In Preparing for Ascension Sunday

To You Who Are Beloved of our Lord Jesus Christ,       May 12, 2026

 This Sunday, our passages are Luke 24: 50-53 and Acts 1: 6-11, the story of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus.  And part of Our Story, that Jesus ascended For Us. 

 Luke 24: 50-53  ⁵⁰ Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. ⁵¹ While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. ⁵² And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, ⁵³ and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

Acts 1: 6-11 ⁶ So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷ He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸ 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.” ⁹ When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰ While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. ¹¹ 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.”

 The only two-parter in the Bible are the Gospel of Luke (Luke) and the Book of the Acts of the Apostle (Acts).  Written by the person history remembers as Luke (he didn’t sign his work), we know they are conjoined because of their dedication.  Each is dedicated to someone named Theophilus, and each is to tell the truth of the story of Jesus, His time on earth in the Gospel, and His legacy in the establishment of the church.

In British television, I am told that instead of always having the same show that is simply renewed year to year, they can actually change the name slightly so that the ‘same’ show will be a different series each year.  I actually don’t know if that’s a real thing, but it fits what happens in Luke and Acts.  Same show, like ‘The Jesus Show’, but two different series.

 

The first is Jesus with us in person.  The second is Jesus with us in Spirit (literally).  And the crossover event is the Ascension.  So just a couple of verses to lay it down to conclude Luke, following Luke’s version of the Great Commission we know more famously from the Gospel of Matthew.  It’s like a cliffhanger.  Jesus is leaving…now what?  Is this it?  Who shot JR?  (THE greatest cliffhanger in television history so far as I am concerned…hint: “Dallas”).

 

In Acts, we get more context.  The disciples ask our Lord, is He staying among them?  He rose from the dead, been around for over a month.  Good times, but what’s next?  To paraphrase Jesus, He’s passing the torch to them.  They are going from being disciples (followers) to apostles (servants).  And Jesus is going but Jesus is not going.

 

The world will not see Jesus anymore.  The Ascension is real.  The disciples will be standing there, mouth’s open like they are catching flies or something.  The Men in White let them know that as Jesus arose, so He will return, physically.

 

But things have already been set into motion.  Jesus, God in human form will ascend and the Holy Spirit, God in Spirit form will descend.  Jesus is still with us, not a friend we have in Him, but, rather, Him in us, Jesus in our hearts.  It kind of redefines prayer.  Instead of aiming it up into the transcendent, we can speak to God inwardly, in our hearts.

 

Jesus is coming again (physically).  But in the meantime, the apostles are laying out the Neighborhoods in God’s Kingdom (like ours) that will be finished at Jesus’ physical return.  But Jesus will be here the whole time, spiritually.  Yah, I am still working at that one too…

 

Pastor Pete