Today is Ascension Day – a moment in the life of the resurrected Jesus that we struggle to understand, and too often take literally, as though heaven is somewhere out there, up in the sky, rather than understanding it as pointing to the sheer wonder of Christ as one with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. It calls us to broaden our horizons, to recognise that our grasp of spiritual reality is at best partial, and to open our hearts and to new insights and deeper comprehension. This Ascension Day meditation, taken from my book A Most Amazing Man Year B, explores a little further what that meant for the first apostles, and what it means for us today, in turn.
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Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. Luke 24:50, 51
The meditation of the Apostle Philip
You’d think we’d have been dismayed, wouldn’t you –
to lose Jesus again, so soon after he’d come back to us.
After all, we’d been shattered the first time,
left floundering like fish out of water once deprived of his presence.
True, this time was different –
no cross,
no agony, torment and death –
but he was gone nonetheless,
snatched away from us once more.
Only he wasn’t,
that’s the strange thing.
He was with us much more meaningfully,
not in the flesh but in Spirit –
around us,
beside us,
beyond us,
within us,
touching our lives in every part.
I can’t quite explain it,
but suddenly we knew he was closer than we’d ever dreamt –
for he was not just the Messiah,
the risen Lord,
but God himself,
one with him,
one with us,
the divine in human form.
We’d walked and talked with him,
and we finally realised that we’d do so always, to the end of time.
No wonder he blessed us when he took his leave,
for though he’s far away now at the Father’s side,
through his Spirit he couldn’t be more near.
Prayer
Creator God,
mighty and mysterious,
awesome beyond words,
thank you for making yourself known to us in Christ –
for sharing our humanity,
walking our earth,
becoming one with us through him.
Lord Jesus Christ,
thank you for breaking down the barriers that separate us from the Father,
for helping us not just to know but to relate to God firs-hand.
Thank you that through your living, dying and rising among us
we can experience the gift of your Spirit,
your living presence deep within.
Open our eyes each day to the wonder of who you are
and of everything you have done,
and help us joyfully to worship you,
our risen, ascended Lord.
Amen.