Beloved in Christ,
Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Ascension day falls in this month and with it the first part of the Christian year will end. The primitive apostolic teachings had not separated resurrection and ascension as two different entities. But it was differed as separate events in St. Luke’s gospel and in Acts. Yet the truth of the Resurrection is not the same as that of the Ascension. There is a clear distinction between these two in theological meaning. It is one thing to assert that Jesus is raised from the dead. It is another thing to say that He shared the sovereignty of God over heaven and earth.
The ascension is an event on the boarder between time and eternity. It declares that he, who came down in to the world of time, belongs to the eternal world. But it is not the end of the story, as the Pentecost and the church follow. Jesus Christ ascended , the Holy Spirit came down and the church went in to the midst of the world. The last appearance of the risen Lord, crowned his work by the open declaration that he is the link between heaven and earth. No longer is he confined to the apostles in Palestine. But now he can be with any disciple anywhere at any time. For forty days he was preparing his disciples by his coming and going, for the time when the fellowship with him would be invisible and intangible, yet closer than ever. He who ascended is the Christ as embodied in the manhood of Jesus.
In Hebrews, the author says “ the ascended and glorified Lord is our High Priest, reigning on humanity”.
May God bless you all
Yours in Christ,
Rev. C. C. Sabu
