Coffee With God

Reflection: Luke 24:46-53

Each Sunday we profess through the Creed, “He ascended into Heaven.” Ascension is the grand finale of all Jesus’ words and works done for us and for our salvation. It is a culmination, but not the conclusion. As Jesus is now with God in glory, so Jesus is with us now in Spirit: “Behold, I am with you always.” Jesus did not wait 40 days to be glorified at God’s right hand. Before the Passover meal, Jesus had told his disciples, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified…” His passion, death and resurrection were already his glorification. The Biblical accounts of the Ascension focuses on the mission given to the disciples. Luke records both in the Gospel and in the Acts of the Apostles that Ascension took place in Jerusalem. But in Matthew and Mark, the event occurred in Galilee. According to Luke, the Ascension happened forty days after the resurrection, but in Matthew and Mark there is no indication of the time period between the Resurrection and the Ascension. The Gospel writers were more concerned with the message of the Lord than the event itself. Through his ascension, Christ has opened for us the way to heaven. Luke narrates how Jesus blessed his disciples before ascending to the Father’s glory (v. 51). The evangelist is referring to a Jewish tradition of the high priest blessing the people. At the end of liturgical celebrations in the temple of Jerusalem, the priest would come out of the sanctuary and pronounce a solemn blessing on the faithful (Sir 50:20). After the blessing, they returned to their occupations, confident that the Lord would bring success to all their efforts and all their labours. Jesus imparts a final blessing that would accompany the community of his disciples which gives them the guarantee of success of the work they are about to begin. Luke stresses on the joy of the disciples after the Ascension. The disciples “returned to Jerusalem with great joy” (v. 52). The disciples rejoice, because they have understood that the enemies could not destroy their Master. They have experienced his resurrection and now he promises to be with them always. The Resurrection and ascension of the Lord showed them that everything that happens in their lives – successes and misfortunes, joys and sorrows are all known to God and in the Divine Plan. They realise that Jesus has not left them, but is remaining with them. Now he is no longer restricted by time and space; he is with everyone, forever. With the Ascension, his presence has multiplied! The challenge of sharing the Good News with all mankind should begin with our own life of Christian joy – amidst the struggles of daily life.