It's the Wednesday after Easter Sunday. My leftovers from Easter lunch are dwindling, the candy has long been obliterated. The colored eggs are on the brink of being used or getting tossed. All the build up, pomp and circumstance has climaxed on Resurrection Sunday leaving me with a celebration hangover. Is there anything more? What else can be better than the party we have attended to celebrate the life-giving work of Jesus walking out of the tomb?
Yes, there is so much more. The work completed by Jesus on the cross goes so far beyond the bounds of a single day. Easter is never over on Easter Sunday. With the resurrection of Jesus, we see that we have new life, new beginnings and new opportunities. When Jesus came out of the tomb He didn't just vanish up into heaven and say, "See ya later!". Instead he spent the next forty days continuing to heal the sick, save the lost and explain the events that happened over what we now call Easter weekend. This time is called Ascension Time. It's a time of preparation for the apostles and other followers of Jesus. Ascension was a season of letting go of the expectations and grief that has fallen on the disciples of Jesus as they watched their hope and light die the death of a criminal. It was a time for Peter to be forgiven and receive his calling to be the foundation the church was to be built on.
Ascension is not just for the New Testament believers. It is a time for us as well. This is our season to take the momentum that built up to Easter and go forward energized with the renewed knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That He isn't or wasn't just a great man, but He still lives and is actively a part of the lives of believers. That we too have the ability to go from the garden and the grave and back to wholeness and life. The season of Ascension is a now season. A time to be renewed and
filled back up after walking thru the season of Lent.
We to can walk with the resurrected Lord. We can sit at His feet and relearn the lessons of loving exponentially. We can begin to understand restored hope after darkness has stolen it away. When we come to realize that Jesus is still among the living, we can walk with confidence that He truly can carry us thru anything.
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