I imagine many of you are getting ready to celebrate the mothers in your life this weekend. If you are not — take this as a reminder!
I do not want to rush past Mother’s Day or downplay their unique place in our lives, but I have noticed another spring holiday has fallen on hard times. If you read this article on Thursday, May 9, do you know what holiday it is?
Thursday, May 9, is forty days after Easter this calendar year, commemorating Jesus’ ascension into heaven forty days after his resurrection. Christmas and Easter get seasonal themes at the store, but what about Ascension Day? Does it matter?
It doesn’t matter if you have any special family traditions celebrating it, but it does matter as far as biblical promises go. Jesus wasn’t finished with his work after he died on the cross and rose from the grave. His goal was not to remain on this earth forever. However, like his disciples, we might be confused about why he couldn’t stick around. It certainly would make evangelism easier!
Yet Jesus said he had to leave. “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” (John 16:7)
Like a soldier who is deployed to serve his country in another part of the world or a student leaving home to gain training and a degree at a college in another state, so too, Jesus’ work needed to progress and move elsewhere to accomplish what he came to earth to do in the first place.
His ascension moves salvation forward toward a future goal. His move to heavenly glory was his exaltation to the highest place of honor. It also guarantees that human flesh and blood can enter such a glorious state before God.
Jesus’ ascension also serves as a reminder for us to know what Jesus is doing right now. Paul tells us in Romans 8:34, “Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died — more than that, who was raised to life — is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”
Jesus continues to plead the cause of his people in heaven. And it likely sounds similar to Jesus’ prayer before going to the cross in John 17:24, “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”
The cashier at Sunshine may not wish you a Happy Ascension Day today. Still, any Christian can be happy and comforted by Christ’s continual work and future promise, confirmed by his very own ascension to glory.
May you have a blessed Ascension Day!