ASCENSION OF A GLORIFIED BODY
The Solemnity of Ascension of the Lord is the feast of the Risen Christ with a glorified body taken up to heaven and now setting at the right hand of God forever. It is plain from Scripture that Jesus’ ascension was a literal, bodily return to heaven. He rose from the ground gradually and visibly, observed by many intent onlookers.
As the disciples strained to catch a last glimpse of Jesus, a cloud hid Him from their view, and two angels appeared and promised Christ’s return “in just the same way that you have watched Him go” (Acts 1:11).
The Solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into heaven is one of the Christian feasts that offers us; hope, assurance, and promise of the finality of our Christian life as Heaven-bound people. It is a mystery deeply shrouded in the mystery of the resurrection. At the resurrection, Christ body became a glorified body that is no longer limited by the law of space and time of the universe.
That is, the Ascension of the Lord is a feast of hope on a threefold level. First, the hope of the resurrection for all Christians as only a glorified body by the resurrection could ascend to heaven. That is a glorified body that transcends all limitations of time and space law.
Second, the hope of heaven to be with God in eternal bliss, and Christians have no permanent home on earth. It implies we are not earth-bound people but something precious and beyond. Third, the hope of the coming of the Holy Spirit, second Advocate that will help live the Christian life to the full. That is, we are not alone in life and amidst circumstances of life.
OUR THEME OF TODAY
The major theme of the Feast of Ascension is one of Christian hope, faith and love. First, Jesus prepared his followers to live in, for and on the Word of God and the Eucharist. Second, he commissioned them to be his witnesses from familiar places to unknown places. Finally promised an eternal presence through the Holy Spirit- the Advocate, Comforter and Santificator of our Christian faith and life.
Forty days after the resurrection, Jesus and His disciples went to Mount Olivet, near Jerusalem. There, Jesus promised His followers that they would soon receive the Holy Spirit, and he instructed them to remain in Jerusalem until the Spirit had come. Then, Jesus blessed them, and as He gave the blessing, He began to ascend into heaven.
After our earthly life, there is a hope of an eternal homecoming to be with the resurrected and glorified Christ. We assure that resurrection of the body into a glorified body is a necessity for the homeward of Christians toward God.
FIRST READING: ACTS 1:1-11
The first reading vividly describes for us the account of Jesus’ ascension to glory forty (40) days after his resurrection. The number 40 in the biblical context is significant; purification for a sense of impurities, preparation for an encounter with God and transition into something better.
The period between Jesus’ resurrection and ascension was 40 days (Acts 1:3). When he purified his disciples of the erroneous views of him, his message of the kingdom and confusion of the resurrection. He also prepared them for his departure and the coming of the Holy Spirit. As well as, the transition from him to the apostolic witnesses him.
In other words, the Ascension concludes Jesus’ ministry on earth and prepares for the gift of the Spirit at Pentecost. The keyword here for us is not preoccupations or worries of when the end time will come, but continue bearing witness to Christ and his Kingdom.
The psalmist reminds us in Psalm 47, though the Ascension of the Lord was in the context of sadness, fear and despair. It calls also for the celebration of great joy, hope and anticipation of the Holy Spirit. Hence, he acclaims to us, “God goes up with shouts of joy, the Lord goes up with trumpet blast. “
SECOND READING: EPHESIANS 1:17-23
St Paul makes us understand that Christ’s victory is also our victory. Hence, God has raised Jesus from the dead a glorified body and exalted him above every created or existing being. It is a privilege to belong to his body, and the church.
St Paul emphasized the work of God in Christ Jesus through the action of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the revealer of God´s wisdom and the fullness of God´s revelation. The giver of Christian hope and the riches of a glorious inheritance. It is also the power of the God of gods to transform all things in Christ Jesus.
In this biblical passage of St Paul´s letter to the Church of Ephesus, we see him inviting the Church to love Christ as well as their Christian brothers and sisters. However, he also prays for the church:
He prays for the Spirit of Wisdom. That is for the Church to be led deeper and deeper into the knowledge of the eternal truths. It means that Christians should be thinking people, and should have a teaching ministry. They should also be willing to have a readjusted sense of proportion, where the word of God is used or applied to solve worldly problems.
Paul prays for a fuller revelation and a fuller knowledge of God. For the Christian growth in knowledge and grace is essential. The Christian faith, the life of witnessing and service is built onward discoveries and creativity to meet growing new challenges of Christendom. It is never a static or fixed life. Christianity and Christians should never shun facing the fullest of God´s revelation and its implications for each age and time.
He prays for a new realization of the Christian hope. It is a characteristic of the age in which we live that it is an age of despair. On every side, there is a voice of pessimism, which challenges us to resound with trumpet call the Christian hope.
He prays for a new realization of the power of God. For Paul, the supreme proof of that God´s power above all things visible and invisible was the resurrection. It proved that God’s purpose cannot be stopped by any action of men. In a world, which looks chaotic, it is well to realize that God is still in control.
Paul finishes by speaking of the conquest of Christ in a sphere, which does not mean so much to us today. For him, God has raised Jesus Christ “far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion and every name that is named,” there is not a being in heaven or on earth to whom Jesus Christ is not superior.
In essence, Paul’s prayer is that all Christians should realize the greatness of the Saviour, God has given to them. The victorious Christ whom by the resurrection and ascension of his glorified body became our hope and victory attained and sustained through Christ forever.
THE GOSPEL: MARK 16:15-20
In the Gospel of today, it is noted that before the glorified body of Jesus Christ was raised to heaven. The mystery of our faith we celebrate as Ascension of the Lord he gave his disciples his last words or testament. The resurrected Christ:
(1) Gave his disciples a mission to go and to teach and proclaim the Good News to all, as well as baptizing and trying to save everyone. The church has the tasks of preaching and healing to all to restore them to grace, mercy and love of God.
(2) Gave them all power and authority over all things with promises of signs and wonders they will perform as well as the evil they will overcome. The church has a source of power authority to act on behalf of the departed or ascended Christ.
(3) Made them see his ascension and taken possession of his rightful place and glory at the right of God. The ascension of the church and its members is only possible through the glorification of the resurrection, like Christ. Since only a glorified body can ascend to heaven.
1) It signalled the end of His earthly ministry. God the Father had lovingly sent His Son into the world at Bethlehem, and now the Son was returning to the Father. The period of human limitation was at an end, hence it was his glorified body that returns to glory. the church and is still the Lord of power.
THE ASCENSION OF JESUS CHRIST IS MEANINGFUL FOR SEVERAL REASONS:
7) It set the pattern for His return. When Jesus comes to set up the Kingdom, He will return just as his glorified body was left literally, bodily, and visibly in the clouds (Acts 1:11; Daniel 7:13-14; Matthew 24:30; Revelation 1:7) glorified body that returns to glory.
2) It signified success in His earthly work. All that He had come to do, and He had accomplished.
7) It set the pattern for His return. When Jesus comes to set up the Kingdom, He will return just as his glorified body was left literally, bodily, and visibly in the clouds (Acts 1:11; Daniel 7:13-14; Matthew 24:30; Revelation 1:7).
4) It symbolized His exaltation by the Father (Ephesians 1:20-23). The one with whom the Father is well pleased (Matthew 17:5) was received up in honour and given a name above all names (Philippians 2:9).
5) It allowed Him to prepare a place for us (John 14:2).
6) It indicated the beginning of His new work as High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16) and Mediator of the New Covenant (Hebrews 9:15).
7) It set the pattern for His return. When Jesus comes to set up the Kingdom, He will return just as his glorified body was left literally, bodily, and visibly in the clouds (Acts 1:11; Daniel 7:13-14; Matthew 24:30; Revelation 1:7).
Currently, the Lord Jesus is in heaven as the glorified Lord and Saviour of all. The Scriptures frequently picture Him at the right hand of the Father-a position of honour and authority (Psalm 110:1; Ephesians 1:20; Hebrews 8:1). Christ is the Head of the Church (Colossians 1:18), the giver of spiritual gifts (Ephesians 4:7-8), and the One who fills all in all (Ephesians 4:9-10).
THE MYSTERY OF THE ASCENSION FROM SCIENTIFIC AND MYSTIC STANDPOINT
Newton´s law of gravitational force states that any two masses attract each other with a force equal to a constant (constant of gravitation) multiplied by the product of the two masses and divided by the square of the distance between them. In other words, anything lifted or thrown from the ground certainly return to the ground.
It is difficult to explain the mystery of the Lord´s Ascension to heaven body and soul. However, there is a scientific and a mystical explanation of this mystery that is plausible and probably faultless.
From the scientific perspective, the only thing that defies the law of gravitational force is the ray of light which is the lightest thing on earth that travels up and if without obstruction or deflection does not come back.
Mystically, too, a transformed celestial or glorified body like that of the Resurrected Christ freed from sins and the corruption of the body is as light as the ray of light to ascend without deflection or falling off from the sky.
THE IMPLICATION FOR THE CHRISTIAN FAITH AND LIFE
7) It set the pattern for His return. When Jesus comes to set up the Kingdom, He will return just as his glorified body was left literally, bodily, and visibly in the clouds (Acts 1:11; Daniel 7:13-14; Matthew 24:30; Revelation 1:7).ll pulling everything towards itself and the only thing that can escape its pull must be lighter like the ray of light. That is a glorified body free of sin and death through the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Conclusion: A life without sin is the only life with the hope of the resurrection of the body and ascension to heaven in Christ Jesus.
THE CELEBRATION OF TODAY IS A GREAT SOURCE OF
Faith in Christ Jesus the fullest manifestation of God, is one faith through all the ages as Christians and the Christian community.
Hope, to us all that our lives are not earthly-bound but that there is an eternal home for us in heaven where Christ ascends to today.
Love the perfect form of bearing witness to the crucified, resurrected and ascended Christ. For Jesus not only left an immortal name and influence; this immortality of his presence and his power is still alive and still active in the Christian life and community through love.
It calls for a moment of prayer, of stillness and of waiting for the power from above the Holy Spirit.
OUR PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ, you were crucified and by your resurrection, you live forever and also by your ascension, you are in your glory, seated at the right hand of God and reign forever. Give us the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit: faith, hope, love, joy, peace, assurance and courage and by the mysteries we celebrate may our lives be transformed so that we may not only fulfil your last testament but also complete the mission you entrusted to us. May your resurrection and ascension be everlasting proof that devil, evil, sin, and death cannot hold you or us bound to hell. Amen
