Ascension and God's Accommodation
Ascension of the Lord (Year A)
Scripture
First Reading: Acts 1:1-11
Epistle: Ephesians 1:15-23
Gospel: Luke 24:44-53
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Prayer
Almighty God, whose blessed Son our Savior Jesus Christ ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things: Mercifully give us faith to perceive that, according to his promise, he abides with his Church on earth, even to the end of the ages; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
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Reflection
Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
They were looking intently up 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” (Acts 1:6-11).
Today is Ascension Day. For many Christians, Ascension Day is no big deal. As a Christian holiday, it doesn’t compare to our celebrations of Christmas and Easter; but Ascension is a critical part of Jesus’ ministry. In the Apostles’ and Nicene Creed, the church affirms Jesus crucified, dead, buried, and risen. But the creeds also say Jesus ascended into heaven. This is the necessary climax of Jesus’ ministry because the Ascension effectively brings Jesus’ earthly ministry to its end.
Some have questioned the account of the Ascension because Jesus travels into heaven and a cloud lastly covers him from sight and then he is gone. It has been suggested that because heaven (whatever heaven is or wherever it is) is not up in the sky, Luke’s portrayal simply reflects a crude first century story reflecting that world’s understanding of heaven as a place beyond the clouds. However, I think it’s a little more complicated than that.
God is God and we are not; and because of that in order to interact with humanity, God must always accommodate himself in order to communicate his will and ways to us. We see this throughout Scripture. God accommodates himself in the sacrificial system of ancient Israel. God accommodates himself in having Israel build a temple, a place that houses the deity. The same Scripture that instructs Israel in these earthly practices is also clear that God cannot be found in a house made with hands. God accommodates himself for us to be able to understand.
We see this accommodation chiefly in the Incarnation when God accommodates himself and becomes flesh and blood in Jesus. I think Luke’s portrayal of the Ascension is consistent with divine accommodation. The Ascension is the act that instills in the disciples the truth that Jesus is physically gone. Jesus is entering the presence of the Father and there has to be some visible means for the disciples to see that happen to know that he has really left. In so doing, God accommodates. Jesus ascends into the sky and a cloud covers Jesus hiding him from sight. (Think of Exodus 13:21 and the cloud that guides the children of Israel by day.) The Ascension scene is God’s accommodation to the disciples in order to know that Jesus is truly gone from them in physical fashion.
Yet, Jesus promised to remain with us in the presence of the Spirit. Ascension is important because it is a reminder now that Jesus’ work is now our work in the world. We become Jesus’ hands and his feet and his speech to do the work. Jesus now sits at the right hand of the Father. Jesus is Lord and the work that we continue is not in vain.
PRAYER: Risen and ascended Christ, you surround us with witnesses and send us the Counselor who opens our minds to understand your teaching. Bless us with such grace that our lives may become a blessing for the world now, and in the age to come. Amen.
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