He then, as Luke describes, “opened their minds” to understand the Scriptures about how the Messiah must suffer, and die, and then rise on the third day. Jesus greets them as he had done before: “Peace be with you.” They react as if they had seen a ghost, but Jesus calms their fears, shows them his scars, and asks for something to eat as if to show them that he was in-the-flesh-real. It is some unspecified number of days after his resurrection (in the Book of Acts, Luke has it as forty days) that Jesus makes his final appearance to his disciples as they are gathered together in a private safe-house somewhere in Jerusalem. So, what do we make of this strange event and what does it all mean?īefore the actual ascension part, Luke sets it in context of his particular post-resurrection narrative. And so, Jesus just floats upward toward heaven. You couldn’t have Jesus die at the end of the story, for he had died already once and in so doing defeated death. I found myself wondering, was this a literal event or was it the only way Luke could imagine Jesus’ departure? After all you couldn’t have Jesus riding off into the sunset like John Wayne.
I suppose it’s because I have always seen this peculiar account of Jesus’ rapture into heaven as strangely otherworldly – especially for the normally worldly and down-to-earth Luke. I must admit I’m like most preachers who tend to shy away from preaching about the Ascension. This morning I want to talk about why the ascension of Jesus Christ, as told by Luke both at the very end of his Gospel and also in the second chapter of Acts, matters for Christian worship and discipleship today. The Ascension of our Lord is the religious holiday that gets no respect. The lectionary writers even offer alternative readings for the Seventh Sunday of Easter thus, one can disregard the Ascension altogether. Now, even for Catholics it appears to be a lesser feast day, and Ascension Sunday for Protestants is pretty much ignored if not largely forgotten. In centuries gone by, the Feast of the Ascension was a big deal. The most devout of Roman Catholics honored the Feast of the Ascension on Thursday by going to mass. It is less well known also as Ascension Sunday – the Sunday following the ascension of our Lord which was celebrated this past Thursday. On the liturgical calendar this is the seventh Sunday of Easter, or the Sunday just before Pentecost. I’ll bet you’re wondering where I’m going with this. In that way he also often got no respect. Dangerfield was that people would always confuse him in real life with his oafish comedy persona. But I always found them.” 1 Those are among the mild ones. He said, ‘Okay, you’re ugly too.’” And another, “When I was a kid my family moved a lot.
He was best known for his self-deprecating humor and monologues using the catchphrase “I don’t get no respect!” One such line went, “I don’t get no respect: my psychiatrist told me I was crazy. He was also a successful actor, producer, and screen writer and influenced many comedians that followed him. One of my favorite stand-up comedians of the past half-century was Rodney Dangerfield. Click HERE to view/download the worship bulletin.
0 kommentar(er)
