Ascension to Pentecost

Today is 40 days since Resurrection Day 2022, which in America is called Easter.  In ten days is Pentecost (June 5) when in history the Holy Spirit came rushing upon the disciples as Jesus had foretold (Luke 24:29, Acts 2).

I am thinking of those men (especially the 11 disciples) and women (especially those who encountered Jesus that first Easter Sunday) on this day in history (40 days later, Acts 1:3).

Those followers had experienced a number of encounters with Him over the previous weeks affirming His conquest of death and the grave.  But, things were not as before as He would appear and then be gone – at times for many days – then appear again.  At some point, He instructed them to meet Him at the Mount of Olives on that Thursday for another encounter and they complied.

And He showed – again!  And?  He told them to stay in Jerusalem for a few days for the coming of the Holy Spirit. They asked about the kingdom that He had announced and had often talked about.  His response? “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth,” Acts 1:7-8.

Then suddenly He lifted from earth and was received into God’s glory chariot (a mass of angels as reported in Psalm 68:17-18 and Exodus 40:34) and taken to Heaven to a grand “homecoming” and seating at the right hand of God (Ephesians 4:8, Hebrews 1:3).  It was ten days later that the Holy Spirit did come upon the eleven as reported in Acts 2 and subsequently upon all those who by faith accept Jesus as Savior and Lord, Acts 2:38-39.

I think of those men and followers now charged by Jesus to stay in Jerusalem – the city that shouted, “Away with Him”, and succeeded in getting Rome to execute their Leader on a cross.  They were told to remain in a city hostile to their King.  However, it was also a city in some level of uproar as the aftermath of an earthquake that was likely blamed for the rent veil in the temple and for the disruption of sepulcher stones.  And there were those once dead now on the streets again causing both untold joy as well as deep concern – what in the world was God up to?

The eleven were told to remain in such a place.  It was likely with a special empowerment from Jesus with this report:  And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them,“Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22), which could be both a promise and a temporary power.

So this day – the 40th day since the resurrection – is not large in modern Christian thought, but it maybe should be.  Jesus had declared, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. 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.  Thus His departure was a HUGE blessing on His followers which includes you and me – if saved!  His departure opened the door for the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost (this year June 5), Who brought a bucket load of blessings (John 14).

In past days and in some quarters of Christianity today, this day, Ascension Day, is celebrated:

From GotQuestions.com:  According to one of the early church fathers, Augustine of Hippo, the Feast of Ascension originated with the Apostles. It may be one of the oldest feasts practiced by the Church, possibly going as far back as AD 68. There is no written evidence, however, of the church honoring Ascension Day until Augustine’s time in the fourth century. Churches around the world have observed Ascension Day Feasts for centuries, including ceremonies and traditions including processions, prayer vigils, and Catholic masses. 

I’m not suggesting a feast day or a special day be made of this day, but I am saying that we need to ponder the event of that day in history which was HUGE to those first followers and should be HUGE for us as well.  Do we grasp what God was doing then and now?