He was taken up to heaven (1)

After he said this he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. Acts 1:9

Tomorrow is Ascension Day, the day when the church remembers how the risen Christ was taken up into heaven forty days after his resurrection. Because it falls always on a Thursday there is no Sunday to mark it with - which is why many Christians are almost unaware of it. But it reminds us of an amazing event we shouldn’t ignore.

Those forty days between his rising from the dead and his ascent into heaven must have been very strange for the disciples. We read that he appeared to them from time to time - we don’t know how often. Sometimes he appeared to ones and twos, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-25), other times he appeared to crowds (1 Corinthians 15:6). 

It must have been wonderful when he came; and no doubt they were disappointed any day he didn’t. They must have wondered exactly what was going on. How long would this strange in-between time last? What were they supposed to do with themselves while it was going on?

And then came the day he appeared for the last time. He took them to a hill near Bethany, spent some time teaching them, and then disappeared into a cloud. They never saw him again on this earth.

It’s a story that brings out the cynic in many people - the idea of Jesus going up like a space-rocket to a heaven somewhere up in the sky!

But that is to take it too literally. Heaven isn’t, we know, up there above the clouds, and the event of the ascension is God’s way of signalling to the disciples - and, through them, to us - that Jesus' work on earth is done. He has gone back to his rightful home, and will remain there until the time is right for him to return in glory. 

Two questions occur to my mind: first, Why did Jesus give them those strange forty days? And second, Why did he give them only forty days?

1 Why did Jesus give them those strange forty days?

We take the forty day interlude for granted because we are so familiar with it. But it needn’t have been that way, need it? You could even say that it would have made more sense for Jesus to return to heaven immediately after his resurrection. He might have appeared to them over a couple of days, assuring them of his continuing presence with them, and then - off.

The New Testament suggests at least two reasons for this interlude.

Fist, he wanted to give clear proof of his resurrection. Luke tells us in verse 3 that he “gave many convincing proofs that he was alive”. 

If he had gone immediately it would have raised the suspicion that they had seen some kind of hallucination, or that they were suffering from a delusion.

But many appearances over nearly six weeks - well, that’s a different matter. Six weeks is a long time. And, as I said earlier, the fact that on some occasions they involved large numbers of people knocks on the head the idea that this was some kind of hysteria in the heat, the immediate aftermath, of a remarkable event.

The New Testament is very keen that we should understand that the risen Jesus was no ghost or spook. No, he had a real body which could be touched (John 20:27) and which could even eat fish (Luke 24:41-42)! All right, it certainly wasn’t just the same body as he had had before the resurrection, but it was certainly no less a body. It was - is! - even more concrete, more real. And so will ours be on the day when we are raised to be with him.

Second, he still had some teaching to do. Luke says that during the forty day period he “spoke about the kingdom of God” (verse 3), and gave his disciples instructions about the coming days (verses 4-5 and 7-8).

If he had gone straight after the resurrection they would have been left confused and frightened. They needed those private tutorials - and now that they had seen him risen from the dead they would understand his words much better than they had in the days before the crucifixion. His teaching was designed to set them up for the great task, both daunting and exciting, that he was about to leave them with: “you will be my witnesses...” (verse 8).

So, there’s a couple of answers to the question, Why did Jesus give his disciples those forty days? 

But I said there was a second question: Why did he give them only forty days?

Well, I’ve run out of room! So come back, please, tomorrow...

O God, thank you that your Son Jesus is the crucified, risen and ascended Lord, and that one day he is coming back. Give me a sense of deep wonder over these things, and make me more worthy to call him Lord. Amen.