Read: Luke 24-44-53
Today is Ascension Day. The Bible reading explains how Jesus reminded the disciples that the Old Testament Law, Prophets, and Psalms had been fulfilled; he had suffered, he had risen, and soon the message of repentance and forgiveness would spread out, starting in Jerusalem but reaching all corners of the world.
Jesus went to the village of Bethany on the Mount of Olives, where he raised his hands in blessing, and the disciples saw him taken up into heaven. He had disappeared before following his post-resurrection experiences, but this time it was final, for they saw him go.
In Luke 24:52 we read, ‘Then they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.’ So ends Saint Luke’s Gospel. At the very beginning of the same Gospel, Zechariah is told, with reference to his son (John the Baptist) (Luke 1:14), ‘He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth.’ Then, in slightly different language, Mary the mother of Jesus also rejoices at the news of her pregnancy.
John was beheaded and Jesus was crucified, but their lives fulfilled ancient prophecy, and still we are better for the knowledge of them and, in the case of Jesus, for meeting with him in different forms in our world now.
The other day I walked along a narrow footpath to nowhere in the river estuary just below Snape Bridge. Surrounded by water, there was just birdsong and the sound of the reeds and grass in the wind, and yet not far away work was going on in the fields, shipping was busy in the North Sea, and the Arts were flourishing at Snape Maltings. I walked back along the riverside path to the car, all the better for a little while surrounded by water and the peace of the place.
Life, even the more awkward parts of life such as suffering and death, takes on a different hue if we can find a way of surrounding ourselves with joy, even briefly. Jesus left the disciples on the Mount of Olives so God could later come back to them as the Holy Spirit. He comes to us also in our places of waiting and stillness.
A Prayer
Lord God, eternal one, as the different chapters of your story merge into one, help us to step aside from the messiness of life and the temporariness of our mortality to surround ourselves with joy, as the tide of river and marsh stills the busy landscape and makes all seem serene. Ascended Lord, we worship and adore you. Amen.