Ascension Day
Today is Ascension Day. We remember that the risen Christ
is taken into heaven after appearing to his followers for forty days (Acts
1:1-11, Mk 16:19). The Ascension marks the conclusion of Jesus'
post-resurrection appearances. It is the final elevation of his human nature to
divine glory and the near presence of God.
The Collect:
Grant, we pray, Almighty God, that as we believe your
only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into heaven, so we may
also in heart and mind there ascend, and with him continually dwell; who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Acts 1:1-11
In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus
did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven,
after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had
chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many
convincing proofs, appearing to them over the course of forty days and speaking
about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave
Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. ‘This’, he said,
‘is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be
baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’
So
when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you
will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the
times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will
receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the
earth.’ When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a
cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up
towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men
of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has
been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go
into heaven.’
