Week 6
Ascension: Heaven Bound
Part 1: Scripture
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (24:46-53)
(New American Bible translation,
copied to here from USCCB Books of the Bible https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/24)
46 And he said to them, “Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day
47 and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
48 You are witnesses of these things.
49 And [behold] I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
The Ascension.
50 Then he led them [out] as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them.
51 As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven.
52 They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
53 and they were continually in the temple praising God.
(New American Bible translation,
copied to here from USCCB Books of the Bible https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/24)
46 And he said to them, “Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day
47 and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
48 You are witnesses of these things.
49 And [behold] I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
The Ascension.
50 Then he led them [out] as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them.
51 As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven.
52 They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
53 and they were continually in the temple praising God.
NOTES:
[24:49] The promise of my Father: i.e., the gift of the holy Spirit.
[24:50–53] Luke brings his story about the time of Jesus to a close with the report of the ascension. He will also begin the story of the time of the church with a recounting of the ascension. In the gospel, Luke recounts the ascension of Jesus on Easter Sunday night, thereby closely associating it with the resurrection. In Acts 1:3, 9–11; 13:31 he historicizes the ascension by speaking of a forty-day period between the resurrection and the ascension. The Western text omits some phrases in Lk 24:51, 52 perhaps to avoid any chronological conflict with Acts 1 about the time of the ascension.
[24:53] The Gospel of Luke ends as it began (Lk 1:9), in the Jerusalem temple.
[24:49] The promise of my Father: i.e., the gift of the holy Spirit.
[24:50–53] Luke brings his story about the time of Jesus to a close with the report of the ascension. He will also begin the story of the time of the church with a recounting of the ascension. In the gospel, Luke recounts the ascension of Jesus on Easter Sunday night, thereby closely associating it with the resurrection. In Acts 1:3, 9–11; 13:31 he historicizes the ascension by speaking of a forty-day period between the resurrection and the ascension. The Western text omits some phrases in Lk 24:51, 52 perhaps to avoid any chronological conflict with Acts 1 about the time of the ascension.
[24:53] The Gospel of Luke ends as it began (Lk 1:9), in the Jerusalem temple.
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles (1:1-12)
(New American Bible translation,
copied to here from USCCB Books of the Bible: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/1
The Promise of the Spirit.
1 In the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught
2 until the day he was taken up, after giving instructions through the holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
3 He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
4 While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak;
5 for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the holy Spirit.”
The Ascension of Jesus.
6 When they had gathered together they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority.
8 But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
9 When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.
10 While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.
11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away.
(New American Bible translation,
copied to here from USCCB Books of the Bible: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/1
The Promise of the Spirit.
1 In the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught
2 until the day he was taken up, after giving instructions through the holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
3 He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
4 While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak;
5 for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the holy Spirit.”
The Ascension of Jesus.
6 When they had gathered together they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority.
8 But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
9 When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.
10 While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.
11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away.
NOTES:
[1:1–26] This introductory material (Acts 1:1–2) connects Acts with the Gospel of Luke, shows that the apostles were instructed by the risen Jesus (Acts 1:3–5), points out that the parousia or second coming in glory of Jesus will occur as certainly as his ascension occurred (Acts 1:6–11), and lists the members of the Twelve, stressing their role as a body of divinely mandated witnesses to his life, teaching, and resurrection (Acts 1:12–26).
[1:3] Appearing to them during forty days: Luke considered especially sacred the interval in which the appearances and instructions of the risen Jesus occurred and expressed it therefore in terms of the sacred number forty (cf. Dt 8:2). In his gospel, however, Luke connects the ascension of Jesus with the resurrection by describing the ascension on Easter Sunday evening (Lk 24:50–53). What should probably be understood as one event (resurrection, glorification, ascension, sending of the Spirit—the paschal mystery) has been historicized by Luke when he writes of a visible ascension of Jesus after forty days and the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost. For Luke, the ascension marks the end of the appearances of Jesus except for the extraordinary appearance to Paul. With regard to Luke’s understanding of salvation history, the ascension also marks the end of the time of Jesus (Lk 24:50–53) and signals the beginning of the time of the church.
[1:4] The promise of the Father: the holy Spirit, as is clear from the next verse. This gift of the Spirit was first promised in Jesus’ final instructions to his chosen witnesses in Luke’s gospel (Lk 24:49) and formed part of the continuing instructions of the risen Jesus on the kingdom of God, of which Luke speaks in Acts 1:3.
[1:6] The question of the disciples implies that in believing Jesus to be the Christ (see note on Lk 2:11) they had expected him to be a political leader who would restore self-rule to Israel during his historical ministry. When this had not taken place, they ask if it is to take place at this time, the period of the church.
[1:7] This verse echoes the tradition that the precise time of the parousia is not revealed to human beings; cf. Mk 13:32; 1 Thes 5:1–3.
[1:8] Just as Jerusalem was the city of destiny in the Gospel of Luke (the place where salvation was accomplished), so here at the beginning of Acts, Jerusalem occupies a central position. It is the starting point for the mission of the Christian disciples to “the ends of the earth,” the place where the apostles were situated and the doctrinal focal point in the early days of the community (Acts 15:2, 6). The ends of the earth: for Luke, this means Rome.
[1:1–26] This introductory material (Acts 1:1–2) connects Acts with the Gospel of Luke, shows that the apostles were instructed by the risen Jesus (Acts 1:3–5), points out that the parousia or second coming in glory of Jesus will occur as certainly as his ascension occurred (Acts 1:6–11), and lists the members of the Twelve, stressing their role as a body of divinely mandated witnesses to his life, teaching, and resurrection (Acts 1:12–26).
[1:3] Appearing to them during forty days: Luke considered especially sacred the interval in which the appearances and instructions of the risen Jesus occurred and expressed it therefore in terms of the sacred number forty (cf. Dt 8:2). In his gospel, however, Luke connects the ascension of Jesus with the resurrection by describing the ascension on Easter Sunday evening (Lk 24:50–53). What should probably be understood as one event (resurrection, glorification, ascension, sending of the Spirit—the paschal mystery) has been historicized by Luke when he writes of a visible ascension of Jesus after forty days and the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost. For Luke, the ascension marks the end of the appearances of Jesus except for the extraordinary appearance to Paul. With regard to Luke’s understanding of salvation history, the ascension also marks the end of the time of Jesus (Lk 24:50–53) and signals the beginning of the time of the church.
[1:4] The promise of the Father: the holy Spirit, as is clear from the next verse. This gift of the Spirit was first promised in Jesus’ final instructions to his chosen witnesses in Luke’s gospel (Lk 24:49) and formed part of the continuing instructions of the risen Jesus on the kingdom of God, of which Luke speaks in Acts 1:3.
[1:6] The question of the disciples implies that in believing Jesus to be the Christ (see note on Lk 2:11) they had expected him to be a political leader who would restore self-rule to Israel during his historical ministry. When this had not taken place, they ask if it is to take place at this time, the period of the church.
[1:7] This verse echoes the tradition that the precise time of the parousia is not revealed to human beings; cf. Mk 13:32; 1 Thes 5:1–3.
[1:8] Just as Jerusalem was the city of destiny in the Gospel of Luke (the place where salvation was accomplished), so here at the beginning of Acts, Jerusalem occupies a central position. It is the starting point for the mission of the Christian disciples to “the ends of the earth,” the place where the apostles were situated and the doctrinal focal point in the early days of the community (Acts 15:2, 6). The ends of the earth: for Luke, this means Rome.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Ascension of Christ, from The Passion of Christ, plate 31
Artist: Grégoire Huret (French, Lyon 1606–1670 Paris)
date: 1664
Engraving
The Ascension of Christ, from The Passion of Christ, plate 31
Artist: Grégoire Huret (French, Lyon 1606–1670 Paris)
date: 1664
Engraving
REFLECTION:
As part of the glorious event of the Ascension, Jesus gives his disciples a mission, "You will be my witnesses." After they witness him being taken up and lifted from their sight, they continue to look at the sky. The angels re-direct their gaze away from the sky and they return to the center of all their journeying -- to Jerusalem. From there they will go to "the ends of the earth."
As you look back on your journey to where you are today, do you recall any special moments when you felt that your gaze was re-directed from where you thought you were headed, to a different place that God was calling you?
READ this Ascension reflection by Father Enno Dango, CP.
After seeing, hearing, and eating with the Risen Christ, the disciples ask, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” They still have expectations and want answers. Christ tells them that they do not need to know the answer to their question, but that they will have the power of the Holy Spirit.
When you have held an expectation of God that was unfulfilled, how have you nonetheless held on to hope?
How do you help your learners hold on to hope?
Father Dango reminds us, "We Christians of the twenty-first century may not have the privilege of witnessing what the disciples saw with their own bare eyes. But we are nonetheless blessed to have shared in the uninterrupted legacy of their faith that makes us, even now, partakers of the richness of God’s inheritance."
What aspect of our faith, "the richness of God's inheritance," makes you feel most blessed?
As part of the glorious event of the Ascension, Jesus gives his disciples a mission, "You will be my witnesses." After they witness him being taken up and lifted from their sight, they continue to look at the sky. The angels re-direct their gaze away from the sky and they return to the center of all their journeying -- to Jerusalem. From there they will go to "the ends of the earth."
As you look back on your journey to where you are today, do you recall any special moments when you felt that your gaze was re-directed from where you thought you were headed, to a different place that God was calling you?
READ this Ascension reflection by Father Enno Dango, CP.
After seeing, hearing, and eating with the Risen Christ, the disciples ask, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” They still have expectations and want answers. Christ tells them that they do not need to know the answer to their question, but that they will have the power of the Holy Spirit.
When you have held an expectation of God that was unfulfilled, how have you nonetheless held on to hope?
How do you help your learners hold on to hope?
Father Dango reminds us, "We Christians of the twenty-first century may not have the privilege of witnessing what the disciples saw with their own bare eyes. But we are nonetheless blessed to have shared in the uninterrupted legacy of their faith that makes us, even now, partakers of the richness of God’s inheritance."
What aspect of our faith, "the richness of God's inheritance," makes you feel most blessed?
Part 2: A Life of Journeys
Robert Falcon Scott
Read this brief account of the final journey of Captain Scott: Captain Robert Falcon Scott: Discover the Bittersweet Ending to Scott's Antarctic
Scott's journey ended with the knowledge that he was not the first to reach the South Pole, and then with facing his certain death. His final journal entry reads: "Every day we have been ready to start for our depot 11 miles away but outside the door of the tent it remains a scene of whirling drift.… We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker, of course, and the end cannot be far. It seems a pity, but I do not think I can write more." REFLECTION: Where is the "sweet" aspect of this journey that is called "bittersweet?" |