The Feast of the Ascension
Thursday, May 29, 2025
The Rev. David Wilcox
Today we celebrate a profound truth—one that we affirm every time we recite the creeds: that Christ ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. Yet in my experience, the Church often overlooks or underemphasizes this mystery. The Ascension is arguably one of the least understood and most underappreciated tenets of Christianity. We acknowledge it in Scripture. We proclaim it in the creeds. But rarely do we pause to reflect on what it really means. So tonight I would like to spend just a bit of time doing just that.
What scripture says about the Ascension is pretty well summed up in the readings we heard tonight.
The Gospel of Luke tells us:
“He led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.” (Luke 24:50–53)
In Acts, we hear:
“He was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus…will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’” (Acts 1:9–11)
And in Ephesians, St. Paul writes:
“God seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion… And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” (Ephesians 1:20–23)
It’s one thing to say that Jesus returned to the Father—it’s another to grasp the why and how of it. So what does the Ascension mean for us today?
In the Incarnation, God took on human flesh. Jesus lived as one of us. He experienced temptation, love, sorrow, betrayal, loneliness, and death. He suffered for our sake, died the death we deserved, and rose again to destroy the power of sin and death. And when He ascended, He did so still fully human.
This is a staggering truth: Jesus carried our humanity—our flesh and blood—into heaven. In doing so, He united humanity and divinity forever. Our nature is now enthroned at the right hand of God. He has prepared a way for us to follow. As St. Athanasius of Alexandria said:
“God became man so that man might become God.”
William Temple, former Archbishop of Canterbury, put it beautifully:
“The ascension of Christ is his liberation from all restrictions of time and space. It does not represent his removal from earth, but his constant presence everywhere on earth.”
Jesus is no longer with us physically, but in ascending, He transcended space and time. He is now present with us always and everywhere. Whenever we gather in His name, He is there. He is present in our joy, in our grief, in our struggles—just as He was on Earth. And we can draw strength and comfort from His presence.
The Ascension also anchors our hope. We live in a world filled with suffering, injustice, and death. But the Ascension reminds us that we already know the end of the story. The Jesus who ascended will return. He will come again in glory to establish the fullness of His Kingdom, where justice and peace will reign, every tear will be wiped away, and death will be no more.
Until that day, the Ascension assures us that we are not alone. Jesus has not left us as orphans. He reigns in glory, interceding for us, and walking with us in every moment of our lives.
The Ascension gives us the confidence to keep walking The Way. It reminds us that our future is secure, that Christ is with us, and that He will return in power to make all things new.
So let us go into the world strengthened by this knowledge. Let us proclaim the Good News:
Christ is Risen, Christ is Ascended, and Christ will come again!
