
10. Jesus Ascended into Heaven
In the gospels, only Luke describes the ascension of Jesus into heaven, and he does it twice—once at the end of his Gospel and again at the beginning of Acts—as if to stress the end of the special visible appearances of the risen Christ in preparation for the descent and mission of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus’ ascension has several consequences for the Church. First, it assures us that God’s commitment to Jesus did not cease when Jesus died. Second, his enthronement at the right hand of God invites Christians to worship Christ as they do God. Third, it reminds us that Christ eternally intercedes for the people of God. Because Jesus was one of us, he understands our human situation and advocates for us with God.
Like the disciples, we are not called to stand gazing into heaven to detect his return (Acts 1:10-11), which will surely come, but to go back to our cities and homes to show forth the power of the Spirit that has been given to us by the ascended Jesus. By our attitudes, our words and our deeds, we display to the world around us the importance of Jesus’ ascension.
For more on Jesus’ ascension, see CCC, #659–664.