Ascension - An Ending and a Beginning

 Ascension

An Ending and a Beginning

‘When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
Luke 24.50-52

I am convinced that [nothing] in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord
Romans 8.38-39

One foot on Earth and the other in Heaven; wholly in his Father’s kingdom. His presence in this world could not go on forever. Otherwise, it would be an obstruction to the faith of humankind. There had to be an ending but, in a blessed paradox, a beginning.

An ending – to the faith based on the flesh and blood presence of Jesus; the man who had taught and nurtured and prayed. He had prepared his disciples for this moment. He had promised them that they would be equipped with God’s power for the task that lay ahead; the Spirit would come to dwell within them.

A beginning – They went away, not consumed by grief and daunted by the task ahead but with great joy; worshipping him and knowing that nothing could part them from his love. The spreading of the Good News, repentance and forgiveness available to all, lay ahead of them. New hope and released potential under the Lordship of the risen Christ carried them forward.

Today, it is our most treasured possession; the knowledge that the power of his Spirit dwells within us and that Jesus, who once trod the earth, awaits to greet us in heaven. To shake off this mortal coil is not to go out into darkness, but to be raised to the glory of light of his love.

              Alleluia!  Not as orphans
              are we left in sorrow now.
              Alleluia!  He is near us,
              faith believes, nor questions how.
              Though the cloud from sight received him
              when the forty days were o'er,
              shall our hearts forget his promise,
              ‘I am with you evermore’?

                             William Chatterton Dix (1837–1898)

He is risen indeed. Hallelujah!

The Methodist Church provides worship and devotional resources at www.methodist.org.uk