Ascension conversations

by John-Peter Gernaat

by John-Peter Gernaat
We read what Luke has written in his Gospel and in the Act of the Apostles. In his gospel (Luke 24: 50-53) Luke write:

And he led them out to near Bethany and raised his hands and blessed them. And while he was blessing them, he vanished from their sight. And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the Temple, giving praise to God.

Why were the Apostles filled with joy at the Ascension of the Risen One? Where had he gone?

In the Acts of the Apostles (1:  9-11):

And as he said this he was lifted up before their eyes, a cloud received him and they saw him no longer. And while they still directed their gaze upwards after him into heaven, see, suddenly two men in white garments stood by them and said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand there looking up to heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up before you into heaven, will come again, revealed in the same kind of way as you have seen him pass in the heavenly sphere.

What is this realm of the clouds? It is a place between the earth and the sky, an in-between place.

We have begun our journey into a deeper understanding of the Ascension with these two passages and with these questions. We have been considering where the in-between space exists in life, what it is and how we access it.