Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

Link to Mass Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/060511a.shtml

“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.”

The Easter season is about the triumph of grace over sin, when Jesus put even death under His feet. He did as He promised, and rose from the dead. All we believe that He can do for us, comes from the power He displayed.

The Ascension, then, is almost like a victory lap. Jesus rises from the dead, spends a little time with His disciples, and then returns to Heaven by rising into the air. He has won, and He goes to take His rightful place. But it is hard to talk about the Ascension without thinking about His return. Like the apostles, we want to know when the Kingdom will be established. And to be honest, we just want Him with us again.

A few weeks ago, a lot of people became convinced Jesus was returning to the world May 21st. Billboards were bought proclaiming the judgment day, retirement savings were spent warning unbelievers to repentance, and ultimately, nothing happened. Most Christians rightly looked at the movement with skepticism, knowing that Jesus told us “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority.” The pastor who started the “Judgment Day Movement” was absolutely a false prophet. But the attitude of his followers came so close to being so right.

Look at what Jesus exhorts us to do before his Ascension. He tells them to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth, to make disciples of all nations. Even though He is just leaving, He wants the apostles to have a sense of urgency that they must work now, and quickly. Because He is coming back, and soon, soon, soon.

This is what the followers of the false prophet knew, and knew it with a fear that drove them to action, drove them to empty themselves of money so that people could be made aware. They knew that He was coming, and some people wouldn’t be ready. It is our duty as believers to spread the truth of the Gospel as widely and quickly as possible, because when Jesus comes back, some will fail judgment. And we will wonder if it is our fault.

This is what Jesus has charged us with, our Great Commission as believers. We have been given the Truth, and Jesus Christ dwells within us. It is not just for our salvation, but for the salvation of as many as we can bring personally to Christ. Sometimes we make the mistake of identifying ourselves as the church we belong to, thinking that because we are Christian we are doing great things because our church does great things. And our support is important, but also important is: what are we personally doing?

“Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?” We should take as our lesson from the Judgment Day people that we haven’t a moment to waste. We know Jesus has risen, we know He will come again. We don’t know when, but let us work busily for the kingdom, that we and all we meet might be saved on the last day, and all the nations of the world might be peoples of God, shouting with cries of gladness when He comes again!

“Marana tha, come Lord Jesus!”