The next day Jesus appears at dinner once more. He sits next to his brother, laughs with him, sharing fish and bread.
It seems like everything is coming together. It is finally the moment. Jesus is drawing key people into the fold, making ready the way.
There is now a nervous excitement replacing the joy at seeing Jesus alive. The surprise has worn off, the doubts have disappeared. Now everyone is talking about what is coming next, the coming of the Spirit, the leading of Jesus to restore the kingdom, the people of God restored to your rightful place.
No more will there be pain and sorrow, no more will heathens oppress the chosen ones. The kingdom is coming and you are very ready for it to arrive.
Everyone feels the same way.
After the meal, late into the evening Jesus continues to teach, continuing to speak of the kingdom of heaven, telling us what it will be like, telling us to pray and wait.
“Lord,” John interrupts, “are you going to free Israel now and restore our kingdom?”
Jesus turns and looks at him, puts his hand on his shoulder. There is a flash of frustration in his eyes, a moment in which it looks like he will say something harsh or angry.
The look turns to something else, compassion. His frown turns to a smile. He looks around at the faces eager to hear his response, eager to see the kingdom a reality.
“The father sets those dates,” he finally says, “and they are not for you to know.”
He pauses again, looks at John, whose disappointment is clear. This is not the rousing statement you wanted to hear either.
“But,” Jesus continues, “when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere--In Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
What about the kingdom? What about the restoration of Israel? What about action? Change? You want to ask about all this. You want more than words, you want more than waiting. Jesus is alive, he has overcome death, he has conquered the enemy. All this so everyone can talk, tell people what has happened?
The frustration rises in you. There must be something more to this.
Jesus looks your way, at you. The power in him fills you with that glance. He stares at, in, you. You feel shame at your frustration and become quieted in soul. At the same time, in this moment, you feel something more, a taste of the words, a taste of the power. You feel the peace and joy of being in Jesus’ presence fill you, and you feel the weight of your past, all that you have done press down on your soul and lift completely off in the same instant. The freedom, the hope, the explosion of joy which you felt when you rest in his presence fills you now.
He turns and looks at others. After a minute of this, in which no one else speaks, he gets up, puts his hand on his brother’s shoulder, and then walks out. Gone.
Some people stare at John, silent accusations of his misspoken words which seemed to prompt Jesus to leave tonight. Yet, that is the question everyone is wondering.
You still wonder, even though you know that the reality of Jesus is more, much more than overthrowing Roman oppression. There is something in that joy, that peace, which speaks of so much more, speaks of heaven itself.
This feeling makes you eager for Jesus’ next appearance, for his continued presence, teaching, and guidance.
He does not return for a few days. A few days filled with more prayer, more discussion, more excitement. Some noticed that Jesus did not say the kingdom was not coming, just that the details were not for us to know right now.
That is encouraging. It might be a matter of weeks or months. That is not too long. Freedom comes, even if it is not coming immediately.
You sing with extra joy in the gatherings, pray with passion and thanksgiving. The thoughts of the kingdom filling your mind. The thoughts of the many blessings of God showering down upon his people bring a smile.
Forty days after he rose, forty days after that glorious morning when you realized the tomb was empty, and met the risen Jesus on the road home, he again appears in the house where you are staying. It is Thursday morning, and he is sitting in the courtyard talking and laughing with James his brother, and James the brother of John when you walk out. Both are holy and wise men, learned in Scripture, wonderful speakers of the glory of God. James, John’s brother, has led throughout the last forty days, leading the times of prayer, guiding the discussion of Scripture, settling disputes, encouraging the doubters and discouraged. He has been a wonderful leader, stepping up when Jesus is not near.
The courtyard is beginning to fill, women and men gathering around.
Jesus stands and looks up, looks at the beautiful blue sky, the high clouds drifting east with the light cool breeze.
“Let us go outside the walls today,” he says. He walks out into the street, everyone follows.
You notice he has the same look he did on that first day you met him, a wonderment, a fascination with everything around. While he continues down the street and out of the gates, he looks at everything. His eyes takeg in the beauty of the trees and the birds flying from branch to branch. He stops and feels the trunk of an fig tree, kneels and lets the dirt sift through his fingers.
Jesus continues to walk, taking a small path through the hills to a point east of the city, a half mile away, high on a hill where olive trees grow wild and thick. On the very top there are no trees, only an open space where the breeze from the valleys whips through. You can see the Jordan river to the east and Jerusalem to the west.
It was here you first heard Jesus, what seemed a lifetime ago. It certainly marked the beginning of a new life for you, a rebirth of sorts. This is a special place.
The small crowd gathers around Jesus, waiting for him to continue teaching, waiting for a word, waiting for, hopefully, the call to action.
Jesus sits for a while, looking at the men and women, looking at the trees, watching a sparrow jump from branch to branch. It whistles a beautiful little song as it flies about, with trills and sharp notes, expressing joy in its foraging.
The little bird lands on a rock near where Jesus sits, in the midst of the crowd. It sings for a long moment, then stops, tilting its head for a look around. With a final little chirp flies out and away, out of sight.
He watches it go. Everyone else watches him.
Then he stands, looking ready to say something. Clouds begin to billow from the valleys, churning as they rise with the uplift, hiding the sun at times. These clouds come over the hill, white and puffy. It is not fog, though they are very low. Blue sky still can be seen, the sun shines when the shadows of the clouds pass.
Jesus looks up, watches the clouds for several minutes, watching them bubble over and around, filling the sky with a white dance. He looks down, at everyone, at you, and smiles, a smile full of joy, full of peace, full of accomplishment.
You watch him, watch the clouds above and behind him. It takes a moment for you to realize Jesus is higher than everyone else, rising into the air. As he rises, you hear gasps from the people around you. No one says anything. What can be said? The clouds swirl with even more frenzy, surrounding him, embracing him. He disappears into the white high above, lost in the wind tossed clouds.
Everyone is silent, waiting, watching. The clouds continue east, swirling down into the valley, moving onwards. The sky is blue, no more clouds come. Bright light from the sun hurts your eyes, you squint, trying to see Jesus. Others try to block the glare with their hands. Nothing, only the bright sun in a clear, bright blue sky.
“Why are you standing here staring into the sky,” a young man asks.
You turn to see two young men wearing white robes standing at the edge of the small crowd.
They seem to shine, but not from the sun. It is a radiance you cannot describe, a perfection.
The young men continue to walk to the middle, right to the place where Jesus sat.
“Jesus has been taken away from you into heaven,” the young man continues, with enthusiasm and unbounded joy. “Someday, just as you saw him go, he will return!”
The two young men stand for a moment, smiling, looking at the dumbfounded faces all around, yours included, then continue to walk, back down the hill, into the thick grove of olive trees.
No one moves, no one says a single word. You realize you have been holding your breath. Peter looks up once more, looks into the trees where the young men have gone, and begins to walk back down the hill, back to Jerusalem.
You follow, not sure about what happened. Has Jesus left forever? Does this mean the kingdom is not coming soon? Your walk back down is filled with a fair measure of confusion, and yet joy as well. He said he will be with you always, to the end. He said the Spirit of God is coming in power. All that he has promised, all that has ever been promised has come to pass.
You have seen it, you have touched the risen Lord, and watched him rise into the sky, his departure, just like his arrival announced by angels.
The fact remains you don’t know what to do now, you don’t know what has happened, what God is doing. Nothing Jesus has done was expected, not this, not anything.
There is now only to do what he asked. He told you, all his followers to wait, to stay in Jerusalem, to pray. This all was foretold, and God continues to fulfill his promises in your midst.
You follow Peter and the others, and go back to the house, where you wait, and pray, and sing songs of thanksgiving. Jesus lives and your entire being delights with this fact.
people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that
his Son would be the firstborn, with many brothers and sisters. And having
chosen them, he called them to come to him. And he gave them right standing
with himself, and he promised them his glory.My Lord you do live. You have risen from the grave, and risen to heaven. My heart rises with you, my life rises with you, my entire being celebrates your life. All that I have, all that I am is due to your grace, due to your wonderful presence with me. Though I may lose heart, you will never abandon me. Though I may stumble, you will never let me fall. Forever and always I walk with you, sharing communion with you, celebrating throughout eternity the victory you have accomplished. Thank you, my dear Jesus, thank you for your promises which are always fulfilled. Give me strength and faith to stand firm so that I will be ready on that wonderful day when you descend from the clouds to reign forevermore.