rule of Israel (Acts 1:6) may seem imperceptive. It may be, however, that Luke included the question to renew in his readers the hope for the kingdom. Without quashing their hopes, the risen Jesus reminded his own that the exact time was not theirs to know. Rather, their job was to witness to his truth, work that could be empowered and directed by the Spirit. Luke ably recounted that work in Acts so as to inspire future generations to continue to do as their ancestors had done – to bring the good news to every heart!
