Background on The Ascension
Potential avenues for discussion:
The message of this passage isn’t Jesus’ ascension – it’s his absence.
I typically haven’t approached this passage from thinking a whole lot about how Jesus ascended, but instead about why. This is of course easy for me to say – I wasn’t among the disciples who saw Jesus raising up before my eyes – but it does seem as though that was what the author of Acts intended as well. In the verse that immediately follows Jesus’ ascension, two (presumably) angels ask the disciples, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven”? The snarky response is: “JESUS JUST LITERALLY ASCENDED IN FRONT OF US. Of course, we’re going to stare up in amazement!” But the implication behind the question is that there is nothing to be gained from staring up. Instead, the disciples are being asked to get to work on what Jesus had just commanded them: “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. Jesus’ absence now means the disciples will have to fill the role of leadership in the early church – and they will need to rely on the help of the Holy Spirit and one another in order to fulfill their mission.
Ascension immediately followed by choosing the next disciple.
Although it isn’t specifically covered by our curriculum, it may be worth reading the passage that follows the Ascension from Acts 1:12-26 in the Bible or the Spark Story Bible. The Ascension and choosing a disciple to replace Judas go hand-in-hand with one another – the early church is organizing and picking out leaders, gathering together in prayer and discernment and making important decisions that will have an impact on how the church grows. Although they land on a decidedly lame method for discerning who God wants to be a disciple (casting lots – the ancient equivalent of flipping a coin), you could ask kids what they think would be important in picking someone to serve as a disciple. What qualities would we want a disciple to have?
The Book of Acts and this Eastertide season.
Finally, you can spend some time talking about how we’ll be staying in the Book of Acts through the rest of our school year – in part because there aren’t any other books like it in the New Testament. Although Paul gives us a direct window into teaching/issues in early churches, the Book of Acts stands alone as trying to relay the broader context of how the early church grew through the leadership of the disciples, Paul, and other prominent church leaders. Acts essentially serves as “Part 2” to Luke’s gospel – the Gospel we’ve been reading all this Spring.
Digging Deeper:
Old Testament echoes in Jesus’ ascension
Although they aren’t perfect parallels, there are certainly echoes of Elijah’s ascension into heaven from 2 Kings 2:1-12 in this account of Jesus’ ascension. The question of succession is certainly a foremost aspect of the passage, as is the obvious ascending itself, but there are a few other aspects of this passage that would have been important allusions to ancient listeners:
The message of this passage isn’t Jesus’ ascension – it’s his absence.
I typically haven’t approached this passage from thinking a whole lot about how Jesus ascended, but instead about why. This is of course easy for me to say – I wasn’t among the disciples who saw Jesus raising up before my eyes – but it does seem as though that was what the author of Acts intended as well. In the verse that immediately follows Jesus’ ascension, two (presumably) angels ask the disciples, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven”? The snarky response is: “JESUS JUST LITERALLY ASCENDED IN FRONT OF US. Of course, we’re going to stare up in amazement!” But the implication behind the question is that there is nothing to be gained from staring up. Instead, the disciples are being asked to get to work on what Jesus had just commanded them: “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. Jesus’ absence now means the disciples will have to fill the role of leadership in the early church – and they will need to rely on the help of the Holy Spirit and one another in order to fulfill their mission.
Ascension immediately followed by choosing the next disciple.
Although it isn’t specifically covered by our curriculum, it may be worth reading the passage that follows the Ascension from Acts 1:12-26 in the Bible or the Spark Story Bible. The Ascension and choosing a disciple to replace Judas go hand-in-hand with one another – the early church is organizing and picking out leaders, gathering together in prayer and discernment and making important decisions that will have an impact on how the church grows. Although they land on a decidedly lame method for discerning who God wants to be a disciple (casting lots – the ancient equivalent of flipping a coin), you could ask kids what they think would be important in picking someone to serve as a disciple. What qualities would we want a disciple to have?
The Book of Acts and this Eastertide season.
Finally, you can spend some time talking about how we’ll be staying in the Book of Acts through the rest of our school year – in part because there aren’t any other books like it in the New Testament. Although Paul gives us a direct window into teaching/issues in early churches, the Book of Acts stands alone as trying to relay the broader context of how the early church grew through the leadership of the disciples, Paul, and other prominent church leaders. Acts essentially serves as “Part 2” to Luke’s gospel – the Gospel we’ve been reading all this Spring.
Digging Deeper:
Old Testament echoes in Jesus’ ascension
Although they aren’t perfect parallels, there are certainly echoes of Elijah’s ascension into heaven from 2 Kings 2:1-12 in this account of Jesus’ ascension. The question of succession is certainly a foremost aspect of the passage, as is the obvious ascending itself, but there are a few other aspects of this passage that would have been important allusions to ancient listeners:
- Mountains
- Clouds
- The coming “Day of the Lord”