Luke 24:50-52 | Acts 1:1-9
Luke shares two accounts of Jesus leaving the disciples and earth. The first is our reading from Luke for today (and ends the book - we’ll begin Mark tomorrow). The second we read in January and is at the beginning of the book of Acts (remember, Luke wrote both the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles). Ascension Day is coming up on May 9 (forty days after Easter) and we’ll revisit these passages then.
For today, let’s consider a simple question:
Why do we think Jesus led them to Bethany for his departure? (Don’t worry, this is not a significant question of theological magnitude or anything.)
Bethany is the home of Mary, Martha, & Lazarus, clearly people who were in deep friendship with Jesus. According to John, it is where John the Baptist spoke most powerfully about who Jesus was, and perhaps where Jesus was baptized. It is where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. It is where Jesus began his ride on Palm Sunday and then into Jerusalem. And it’s where he spent much of Holy Week when he wasn’t in Jerusalem.
The majority of Jesus’ life and ministry did not take place in Jerusalem. In fact, he wasn’t really in Jerusalem all that much. We know he traveled there as a child, as a good Jew, for pilgrimages and festivals as many Jews did (and still do). He went to the Temple many times.
But the vast majority of his life was spent in the country side and smaller towns. He was born in Bethlehem, grew up in Nazareth, and did most of his ministry in and around Galilee, all outside of Jerusalem.
Was Jesus most comfortable in places like Bethany? Did he share an affinity with the people of such a small town? Is there anything we can take from this as we think about who he was, what he did, and who he’d have us to be?
Perhaps not, but it is certainly true that Jesus wasn’t necessarily a man of the city. It’s just something to think about.
Luke 24:50-52
He led them out as far as Bethany, where he lifted his hands and blessed them. As he blessed them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. They worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem overwhelmed with joy. And they were continuously in the temple praising God.
Acts 1:1-9
Theophilus, the first scroll I wrote concerned everything Jesus did and taught from the beginning, right up to the day when he was taken up into heaven. Before he was taken up, working in the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus instructed the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he showed them that he was alive with many convincing proofs. He appeared to them over a period of forty days, speaking to them about God’s kingdom. While they were eating together, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised. He said, “This is what you heard from me: John baptized with water, but in only a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
As a result, those who had gathered together asked Jesus, “Lord, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now?”
Jesus replied, “It isn’t for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has set by his own authority. Rather, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
After Jesus said these things, as they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight.
Prayer
God,
On the one hand, the power and majesty of Jesus is spectacular. He is our king. But of late, I’m noticing just how much simpler Jesus’ person and character really are. Let me know if I’m demeaning him, but I don’t think I am. How appropriate it seems to me now that the man you sent to redeem the world wasn’t adorned with the complexities of social life, but humble and plain.
Help me as I grasp the power of Jesus the Christ while at the same time maintain him as “just” one of us.
By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.