The Ascension Shows Christ as All-Powerful
Before the eyes of his closest friends, forty days after his resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven. What does the word “ascend” mean? It means that under his own power Jesus went back up to heaven to where he was before his birth into our world. His ascension reveals his divinity, just as his resurrection did.
Many people throughout salvation history have been raised, or have raised others, from the dead with the help of God’s power. But only Jesus rose from the dead on his own. As true God, he holds the power over life and death. And as true man, Jesus used this power to conquer death for us and to win our salvation.
By bringing his human nature up into heaven, he showed that along with being all-powerful, he is also all-good and all-loving. His ascension, then, reminds us that there is no limit to the confidence we can have in God, because there is no limit to his power and goodness. If we place our trust in anyone or anything else, we will be tragically disappointed. This point is humorously illustrated by the following…
Forrest Gump Isn’t the One to Follow
In the movie, Forest Gump, Forrest is feeling rejected by the people he loves, and so he gets the urge to just start running. So he goes out-side, jogs across the yard and doesn’t stop. In fact, when he gets to the ocean and runs out of road, he just turns around and runs the other way. Throughout his run, he is videotaped on national news. When asked why he’s running —“Is it for world peace? Women's rights?”—he answers, “I’m just running.”
Unintentionally, he sparks a huge national following. The humorous and meaningful event that ends his journey takes place in the middle of the desert. He suddenly stops jogging and turns around. The group of sweaty joggers who have followed him shush each other: “Quiet, he’s going to say something.”
Matter-of-factly he simply says, “I’m kinda’ tired. I think I’ll go home now.” As Forrest walks through the small and silent crowd, one of them yells out, “What are we supposed to do?!” Forrest just shrugs and goes back home.
Everyone is looking for the answers to life’s deepest questions. But since our thirst for truth and happiness is infinite (because that’s how God made us), no finite worldly thing can satisfy us. The characters in Forest Gump who mindlessly followed him personify our thirst for meaning. The fact that their hero abandons them without any explanation illustrates the inability of the things of this world (money, fame, politics, pleasure) to provide that meaning; eventually, we get tired of them; they let us down.
Only Jesus is infinite goodness, power, and wisdom. Only he is “The Way, the Truth and the Life”. That’s why it’s important for us, the Lord’s followers, to partner with him.
Partnering with God
Today the Church is inviting us to reflect on this great mystery of our faith, the Lord’s ascension into heaven. As we do so, we should feel our confidence in God strengthened and renewed. Make no mistake: Jesus is ruling all of human history right now. None of the difficulties, in-justices, and problems that we face as individuals, families and societies is outside of his knowledge or power. He is at work in all things, even if it’s sometimes hard for us to see exactly how.
Today’s Mass prayer reminds us: “Christ, the mediator between God and man, judge of the world and Lord of all, has passed beyond our sight, not to abandon us but to be our hope.” How can we express this hope in God? By showing others that we are partners with the Lord in his work of salvation; a work that will end for us in heaven where Jesus has already ascended.