May 17, Ascension Sunday: Luke 24:44-53
Once again we have journeyed through Jesus’ death and resurrection—only to be left watching Jesus leave.
And here we are. It’s the last chapter of the Gospel of Luke, in which Jesus meets with the disciples one last time and then ascends to heaven. Once again we have journeyed through the arrest, the trial, the betrayal, the death, and the resurrection—only to be left watching Jesus leave.
What do we witness when we circle back through this journey? That’s the task Jesus leaves us with: “You are witnesses of these things.” We are invited to look back at Jesus’ life and ministry and to recollect the healing of the blind man, the feeding of the 5,000, the outcasts welcomed, the parables told. But surely our task is more than just reciting and remembering the events that have taken place. What are these things that Christ is calling us to witness?
We do receive a clue that in the course of the journey from arrest to resurrection, a change has taken place. Not so much a change in Jesus, but a change in ourselves, “a change of heart and life for the forgiveness of sins.” This change that Jesus speaks of happened in three days. It took three days for sins to be forgiven, for hope to be made eternal, for everything to come to fulfillment.
