Look Up
| Gospel | Luke 24:46-53 |
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‘And now I am sending down to you what the Father has promised. Stay in the city then, until you are clothed with the power from on high.’
Then he took them out as far as the outskirts of Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. Now as he blessed them, he withdrew from them and was carried up to heaven. They worshipped him and then went back to Jerusalem full of joy; and they were continually in the Temple praising God.
It seems then, the disciples have got the message. The Risen Lord shows them how everything had come together; how the pieces fitted and that it was all true.
In Luke’s account the disciples seem perfectly happy with this; joyful even, as they accompany the Lord on this last walk together to the outskirts of the town. Their uncertainties have been answered; they have seen, heard, touched and ate with the Resurrected Christ. They, who have known him as man, have accepted him (in some way or another) as God.
And Luke, who is very much the plain speaking Gospel writer, records this unique event with mundane simplicity. ‘he was carried up to heaven’, as though it were any normal happening; as if he had been waved off on the next caravan going east.
Where is the fanfare, the trumpet blast? Where is the wonder of the Transfiguration when the Lord became unnaturally brilliant and transformed or even his Baptism with the visitation of the Father and Holy Spirit.
Perhaps, there is no need to impress anyone now. Perhaps it was necessary that his going was as simple as going home; to reassure his friends that they would have a home there too.
In Luke’s account the disciples seem perfectly happy with this; joyful even, as they accompany the Lord on this last walk together to the outskirts of the town. Their uncertainties have been answered; they have seen, heard, touched and ate with the Resurrected Christ. They, who have known him as man, have accepted him (in some way or another) as God.
And Luke, who is very much the plain speaking Gospel writer, records this unique event with mundane simplicity. ‘he was carried up to heaven’, as though it were any normal happening; as if he had been waved off on the next caravan going east.
Where is the fanfare, the trumpet blast? Where is the wonder of the Transfiguration when the Lord became unnaturally brilliant and transformed or even his Baptism with the visitation of the Father and Holy Spirit.
Perhaps, there is no need to impress anyone now. Perhaps it was necessary that his going was as simple as going home; to reassure his friends that they would have a home there too.
Christ is the Pathfinder; a journey from Divinity into humanity; through life; through suffering and death; through Hell and into a new life that is Divine. A path that was grown over, gated and guarded and now revealed. Through him, with him and in him, the journey home is signposted and the door is as wide open as the sky above.
wordinthehand2013
Comments
Peace
Siggi