Did That Really Just Happen?

There are certain historic events that are seared into our memories…D Day, the assassinations of JFK and Martin Luther King, 9/11. The Space Shuttle Challenger mission which ended in disaster is definitely one of those for me. I was a sophomore at the University of Georgia that crisp January morning of 1986. I had rushed back from my first class to Rutherford Hall, the dormitory where I lived that year, and joined dozens of my fellow students to watch the liftoff on the common room television. Why were we so excited about this particular launch? This wasn’t the first, but the 25th flight of the Space Shuttle fleet. There had not been any malfunctions in the previous missions. As a matter of fact, space travel had become more common place over the years. But this launch was very different. The crew was scheduled to deploy a commercial communications satellite and study Halley's Comet while they were in orbit. But the more significant point of interest was that schoolteacher, Christa McAuliffe, was joining the NASA crew under the Teacher in Space Project. This resulted in a higher-than-usual media interest in and coverage of the mission. Excited students and their teachers in schools across the United States were glued to television monitors in their classrooms to watch this historic shuttle launch live!

Everything seemed normal at first - the countdown and liftoff took place without a hitch. The rocket climbed higher and higher into the atmosphere and became smaller and smaller, especially on the television screen. When all of a sudden, there was nothing but smoke. Was it a cloud? Had the smoke created by the rocket’s fuel enveloped the shuttle launcher? Or had it exploded? Were our eyes playing tricks on us? Did that really just happen? There was a collective gasp nationwide, followed by cries as we all struggled to make sense of what we had just seen. The Space Shuttle Challenger had exploded, killing all onboard and perhaps future dreams of space travel with it.

In today’s readings, from both Luke’s gospel as well as the Book of Acts, we watch as Jesus gives final instructions to His disciples, then lifts off from earth and heads to heaven on a cloud. Just when His followers think they’ve seen everything, Jesus rides a cloud up through the atmosphere and out of sight! Were their eyes playing tricks on them? Did that really just happen?

Read Luke 24:50-53 and Acts 1:9-11

The final forty days that Jesus would be with His disciples in His resurrected body were coming to a close. Leading them out of the city, across the Kidron Valley and up to the Mount of Olives, Jesus lifted up His hands and blessed them. Luke doesn’t record the exact blessing, but it does seem to be Jesus’ benediction over His disciples and His time on earth. What’s a benediction? Merriam Webster defines benediction as “the invocation of a blessing; especially the short blessing with which public worship is concluded.” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/benediction) This certainly wasn’t the first benediction or blessing invoked over God’s people. As early as Abram rescuing his nephew Lot, we read of a high priestly prayer, or benediction, prayed over Abram by “Melchizedek, king of Salem, [who] brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High. He blessed him and said: ‘Abram is blessed by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High who has handed over your enemies to you.’” (Genesis 14:18-20)

Later, in Sinai, in Numbers 6, God tells Moses to speak to Aaron and his sons, whom he made priests of Israel, to bless the people with what we now call the Aaronic blessing: “May the Lord bless you and protect you; may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the Lord look with favor on you
and give you peace”’ (Numbers 6:24-26) Whenever the priest of Israel pronounced these words with his hands lifted high over the congregation, God himself blessed his people. The following verse makes this clear, where God says, “In this way they will pronounce my name over the Israelites, and I will bless them.” (Num 6:27) And then of course there is Zechariah’s Benedictus, recorded early in Luke’s gospel, which he proclaims after his son, John, is named and circumcised. His tongue is loosed after 10+ months of enforced silence. He lifts up his son and prays a blessing not only on John, but on everyone in the house, the people of Israel and on the coming Dawn from on High - the Messiah.

Therefore, Jesus’ final benediction was no ordinary, empty religious ritual. It was an objective reality of God blessing his people through his Son. I remember when I was little and spent the night at my maternal grandmother’s home. When it was time to tuck me into bed, Nana would place her hand on the top of my head and pray Aaron’s prayer, Numbers 6:24-26, over me. Later, when I was dating Dale, he would pray that benediction over me at the end of our dates. And when we had our own children, we prayed “May the Lord bless you and keep you…” over them at bedtime. Imagine my joy, when recently with our oldest, Mary Grace, overhearing her pray this same blessing over her sons as she put them down for naptime.

In these sacred blessings, the covenant people of God receive true blessings when the word of God is pronounced over them, invoking God’s holy name. Many Christian worship services end with a benediction, through which pastors, priests and elders have the privilege of announcing, prayerfully, divine blessings on the people of God as they scatter from the place of corporate worship. Benedictions today are often announced simply by quoting Scriptures. The benediction from Numbers 6:24-26 is often quoted. But there are other passages that make wonderful benedictions, like Ephesians 3:20–21, "Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us – to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen." Or Jude 24–25, “Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.”

The Ascension by Pietro Perugino, 1510

Back to the Clouds

“And while he was blessing them, he left them and was carried up to heaven.” (Luke 24:51) My favorite rendition of Jesus’ Ascension is by lesser known Italian Renaissance artist, Pietro Perugino, in 1510. His capturing of light and color is brilliant and the way he shapes the clouds that are carrying Jesus away are reminiscent of the cloud of God’s presence that we read of throughout scripture. His glory through cloud occurs for the first time in the Exodus account, “The Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to lead them on their way during the day and in a pillar of fire to give them light at night, so that they could travel day or night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never left its place in front of the people.” (Ex 13:21-22) This was Yahweh’s very presence manifested with His people, providing direction as well as protection.

We read of two God-glimpses through cloud earlier in Luke’s gospel. The first is at Jesus’ baptism, when “heaven opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in a physical appearance like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.’” (Luke 3:21-22) The second is at His transfiguration which Peter, James and John witnessed. “A cloud appeared and overshadowed them. They became afraid as they entered the cloud. Then a voice came from the cloud, saying: ‘This is my Son, the Chosen One; listen to him.’” (Luke 9:34-35) This was no ordinary rain cloud but the cloud of glory that surrounds the very presence of God.

Similarly, on this day, Father God showed up for His Son in a cloud, to pick Him up and take Him home. “He was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” (Acts 1:9) As many disciples were looking on, Jesus was literally lifted up. This visible ascension of Jesus into heaven indicates that He retains a physical human body, as a man, in heaven even as he is exalted to the right hand of God. The two angels who stay with the disciples in their shock of what they just saw indicate that Jesus will someday return in that same physical body. This is an amazing incarnational miracle: not only was the eternal Son of God willing to take human nature on himself and become a person who is simultaneously God and man, but also that he will remain both fully God and fully man forever!

So the disciples are squinting into the sky as Jesus is lifted higher and higher up, becoming smaller and harder for them to see, until He disappears from their sight altogether. I imagine they were thinking to themselves and perhaps even saying out loud, “Did that really happen? Can you still see Him?” when two angels in white clothes appeared with them and asked, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen him going into heaven.” (Acts 1:11) In other words, “No, your eyes weren’t playing tricks on you, but you can stop looking to the sky. Jesus has made it successfully to heaven. He will come back on the cloud, but don’t you have some work to do? You don't have time to keep verifying that He is, in fact, gone.” This was exactly the reset the disciples needed, as they quickly began to worship Jesus, then headed back to Jerusalem, overcome with great joy at what they had seen and heard.

Big Picture Questions for Today:

• Does your faith tradition include a spoken benediction at the end of the weekly gathering? If so, be aware of how you receive this blessing. Is it merely the sign that the service is coming to an end and it’s time to head to lunch? Or is your elder, priest or pastor announcing, prayerfully, divine blessings on the people of God as you scatter from the place of corporate worship? I would encourage you to begin opening your hands during the benediction, to receive this blessing from the Lord.

• Have you pondered much on the fact that Jesus left earth in His physical body and is currently in that state in heaven? It truly is remarkable the lengths that our Savior has gone to identify with us in every way.

Pray to respond to Christ’s ascension as the disciples did, with worship and getting to the work He has given us to do before He returns.