May Newsletter Ascension

If you only had the Gospel of Matthew about the life of Jesus, you might wonder about “the rest of the story”. Matthew concludes with the narrative that Jesus met the remaining eleven disciples on a mountain in Galilee, gave them authority and the command to make disciples of all nations and then promised that he would be with them always. You may wonder, what happened next? What experiences did the disciples and Jesus have together? Where did they go? What miracles did Jesus do? Are they still doing things together? After all, Jesus promised he would be with them always.

Well, the Bible is not silent on “the rest of the story”. We read in the Gospel of Mark: Mark 16:15–20 (NIV84)

15 Jesus said to his disciples, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” 19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

Luke also records the Ascension of Jesus at the end of his Gospel as well as at the beginning of his other book, Acts.

Jesus physically ascended into heaven and when his disciples went out to make disciples, Jesus was with them in Spirit and empowered them to proclaim the Gospel and even to do miracles to confirm the truth of their preaching.

The ascension of Jesus took place 40 days after his resurrection. This year it is celebrated in many churches on Thursday, May 9th, with a special worship service. St. Paul’s and Grace must have decided many years ago that having a special worship service on a Thursday evening in the Spring to celebrate the Ascension of Jesus was no longer necessary. In Christian freedom a congregation has the option of whether or not to have special worship services or when they will be. But the Ascension of Jesus into heaven is not forgotten by our congregations nor is its importance. We will focus on the promises of our ascended Savior during our regular Sunday morning worship services on May 12th. The following Sunday will also have a special focus on Pentecost because 50 days after Easter the Lord poured out his Holy Spirit on the disciples in Jerusalem marking the birthday of the Christian Church.

If you would like to attend a special worship service celebrating the ascension of Jesus on Ascension Day, St. Peter’s of rural Marshfield, invites you to their special worship service at 6:30 PM on Thursday, May 9th.