According to Acts, following the Resurrection, Jesus continued over 40 days to visit his followers. Ascension marks the end of that 40 days. Although we make a big deal of Easter, Ascension usually slips by without much fanfare. That may be because we don’t know quite what to make of it. After all, we no longer think of heaven as a physical location somewhere up in the sky, but as a spiritual state of being.

            Actually, though, Ascension makes perfect sense. Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances were not intended to go on forever, so it was important they have a definitive end. If they had just gotten further and further apart and then petered out, it would have been like a long goodbye that never quite allows the parting individuals to get on with their lives. The Ascension, however, is as decisive as it is dramatic, and it marks not only the ending of Jesus’ time on earth, but also the beginning of the period when people would learn to see him with the inner eyes of faith.

Seeing the mission

            Consider the scene on that first Ascension Day. One moment Jesus is telling his followers that the power of the Holy Spirit will come upon them, and that they are to be his witnesses to all the earth. That alone stuns them, but the next moment, Jesus is lifted up into the sky, blocked from their sight by a cloud, and then seen no more. His followers continued staring skyward, straining to see whatever else might happen.

            Then “two men in white robes” appear and ask, “Why do you stand looking up toward the sky?” The implication is, “Stop standing here staring off into the distance and start looking at life around you. Here is where your witnessing is to begin.”

            Within about seven weeks, the disciples had seen their whole world change -- the thrill of Palm

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