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ASCENSION: A NEW PHASE OF MISSIONAL ACTION |
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So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee, they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:6-11 (New International Version.) |
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In life, departures are almost always moments of sadness for the ones who are remaining behind. The story of the Ascension of Jesus was one such moment of sadness and confusion for the disciples. It had been a dramatic period of forty days from the day of the resurrection when the risen Lord kept appearing before his disciples.
They must have become fairly confident about the new post Crucifixion and Resurrection scenario and begun their own dreams about what the future might entail. One such possibility was the restoration of the kingdom to Israel. We cannot blame them really as they were expressing their top-most concern. They did not realize, as we often still do not realize, that they were standing on the verge of a new stage in the unfolding drama of the great mission of God.
Jesus just gently brushes their concern aside for a moment and utters one of the most powerful and transforming statements in the life of the New Testament: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
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And this promise was to find fulfillment in a matter of ten days. The disciples query was about the restoration power to Israel and Jesus’ answer implies the gift of power being given to the disciples. There is an interesting co-relation between the question and the answer.
The concern was about power of a certain nation over other nations and yet, for Jesus, it was about the power of being human as God intended it to be in the first place. These last words of Jesus, mark the end of a certain phase and usher the beginning of a new phase of life in the Spirit. The focal point of the new phase was to continue here on earth as the programmatic expansion of the kingdom was to start from Jerusalem, spreading through Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
Ascension therefore marks the beginning of a new phase of engagement in the struggle for life. It is a phase that transcends social, religious and political boundaries, just as Jesus had demonstrated during his ministry. The gospel story cannot be reduced into some national or denominational or cultural or political boundaries. Its boundaries, if any can be imposed, are the needs of humanity and the environment. Ascension is a reminder that the church needs to go beyond the limiting walls of its buildings and maintenance oriented programmes to Missional action.
This means going into the so-called areas where we would “normally” feel uncomfortable, afraid, or scandalized. Ascension therefore helps us to re-focus our mission priorities and deal with the matters in this world in the power and wisdom of the Spirit promised by Jesus. |
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Prayer- Thought: |
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Eternal God, grant your spirit to enable your people everywhere to be a more-caring toward each other and to the whole creation. Help us to cast away the spirit of fear of other people and the fear of freedom and responsibility. And like the disciple, challenge us not to look for our own interests only, but to seek the fulfillment of your mission from where are to the ends of the earth, Amen. |
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