Though the official celebration of the Ascension was this past Thursday, many churches celebrate this event on this Sunday. Looking at the summary of this event s found in the first chapter of Acts (see Acts 1:1-11), we consider Jesus' parting words to the disciples who were present that day. What did it mean for them to watch Jesus go up into the heavens? What did he expect from them? What does it mean for us still today?
* * *
On this Sunday we celebrate Jesus’ ascension into heaven. Traditionally, the Feast of the Ascension was actually this past Thursday, forty days after Easter Sunday. Our Scripture today tells us that Jesus appeared to the disciples over a period of forty days, and so the celebration in the church follows that statement literally.
Of course, if you read even a few of the more well-known Bible stories, you know that the number forty occurs frequently -- the flood that lasted forty days and forty nights, the forty years that the Israelites spent in the wilderness, the forty days that Moses spent on the mountain with God, the forty days that Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness after his baptism. It occurs frequently enough that we might begin to suspect that the number is being used in a figurative sense instead of a literal one. Kind of like when we say “the last time I saw you, you were knee high to a grasshopper” we simply mean someone was much smaller the last time we saw them, the number forty as it appears in scripture seems to represent a lengthy period of time. I have heard it said that it is meant to represent a time sufficient for things to happen -- the flood lasted long enough to accomplish its purpose, the Israelites wandered in the desert long enough for God’s purposes to be served, Jesus spent long enough with the disciples for them to be prepared for what was next.