Out of Sight
Ascension Day is on Thursday 9 May 2024
by Brian Radcliffe
Suitable for Whole School (Sec)
Aims
To encourage us to consider the significance of supernatural events in Jesus’ life.
Preparation and materials
- The Ascension of Jesus is found in three places in the New Testament of the Bible: Mark 16.19-20, Luke 24.50-53 and Acts 1.9-11.
Assembly
- The Christian faith is a practical faith: Jesus said many things that sound like good advice. He talks about loving one another, about forgiveness, about attitudes to money and about how we use the power that we have. Therefore, many people would claim to live their lives based, to some extent, on Jesus’ teachings.
- However, there are other aspects of Jesus’ life that many feel are more difficult to cope with. For instance, the belief that Jesus’ mother was a virgin. She had baby Jesus without having sex with a man. Or the stories about miraculous healings that Jesus performed during his life. Or the idea that, after he was crucified, he somehow came back to life.
- On 9 May this year, a special day in the Christian calendar is celebrated. It is the day when one of the strangest events happened, the Ascension of Jesus.
You may wish to ask a student to read one of the accounts of the Ascension from the New Testament. - So, the Jesus who has been raised back to life and spent time with his followers now disappears from view in a cloud at the top of a hill. What on earth is going on here?
Time for reflection
If the Ascension of Jesus happened as Christians believe, it is significant for two reasons.
During his 33 years on earth, Jesus had demonstrated what it’s like for a human life to be totally driven by God. He was the working model. Yet his work wasn’t finished. His Ascension took him to the throne of God, the place of power and authority. Just like a king or queen, Jesus now reigns. For those who pray to Jesus, they can believe that he has the scope to answer our prayers. Without the Ascension, without Jesus’ authoritative role, they could have no assurance that it’s worth praying at all.
Second, if Jesus had remained on earth, we would expect him to sort out everything. His followers would let him get on with the preaching, healing and miracle-working that he’d done before the crucifixion and resurrection. Jesus would lead and they would follow. However, as he left, Jesus promised that they would receive the Holy Spirit, his power in them, so they would have to continue the work that he’d begun. He’d passed on the baton of responsibility.
When there is a crisis, when we feel depressed, when we’re confused or hurt, we’d love someone to come and take control. That’s why superheroes exist in fiction. They’ve been there from the earliest history right up to Marvel comics and similar. We want someone with the power to overrule everything that’s evil, unjust, broken and hurtful. Christians believe that Jesus is the ultimate superhero and that he proved that by his life. However, because he is in heaven now, he encourages us to be the arms and legs of what he does. He gives us the responsibility and backs us up with the resources to accomplish it.
So, although the Ascension might seem unusual, Christians believe that it’s an exciting way forward into this confusing and confused world.
Song/music
‘This I believe (The Creed)’ by Hillsong Worship, available at: https://youtu.be/FtUNQpu2b7Q (6.44 minutes long)
‘Believe’ by Mumford and Sons, available at: https://youtu.be/dW6SkvErFEE (3.47 minutes long)
Extension activity
- Ask the students to discuss the following question: is it possible to live a Christian life without believing all of the supernatural elements of Christianity?
