Ascension Day - Why did Jesus Ascend?

Why did Jesus Ascend?

The Ascension of Jesus is the departure of Christ from Earth into the presence of God. This event happens 40 days after the resurrection of Jesus. Ideally, this falls on a Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday. Jesus leads his followers out of the city and lifts up his hands and blesses them. Jesus is then taken up into heaven and is hidden from their sight. Just then, two persons clothed in white robes appear and say that Jesus will return the same way he was taken up from them. Jesus departs and a promise is given that he will return.

Ascension Day is observed by most Church traditions across the world and is also confessed through creeds and confessional statements. The Church has placed much emphasis on it but the Biblical writers seem to have divided interest to record this incident. Out of the four gospels, while Matthew, Mark and John focus more on the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, Luke places much emphasis on the Ascension so much so that he writes about it in both his volumes, Luke and Acts. There must definitely be something striking about this for Luke to record this event, something like the modern day question,“Why did Kattappa kill Baahubali?” Any Indian, living anywhere in the world in the present day cannot have missed coming across this question at least once in the recent past. It made its way into the TV industry and all over the internet troubling many a mind. Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, the highest ever grossing film of India has made over 1500 crores, reaching the summit as it kept the audience awaiting the answer to this simple question. It was asked in the first film of its franchise, Baahubali 1: The Beginning and created an element of “suspense” and anticipation in this two-part venture. Two-part volumes always create an atmosphere of interest.

The Gospel writer Luke many ages ago did just the same thing. His two-part work collectively referred to as Luke-Acts records the history of Jesus and the Early Church.  In the first book, Luke, he gives an account of Jesus’ birth, ministry leading up to the death on the cross, the resurrection and then the appearance narratives. Towards the end of the book, in the last few verses, Luke gives us an indicator, a preview of what would be the heart of his second book, Acts. We see this in Luke 24:49 in which Jesus says, “And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Right after this, in Verses 50-53 Luke gives us a brief summary of the “Ascension of Jesus”. There seems to be an interlink between Jesus’ ascension and the so-called “promise” from God, which is the Holy Spirit. The question, definitely worth more than 1500 crores, that Luke places in the mind of his primary reader Theophilus, as well as each one of us this day, is, “Why did Jesus ascend?”

There is an Old Testament passage which runs parallel to the ascension of Jesus. 

2 Kings Chapter 2 tells us the dramatic story of the ascension of Elijah. Elijah and Elisha were on a journey beginning from Gilgal. Elijah asked Elisha to stay at a place while he sensed that God was sending him further. But Elisha insisted that he went along with Elijah. They ended up going to Bethel and then to Jericho and then to Jordan. At each pit stop, there were some prophets who kept reminding Elisha that Elijah was going to be taken away from him. Elisha replied that he is aware of it and asked them to remain silent. Elijah struck the ground with his mantle and the Jordan parted and both of them crossed on dry ground. At this juncture, Elisha asks for a double portion, which is two-thirds, of Elijah’s spirit. Elijah says that when he is taken up if Elisha fixes his eyes on him, he will indeed receive it. It so happened that as they continued on their path, a whirlwind came and took Elijah up in a chariot of fire and Elisha picked up Elijah’s mantle that had fallen as he ascended. With the mantle, he was able to part the Jordan and the prophets looking from a distance exclaimed that the Spirit of Elijah rested upon Elisha.

Luke, writing to an audience who already had prior knowledge of the ascension of Elijah may have quickly joined the dots. Just like Elisha became the successor to Elijah, Jesus’ disciples are to be successors to Jesus in the task of doing ministry. The Spirit of Elijah rested upon Elisha just as in the book of Acts, the Spirit would come down upon the people on the Day of Pentecost. Luke was basically copying the writer of 2 Kings. So simple, isn’t it?

I like to believe that Luke goes a step further and distinguishes the ascension of Jesus from all other ascension stories that were present around that time. Yes, it was not an uncommon thing during the time of Jesus on Earth. There were legends about many persons ascending into heaven. The world at that time was perceived to be a three-tier world. A flat earth above which was the heaven and below which was the underworld. Heaven had to do with all good and holy things while the underworld also known as hell or hades was inherently bad and evil. Naturally then, the worldview was that what was up was good and what was below was bad. Therefore whoever ascended to heaven, including some Bible characters like Elijah, Isaiah, Enoch, Ezra, Baruch and Jesus himself were revered for having divine recognition and favour.

Ascension is one of the most celebrated moments of Jesus’ life and is perceived quite uniquely and differently by people today. For some, ascension is that moment when Jesus was taken up into heaven, waving out to his disciples saying “Tata-Bye”.  


For some, ascension is that event of glorification when angels came and attended to Jesus and took him into heaven, a scenic attraction and an overwhelming experience. Being taken up is indeed a glorious event as against being taken down. Ascending is always greater than descending. Going Up always trumps Going Down. We always want to go up in the socio-economic ladder. We want to get salary hikes, we want to get “settled” jobs, we want to have our own houses, cars, bikes, we want the money in our accounts to grow, we simply want to ascend. We always want an upward-bound life where all is well only when all is well. Is the ascension of Jesus ascension of this sort after all?

Today, I would like us to draw our attention to a seldom dwelt upon aspect of the ascension of Jesus as a time of God being absent.

If we were to strictly abide by the Acts 1 narrative and our Church Calendar, we have to admit a few things. Ascension Day is the 40th day after Easter and the Day of Pentecost is the 50 day after Easter. If Jesus departed on the 40^th day and if the Holy Spirit came on the 50^th day, then, there are 9 days of silence which we must try and grapple with. During these days the disciples were asked to “stay” or “wait” in Jerusalem. The disciples were so used to Jesus being around and showing them the way and suddenly they had to face a few days without him before the Holy Spirit could step in.

In this light, therefore, we must understand that the Ascension of Jesus was not a happy time at all, at least for the followers of Jesus. They had him with them for over 30 years and now he is suddenly being taken up from them. Imagine their state! Imagine an army without its commander, imagine a nation without its President or Prime Minister, imagine an organisation without its head, imagine a church without a priest. 

This was exactly the situation 40 days after Jesus had resurrected. 40 days was indeed a considerable amount of time to know that Jesus had resurrected but too little a time to know that he’s going away. Acts 1:6 following also suggests that the disciples were shattered because their hope that rescuing the kingdom of Israel from Roman hegemony would have one final opportunity at least after Jesus resurrected was now going down the drain. Their minds were clouded with thoughts of anxiety and fear, now knowing that he is ascending away from them. Historically, the nation of Israel had undeniably faced a lot of times as these, times of feelings of Godlessness. One of the greatest occasions that can explain this is when they were taken into Babylonian captivity around 586 B.C.E. and in a foreign land, they were asked to sing songs from Zion and they just could not. The disciples find themselves here in a similar situation. Jesus departs from their presence after giving them some final instructions for their endeavours. They are left to go through some days of loneliness hoping and praying for the God’s so-called “promise”.

All of us face times in life when there are only questions and no answers at all. There are times when we feel something is taken away from us. Sometimes we feel that God is absent. There is a sense of insecurity and it is a miserable phase. This is the time of waiting and “tarrying in Jerusalem”. There is a famous saying, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Now that depends on one’s definition of who a good person is! A person who is good in my eyes may be bad in somebody else’s eyes. The fact of the matter is that bad things happen to all. And as people of faith, as those who believe in the almightiness of God, difficult situations vex us the most. From the deepest pits, we cry out, “Where is God when it hurts the most?” Why has God ascended? Why was Jesus taken up from us?

It seems as though the answer is found within the Scriptures itself. And this is the good news. The good news is that this “absence of God” is only temporary and is only a time between Jesus’ departure and return.

The resurrection and ascension, twice narrated, form the heart of the Christian “kerygma” (proclamation) for Luke. Jesus’ departure and return are pointers to the fact that happiness will follow the sorrow produced by the temporary “absence” of Christ. In the gospel of John, Jesus’ words come about so clearly. This may as well be the answer to our biggest question this morning. In John 16:7 Jesus says, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate (Helper) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” This Advocate is the Holy Spirit who guides each one into all the truth. God always has our back. God always has a plan. When we feel that God is absent, it only means that we have to keep waiting because deliverance is just around the corner.

May this celebration of Ascension Day remind us that Jesus Christ never ascended so that we may all ascend in status, power, wealth, and so on and so forth but his ascension reminds us to accept that we do go through moments of hopelessness and times when we feel the absence of God. It is in these decisive moments that we need to trust completely in God and wait upon God. May this Ascension Day also remind us that when God seems too far away, it is only a matter of time before God can totally reverse the situation and bring hope. This hope is already in our midst in the form of the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit who is always present with us as comforter and friend. We have to allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives even as we wait. As the prophet Isaiah says, they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like the Eagles. They shall run and not grow weary. They shall walk and not faint. Amen.