Re-blog – 5 Reasons Why the Ascension of Jesus Matters

I had a bit of a family day yesterday, so I neglected to post, but yesterday was the Feast of the Ascension of Jesus, commemorating his ascension into heaven 40 days after his resurrection. We are now in the novena (nine days) of the Spirit, a time to pray for the Spirit to come and fall fresh on us.

Ascension is one of the more overlooked holidays on the Christian calendar, so I share this old post with you.

Today the church celebrates the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into his glory in heaven, to sit at the right hand of God the Father and rule as King over the entire universe.

Why is that Christmas and Easter are such big deals in our culture, but Ascension and Pentecost are largely ignored? Have you ever thought about that? I think that the reason for this is that Christmas and Easter do not confront people with the lordship of Christ the way that his ascension does. Christmas is the easiest to accept for our culture. It’s just a sweet little baby born on a manger. Nothing there to confront me. Nothing there to make me take stock in my life. Even if we come to terms with the fact that this baby in the manger is actually God incarnate, it is still easy to sentimentalize and ignore. Baby Jesus. Sweet little Jesus. Tame Jesus.