“The Ascended Christ,” Luke 24: 44-53

(complete sermon with citations can be found here

and a recording of the service can be found here)

“The Ascended Christ”

Year A, Ascension Sunday, Luke 24: 44-53

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Arlington, MA

Vicar Samm Melton-Hill

---

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.” Amen.

Today, we celebrate the Ascension of Our Lord, as we remember the story of Jesus physically leaving the Earth 40 Days after his resurrection on Easter. The past few Sundays, our Gospel readings have been part of what we call Jesus’ Farewell Discourse, which is a collection of stories that tells of Jesus preparing his disciples for his final departure from Earth. Just like the disciples, for the past forty days we have been getting prepared for this exact moment in which Jesus would ascend, or rise up into heaven, and be in the presence of God, leaving us to be his hands and feet here on Earth.

The first reading from Acts and our Gospel message from Luke today are best read side-by-side. Both, provide a description of the scene of Jesus spending his last moments with his disciples, before he was raised into the heavens. Luke says that Jesus, “led them [the disciples] out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.” And Paul gives us a little more information, telling us of the conversation they had prior: “as they [the disciples], were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” These two men in robes ask an interesting question in the midst of this scene, which we’ll return to later.

Both Paul and Luke paint this moment in an almost mystical light. And they weren’t the only ones who seem to be absorbed with this last glimpse of the physical body of Jesus. This image of Jesus ascending into heaven is one that artists, writers, and theologians have struggled to capture for centuries.

(back to side by side screen)

There are alot of works of art out there depicting this moment. I imagine this one (1), by Rembradt may look familiar. It has Jesus, flowing in the heavenly light, lifted up by cherubims on a cloud, while the disciples watch him and appear to be experiencing a mix of fear and amazement.

And then we have this painting (2) done as part of the “Jesus Mafa” movement, where a Chrisitan community in Cameroon, sought to depict New Testament stories in a way that honored their culture. This one of course, being the same scene that Rembrandt attempts to capture.

We are already seeing that this image circumvents the globe. (3) From Germany, to Africa, and now to Rome and India. This ivory mural was discovered in Rome and this image of Jesus’ Ascension on the “Lotus Throne” comes from India.

And of course, my favorite of this small sampling, is Jesus’ ascension being depicted as an alien abduction. (4) I’m not sure that really needs much more explanation.

And even artists like Salvador Dali took on this scene of the ascension. (5) And Dali brings an entirely new perspective to us. While all of the other artwork places us as an observer in the scene, Dali places us in the scene itself, by providing us with the point of view of a disciple, looking up to the bottom of Jesus’ feet as he goes up into heaven.

Both Paul and Luke describe the actions of the disciples as Jesus is lifted ‘up’ into the heavens. And while we have no idea what this actually looked like- we don’t know if Jesus ascended in a magical glow of light upwards, if he simply disappeared, or if he took off on a cloud carried by cherubims, we can relate to what the disciples must have been feeling. And Dali does a good job of conveying these emotions.

I love the emotion depicted in this painting, because it stirs up the same type of amazement I imagine the disciples were feeling. I too, would have felt captivated, unable to move, unable to take my eyes off Jesus.

(back to solo screen)

While it’s interesting to think about the mechanics of how Jesus returned to the heavens or how this scene may of looked at the time, I think artists have been captivated by this moment of Jesus’ Ascension for the same reasons theologians and Christians are: without the ascension, without the ascended Christ himself, there is no place for the church in this Earthly world.

And this may be a bold claim, but the crucified Christ of Good Friday and the resurrected Christ of Easter doesn’t give us the full story of what it means to be a Christian community. We need the Ascended Christ of Ascension Sunday to complete the Easter story.

Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran pastor and theologian, also believed that this story of Christ and the story of his church would be incomplete without the Ascension. This is because the ascension story gives a future and a mission to the church and this future sets the Church apart from the rest of the world.

In Acts, the disciples ask Jesus, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” And [Jesus] replies, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

When the disciples ask for their own Earthly kingdom of Israel to be restored, Jesus’ answer to this question is intended to remind them that their calling to the world is not one simply positioned in the power and authority of Earth. Jesus makes clear that the church is not simply another institution in this world, not simply another powerful kingdom of the Earth, but instead is set apart because they have witnessed the life and story of Jesus.

Pastor Chris Granski reminds us that, “If Jesus, instead of ascending to heaven, had restored the kingdom to Israel, the church would have become an institution in competition with other institutions, most notably the Roman Empire. But ascension means Jesus is the King of kings. There is no real competition between Jesus and Caesar. That would assume they occupy the same kind of space and exercise the same kind of power, but they do not.” We know intellectually that the power of God is no match for the empires of the Earth, but in this moment of ascension, as the disciples look at the bottom of Jesus’ feet, they’re uncertainty takes over and they question the power of Jesus one last time.

Even in Jesus’ last conversation with his disciples before he goes to be with God, he subverts the powers of the world. This is the constant theme of the Gospel. Jesus tells his followers that God’s power is no match to the powers of the earth- no match to the most powerful kings and politicians, no match even to the highest and most revered religious leaders, no match to any amount of money on Earth. And yet, his followers question or doubt this power and Jesus provides yet another example of his power as God’s son. Time and time again, the cycle continues, Jesus tells of his great power, people question it, he does or says something to remind them that he is different from the earthly kings they are familiar with and his followers are empowered to share the story of Jesus because of what they have witnessed.

Even in this moment, after Christ has already been resurrected, the disciples ask Jesus for the powers of the earth to be restored. It seems that in the midst of fear and uncertainty, everything they have already witnessed is quickly forgotten or questioned.

I too can relate to the disciples' forgetfulness. In the midst of chaos and uncertainty, often my first reaction is not a calm reminder that the Holy Spirit lives with me, or to first turn to trusting God. Instead, when faced with fear or uncertainty like the disciples in this story, my first reaction is one of panic, one of questions, and one of worry. I get why they first ask for the comfort and familiarity of their earthly world to be repaired. It’s much easier to return to that which we know, than to spend time with the Spirit, contemplating what God is calling us to in an uncertain future.

The crucifixion demonstrates God's love for us. The resurrection shows us of God’s power to overcome death, and the ascension helps us make sense of the death and resurrection by giving us a mission to carry out while we are in this world. Jesus must ascend so that his people can be left to carry out his mission to share his love with the world in the here and now.

Jesus’ call to his disciples begins with their community. His’ parting words in this passage from Luke is a directive to his followers, telling them, “that [the] repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” He says to them, “You are witnesses of these things. And 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."

As empowered followers of Jesus, we too are called to proclaim this story.

Today, Jesus assures us that the Spirit is with us. While he may be in heaven with God, the Holy Spirit remains with us and empowers us to be witnesses to his love.

If we return to that important question we bookmarked at the beginning, where the robed men ask the disciples, “why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” We learn from this question that Jesus has not gone to heaven to leave us alone, but instead the disciples are told not to gaze up into heaven to look for Jesus (Acts 1:11) because we find his presence among us as we proclaim the word and share the Easter feast.

From the ascension, we are assured that the spirit remains with us always, reminding us that even in the unexpected places, we will find Jesus empowering us to share the love of Christ all around us and in new ways.

I leave you today with a simplified version of this story of Jesus’ Ascension told in one version of a Children’s Bibles, it says that “Jesus’ friends looked around. Two men in white robes had joined them. The men said, “Why are you just standing there looking up toward heaven? Don’t worry Jesus will come back some day.” “Right said one of Jesus’ disciples, “Meanwhile, we have some work to do! Let’s get going!”

Amen.

Image: Rembrandt, Ascension, Public Domain