Consider the Word, May 13, 2021

Consider the Word, May 13, 2021
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Readings for May 6 – Ascension

• Acts 1:1-11
• Psalm 47 or Psalm 93
• Ephesians 1:15-23
• Luke 24:44-53

Ascension Day is forty days after Easter, ten days before Pentecost, so it always falls on a Thursday and is not celebrated as it once was, as one of four major high feast days. So, it is often moved to the following Sunday, the Seventh Sunday of Easter. We will use two readings for our Bible study this week – the end of Luke’s Gospel and the beginning of the Book of Acts. Both books were written by the same person and Acts was intended to be the sequel of Luke’s Gospel.
 
Collect

Almighty God,

your Son Jesus Christ ascended to the throne of heaven

that he might rule over all things as Lord.

Keep the Church in the unity of the Spirit

and in the bond of his peace,

and bring the whole of creation

to worship at his feet,

who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 
Readings: Luke 24:44-53

Jesus said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

 
Acts 1:1-11

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. "This," he said, "is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" He replied, "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." When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 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."

 
Reflection Questions

1. The ascension is an interesting part of the story of Jesus. Is the ascension an ending or a beginning?
   
2. Where does it fit in our Christian faith?
3. Is Jesus' ascension important?
4. Jesus is not here in a physical sense; however the Church can be, must be—the Church is empowered to be his worshiping, witnessing body here and now. What does that mean?

 
Closing Prayer

Precious love,

your ascended Son promised the gift of holy power.

Send your Spirit of revelation and wisdom,

that in the blessed freedom of hope,

we may witness to the grace of forgiveness

and sing songs of joy with the peoples of earth

to the One who makes us one body. Amen.