Thursday of this week was Ascension Day

Thursday of this week was Ascension Day, the day we mark the Ascension of Risen Christ to God. this Sunday is known as the Sunday after Ascension. The churches celebration of the Ascension is based entirely on the Book of Acts. The gospels either don’t talk about it or have it on Easter Day. So what is Ascension about?

The Gospels were written in part to teach that in Jesus we meet God. That means our understanding of the nature of
God should be shaped by Jesus’ life, ministry and death. The resurrection acts as God’s confirmation of this. Resurrection affirms the crucifixion as the door into the heart of God and with the Ascension declares that the risen Christ is no longer confined to one place and one time, but is now present in all creation and all time. Because of the Ascension we are invited to look for the signs of the risen Christ’s presence based on how Jesus the Christ is presented in the gospels.

Ascension can also be seen as the other side of the Incarnation. In the Incarnation the divine mingles with the human and Jesus is understood as both fully human and fully divine. In the Ascension the resurrected Christ who is still both fully human and fully divine returns to the Godhead and the human is enfolded into the divine. We are folded into the divine.

Next Sunday is Pentecost, and we move into a new season in the church year. How does the ascension add to our understanding of living a resurrected life now?