Ascension
“Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20b
For 40 days after Easter, Jesus popped in and out of the lives of His followers. When He ascended, they were to know that such appearances should no longer be expected. They saw Him go. This is how He would return at the end of time.
Jesus left because His mission was accomplished. If God wanted to save mankind, He had to come to our earth and take our place. Once Adam and Eve sinned, the entire human race was so corrupted that “There is none righteous, not even one.” No sinner could ever live the kind of life that could change God’s mind. But what is impossible for us is possible for Jesus. Jesus does the impossible.
While He was here, Jesus was visibly present only at one place at one time. If Jesus were still visibly present on earth, what would it be like to be a Christian? Everyone with an illness would be competing with each other, trying to get noticed and healed. We’d have to be like the men who used a hole in the roof to lower the paralytic in front of Him. What are the odds we’d even get to see Jesus? With 217 million Christians in the United States alone, we might die just waiting in line.
How much better it is that He visibly departed, with the promise, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Not a moment passes where He is not with you to hear your prayers, quiet your fears, and touch you with His love. He does that through the Gospel in Word and Sacrament.
Jesus, our Ascended Lord, thank You for promising that, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” Thank you for coming to us personally in the Lord’s Supper. Thank you for your constant love and companionship through this life. Amen.