SOLEMNITY OF THE LORD'S ASCENSION

 

Readings: Acts 1:1-11

                 Ephesians 1:17-23

                 Matthew 28:16-20

 

 

“I am with you always until the end of this world.”

 

 

 

Here in the Philippines, ascension is celebrated on the seventh Sunday of Easter and not on Thursday before that Sunday. So, for .several Sundays, we meditated on Christ's resurrection. But on the recent two Sundays, we meditated on the Farewell Address of Christ in order to prepare us for today’s big celebration: the solemnity of the Lord's Ascension. Resurrection and ascension are actually two aspects of one glorious event in the life of Christ. They make the most triumphant and crowning event of his life. If the resurrection vindicates him as God's son, the ascension shows his kingly reign at the Father's side.

 

With Christ's going back to the Father, there is one thing certain: his physical absence. Truly as he is exalted to the glorious heavens, his earthly life as the incarnate Savior has ended. But even then, his divine presence on earth goes all along till the end of time. This is one dominating point in Matthew's gospel which we read today. Let us, then, meditate on the significance of the ascension in the context of Christ's continuing presence in the world.

 

1. Christ is providentially present as glorious king of the universe. Being one with the Father and thus older than Abraham, Christ has always been there even before time. In fact, he was there as the Word through whom all things came to be and without whom nothing could ever be. In other words, through him everything came to be, and in him all things would fine their being. This goes to say that nothing happens without his knowledge and apart from his presence. This all-embracing presence which he shares with the Father from all eternity is what we may ascribe to as his providential presence.

 

Today, commemorate his going back to his original state. But this time, he goes, back as someone exalted above all creation. This is what St. Paul would largely emphasize in our second reading. The Father who rose him from the dead, made him sit at his right hand in heaven, bestowed upon him power and dominion above any principality, his name above every other name and in all ages, and put everything under his feet. This confirms Jesus' own words in Matthew's version. “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.” In this sense, his providential presence that goes with his ascension abides just exactly with his glory and grandeur as king of the universe.

 

But his providence becomes that glorious and grandiose not only because he reigns as a just judge, but also and mostly because he is Lord who cares and loves. That is why as he allows no hair or sparrow to fail without his knowledge, he looks at us with kindness and concern for surely, we are more beautiful than the lilies of the field and more precious than a flock of sparrows. This is what we mean by his providential presence as king of the universe.

 

2. Christ is vicariously present in the universal missionary activity of his church. His vicarious presence must be true as a matter of fact since it flows from the very last instruction which he gave to his disciples. "Therefore, go and make disciples from all nations. Baptize them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to fulfill all I have commanded you.” Christ could not back out from the necessary consequence of his own mandate. This is the gospel imperative of world mission. And Christ just perfectly knows what this mission means and entails.

 

The ascension which signals the beginning of world mission also marks the start of the disciples' missionary activity in the world. Now is the disciples' part. And it precisely becomes their part because Christ is no longer with them. We must recall that world mission or any activity of that sort did not happen during the time of Christ, strictly speaking. True, Christ never closed his doors to non-Jews. But certainly, he was always mindful that his mission was primarily for the lost sheep of the house of Israel (cf Mt 10:6). Such was the reason too why he reminded his disciples not to enter a pagan territory or a Samaritan town (cf Mt 1:5). Sad to say, his own did not accept him – and his disciples for that matter. But the gospel exigency remains: "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” - meaning, the gospel must be preached both to Jews and non-Jews. Thus, while it was providential that they had to get out of Jerusalem, it was at the same time fulfilling the last instruction of Jesus. Thus, the journey of a thousand miles must begin; and it must begin with Christ's ascension.

 

It is in this sense that Christ is and must also be vicariously present in the church. In the same way that God gives him glory and grandeur as king, so too Christ is made head of the Church which is his own body. This is one of the dominating themes of St. Paul which we find not only in today’s second reading but in many other Pauline letters. This is why we understand that Christ's ascension the church is also born. And with the birth of the church, follows most extremely necessary the divine presence of Christ even as he is already exalted into the heavens. This he assures as he says: “I am with you always until the end of this world.” However, Christ's presence in his church is vicarious. This vicarious presence has a two-fold sense. First, his invisible headship of the church is seen in the person of his visible vicar; second, his abiding presence is felt with the perpetual guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is what we hear St. Paul speak as he writes to Theophilus (cf first reading). This is the reason why the poor fisherman Peter was able to deliver his kerygmatic discourses and was rightfully understood by people of different tongues and of different places. This is why the apostles were able to make crucial and firm decisions. And this is why until now the church has remained steadfast despite the tests of times.

 

3. The significance of Christ's ascension is clear. And this is better understood in the dialectics of his necessary "absence-presence" in the world. By his ascension, Christ becomes necessarily absent. This absence is physical because he must rightly go to where he belongs. But precisely because of this absence that his presence becomes even more urgent and necessary. He has to be present and in fact he is. This presence is providential and vicarious.

 

Accordingly, therefore, the ascension brings another meaningful horizon to every believer’s life. This idea of "absence-presence" somehow enriches more our belief and understanding of "earth-heaven" as God's kingdom which “already is but not yet" Heaven is real as a promise and true as a foretaste. In fact, by his exaltation, we are already made sharers even as pilgrims. But actually not yet until we establish the reign of God. The message of the ascension, therefore, must inspire us to be partakers of God’s glory not only as passive recipients of Calvary's gains but also as active builders of his kingdom, creating indeed a new heaven and a new earth.