The Power of Christ's Kingdom
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Forty days after Easter Sunday, the Church celebrates the solemnity of the Ascension—Jesus’ return to the glory of his Father in heaven. It seems that this solemnity is of a lesser important to us. It stands somehow in the shadow of the two great mysteries of our faith: the resurrection of Christ at Easter and the descend of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Moreover, we find it difficult to connect our lives to this mystery. In the end, Jesus ascending to heaven looks like the good news for Jesus, but not for us. And yet without ascension, there is no Christian faith, there is no hope for us. Without Jesus’ ascension, the heaven would remain closed until today.
The gospel of Mark ends with the statement that the disciples went forth to preach everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed their preaching through accompanying signs. (Mk 16:20) The gospel mentions those signs a few verses before such as casting out demons, speaking new languages, curing the sick, picking up poisonous serpents, and remaining unharmed by any deadly drink. Some of us may wonder where today we can see these signs.
Christ returns to the Father to share his glory and to receive the authority over the whole creation for all eternity. Jesus mounts his heavenly throne and inaugurates his eternal kingdom. But what about us? It looks like we are left behind on earth alone to cope with our problems while Jesus reigns over his heavenly kingdom. That would be the case if Jesus didn’t return with his human body, with our human nature.
The fact that Jesus ascends to heaven in his human body has a fundamental importance for us. First, it shows us that heaven is our final destiny, our ultimate home, not earth. Second, in his ascension Jesus opens heaven for us. There is no more absolute separation and division between heaven and earth. Already in his life we can access and have a foretaste of this future life and glory. But how?
In the second reading for today’s solemnity, Saint Paul in the letter to the Ephesians says that the Father has put everything under the feet of his Son and gave him as head to the church which is the body of Jesus. We share in the glory of heaven through the humanity of Jesus—namely by our reception of Jesus’ Body and Blood in the Eucharist and by being members of his Body, the Church through the sacrament of baptism.
In this way, Jesus shares his glory without waiting for us to join him in his heavenly kingdom. We mentioned that this glory is made visible through the accompanying signs in the lives of those who believe. The signs mentioned by Mark have one thing in common, namely that death and suffering have been overcome. Through the sacraments and through the Church, Jesus shares with us the power of his kingdom that is able to heal, change and transform human hearts. And this is what the Church preaches until he comes again
