The Ascension of the Lord

Each Sunday, we profess through the Creed, "He ascended into Heaven." Christ’s Ascension was the culmination of God’s Divine plan for Jesus – his return to his Father. 

The Ascension is the grand finale of all Jesus’ words and works done for us and for our salvation. While it is a culmination, it is not not the conclusion. Jesus now is with God in glory, so he is with us now in Spirit: "Lo, I am with you always." The feast of the Ascension celebrates one aspect of the Resurrection, namely Jesus’ exaltation.

The Biblical accounts of the Ascension focus not so much on the details of the event as they do on the mission Jesus gave to his disciples. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15).