He blessed them. Then He was gone. And that was the plan. But which one exactly?
An unremarkable place for an extraordinary event: the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. No crowds—just a few people standing around their Lord for the last time. Jesus blessed them (Luke 24: 50). And then He was taken up to heaven in a cloud and was gone (Catechism of the New Apostolic Church, CNAC 3.4.12).
Looking up: forty days later everything was different
What the disciples experienced that morning was not a silent disappearance. Acts records that they watched Him until the cloud took Him out of their sight (Acts 1: 9). Unlike the resurrection, which took place without any witnesses, Jesus’ ascension was a visible departure. Forty days had passed between Easter and that moment. In the Bible, the number forty is a symbol of preparation and testing: Israel was in the wilderness for forty years, Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai, and Jesus fasted for forty days in the desert before His temptation. There is a pattern in this figure: God prepares before He brings to completion.
And then—silence. But where had Jesus gone? To heaven—by which we do not mean a place in outer space, but the reality of being in the immediate presence of God, hidden from human eyes, yet no less real. Jesus had returned to the place from which He had come (John 16: 28). Things had come full circle, and at the same time something entirely new began.
Familiar: at the right hand of the Father
“He is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.” Christians have been saying this for centuries. It is included in the Apostles’ Creed (Apostolicum), the Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople, and the New Apostolic Creed. It is so familiar that we no longer even notice it. Yet it contains one of the most significant statements of the Christian faith: the Ascension is not God’s withdrawal, but the revelation of His reign (CNAC 3.4.14).
“Seated at the right hand” is a figure of speech from the language of kings: those who sit at the right hand of the one who is in power, share in the power. The psalmist had prophesied it: “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand’” (Psalm 110: 1). What was a promise there became a reality at Christ’s ascension: Christ reigns.
And there is even more: He intercedes for His own. “Christ makes intercession for us” (Romans 8: 34). Hebrews describes Him as the one who entered “into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us” (Hebrews 9: 24). This intercession is not merely a pious afterthought, but the active work of the exalted Christ.
Sent: not the end, but the beginning
What do people say when they leave? When Jesus left, He did not offer words of comfort but gave them a mission and the authority to carry it out: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore …” (Matthew 28: 18–19). And the disciples’ mission is not personal initiative. It is a sharing in the mission of Christ Himself (Missio Dei). “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20: 21).
That means: Ascension Day is not a day of melancholy. It is the moment when followers become disciples, when witnesses of Christ’s earthly life become witnesses of the Risen One. “You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1: 8). This mandate is valid to this day.
Persevered: ten days between heaven and earth
The ascension is past, and Pentecost has not yet come. The Bible says very little about the ten days between these two events—and maybe they are all the more intriguing for that very reason. The disciples return to Jerusalem, gather in the upper room, and wait. No programme, no action plan, just prayer and fellowship (Acts 1: 12–14). This interim period has a quality all of its own. It is neither triumph nor defeat—it is a faithful waiting for a promise that has not yet been fulfilled. Who is not familiar with such a situation. We have been given a promise, but its fulfilment is pending.
The disciples’ confidence rests not in knowing the timing, but in knowing the person. Jesus had said it Himself, “Wait for the Promise of the Father” (Acts 1: 4). The disciples’ perseverance (hypomone) is not passive waiting or idleness. It is an active attitude of faith that prepares them for what God is about to do. Ten days later, Pentecost dawned.
Insight gained: no Pentecost without Ascension
It is one of the most surprising things Jesus ever said, “It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you” (John 16: 7) There was no pain or sadness when He left, no apology, but a promise. His departure is a prerequisite, not a loss. The ascension is not the end of God’s nearness, but the beginning of a new form of nearness to God.
For as long as Jesus was on earth as a human being, He was bound to a specific place and time. With the sending of the Holy Spirit (Missio Spiritus), this bond is broken: the Spirit is not bound to a specific place, nor to time, nor to a specific culture. John notes that the Spirit had not yet been given, “because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7: 39). Christ’s ascension marks His visible conclusion and is a prerequisite for Pentecost (CNAC 3.5).
This has far-reaching consequences: goodbyes can open doors to something new. What looks like a loss can be the beginning of something greater than what has been lost. The disciples experienced this. Ten days after the ascension, the Spirit came upon them and transformed a group of anxious and confused people into a community that would change the world (Acts 2: 1–4).
Longed for: O Lord, come!
The last words the disciples hear on the Mount of Olives do not come from Jesus, but from two men in white robes: “This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1: 11). From the very beginning, the farewell contains a promise of return.
This expectation has a name that is as old as the early Christian church: Maran atha which is Aramaic for “O Lord, come!” It is one of the oldest prayers of the early church (1 Corinthians 16: 22), and it is more than longing. It is a mindset. It expresses the longing to bring to completion what began at Christ’s ascension. The exalted Christ wishes to return to take His own unto Himself. In John 17: 24 we can read: “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am.” This promise applies to both the living and the dead (1 Thessalonians 4: 15–17) and forms the very heart of Christian hope (parousia) (CNAC 3.4.15).
The ascension and the return of Christ belong together like departure and arrival. Those who celebrate Ascension Day are not celebrating a farewell, they are celebrating a promise.
“Maran atha. O Lord, come!”
Photo: Viktor – stock.adobe.com