5.13.2026
For me, one of Christianity’s mysteries is why the Ascension of Jesus doesn’t get as much attention as Easter or Christmas.
I never thought much about Ascension until about 10 years ago when I made the mistake of going to Amish country on Ascension Day (which is always on a Thursday). They were shut up tight! For the Amish, Ascension Day is a holy day and they spend it in worship. So I did some reflecting on just what it means that Jesus ascended — here’s some of it and I’ll get into more of it Sunday.
Imagine . . . the year is AD 64. You’re a Christian in Rome. Starting on July 19 and burning for nine days, a fire destroyed 2/3 of the city of Rome. At first people blamed Caesar Nero — he was crazy enough to do it — but Caesar shifted the blame to Christian. In recent months two great leaders of the church, Peter and Paul, have been murdered by Caesar Nero. People you know — maybe even family members — have been arrested, tortured and executed . . . Some in horrible ways. Even now you’re meeting behind locked doors, in graveyards, in ruined temples, by night or before sunrise, because it’s not safe to be a Christian.
It’s not safe to say you’re a Christian out loud . . . but there are other ways of telling. You might not say it but you surely live it — and it’s not just that you “behave yourself.” When someone is sick and dying, you care for them instead of leaving them on the streets to die. You’re not afraid of catching whatever disease is going around, because love is stronger than death. You visit the trash heaps of the cities where unwanted babies — mostly girls, because who needs that burden — are abandoned, exposed to the elements and the wild beasts, and you bring them into your home, because you believe in the value of every human life.
If you’re wealthy, you welcome poor people and slaves at your dinner table. If you’re a slave, you find yourself welcomed and called brother or sister by believers from higher social classes. You’re no longer a Scythian or a barbarian, you’re no longer just a woman. You’re a brother or you’re a sister. Why? Because you believe you’re a member of God’s universal family.
When the guild you work for forces you to offer a pinch of incense before a statue of the emperor, worshiping Nero as a god — do it or you don’t work — you refuse.
Why live this way? Why risk your job, your home, your life and the lives of those you love?
Because you believe that Christ and not Nero is King! And as a believer, you belong to another kingdom. As Paul wrote to the believers in Philippi (a colony for retired soldiers), “Our citizenship is in heaven.”
Christ is King! He reigns now. True, it doesn’t always look like it — and it certainly didn’t when Christians were persecuted — but that’s because His reign is not like Caesar’s reign. And his kingdom is not like Caesar’s kingdom.
On the day when Jesus ascended on the clouds to the Ancient of Days, the disciples had asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” But Jesus answered, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But 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.”
In other words, to borrow from Dallas Willard, yes, God is up to something and he wants you to be part of it. Don’t worry about times and seasons; God has that under control. But here’s the part you’ll play: You will be my witnesses and you will spread the Kingdom to Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
When we say we believe Jesus is Lord, we don’t mean it in the same way we believe the sun is 93 million miles from earth. To believe something is just one aspect of what we call “faith” . . . but that’s just one facet of the diamond! Pistis, faith, means belief, faithfulness, loyalty and allegiance!
It’s the same word, by the way, for the loyalty Caesar’s troops pledged to Caesar. When a Roman soldier pledged faith to Caesar, he didn’t just go on and do his own thing! No, he pledged his whole life to Caesar — his mind, his body, his present, and his future, and he was transformed into Caesar's weapon of war, to go where Caesar commanded.
When we pledge our faith to King Jesus, that means we pledge our whole life to Jesus — our mind, our body, our present, and our future — and we are transformed into God’s weapon of love! And we go where Christ commands!
When we say that Jesus is Lord we are pledging our allegiance to Jesus, meaning we will follow Him and be shaped and directed by Him. When Jesus ascended on the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of Days, the disciples remained standing there, gazing up into heaven.
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, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Why do you stand looking up into heaven? Why are you standing there? Go!
Blessings,
Pastor Terry