GOSPEL COMMENTARY LK 24:46-53
The ascension of Jesus into heaven should have been the saddest
goodbye in history. Imagine yourself in the apostles’ shoes. After three years
living at Jesus’ side, words are insufficient to describe all you have seen.
You saw Jesus walk on water. You saw him feed thousands of people with a few
barley loaves and a pair of dried fish. You watched in stunned amazement as
Jesus made the lame walk, the blind see and the deaf hear — all by his mere
command. You’ve even lost him to death and seen him come back again, risen and
glorified — the same Jesus you had always known.
Now, Jesus is about to ascend into heaven. He’s leaving again — and
this time, it's for good. Considering the friendship the apostles shared, and
considering who was departing from them, shouldn’t this have felt devastating?
But the Gospel of Luke says just the opposite. The apostles “returned to
Jerusalem with great joy” (Lk 24:52). To understand the cause of that joy is to
understand what the ascension of Jesus means for us.
Jesus Christ is God himself who walked this earth. But when he
walked this earth, Jesus deliberately limited himself. If Jesus was present in
one location, he was not at the same time present in another. If Jesus was
speaking to one person, he was not at the same time speaking to another. That’s
why he told his apostles, “If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going
back the Father” (Jn 14:28). It's why he said, “It is better for you that I go,
because if I do not go, the Holy Spirit will not come to you” (Jn 16:7). By the
power of the Holy Spirit, who we celebrate next week at Pentecost, Jesus will
be present not just in a single place, but everywhere. Not just to one person, but
to everyone. From now on, Jesus will be more present than ever before. As
Catholics, we know where to find him. As St. Leo the Great once said, “Since
the Lord is no longer visible among us, everything of him that was visible has
passed into the sacraments.”
Have you ever heard someone say, “I'm spiritual, but not
religious?” Imagine how you would respond if someone told you, “I'm musical,
but I don’t like instruments or notes.” Imagine how you would react to someone
saying, “I’m a sports fan, but I don’t like playing fields or goal posts.” You
realize, of course, that it's because of instruments that music is even
possible, or that it's due to playing fields and goal posts that we can enjoy
sports at all. Do you see how similar it is to say “I'm spiritual, but not
religious,” when it's only through the sacraments that Jesus Christ is
actually, tangibly present to us? Do you see how the ascension was not the end
of something, but the beginning? That’s why the apostles walked away rejoicing.
That same joy is still found among everyone who shares the faith they
professed.
Julian of Norwich, the renowned 14th-century
anchoress, once famously said, “In the end, all shall be well, and all shall be
well, and all manner of things shall be well.” Oscar Wilde is reported to have
added, “And if it isn’t well, then it's still not the end.”
Jesus has gone ahead of us in the ascension not to leave us, but
to be closer than ever before. He is with us in time and leads us home, to the
place in eternity where there will be no more goodbyes. Until then, pray to
deepen your faith in Jesus’ presence in the sacraments. In him — and only in
him — all will be well.
Fr. Hudgins is pastor of St.
Jude Church in Fredericksburg.