The Feast of the Ascension is really a kind of liminal moment in the Easter season. It is a time between times; a moment when we have left one place in our journey, but have not yet arrived at a second. While the narratives that describe the Ascension fit well into the unfolding story of redemption, the feast itself celebrates one aspect of the resurrection itself, namely, the exaltation of Jesus. The readings help us through this paradox. They allow us to focus on this theological point while we commemorate a turning point in the life of the church. We do this by considering both the enthronement of Christ in the heavens and the new body of Christ on earth.
The heart of today’s gospel lies in Jesus’ command: ‘Love one another’. The model for this love is the love that Jesus showed towards all those who follow him. Jesus has changed the way in which God relates to human beings. We are no longer servants of God but are drawn into deep intimacy and friendship through the Son. This new relationship is not dependent on our choice or will. God has chosen us and we are now commissioned to bear fruit, fruit that will last. The Christian command to love is not a vague feeling of good will; it is a love which suffers all and may demand great sacrifice. The command to love as Jesus loved may be the most difficult test of our Christianity. This is how the presence of Jesus is experienced even in his absence.
Jesus continues to speak to the disciples through imagery that they understood from their everyday experience and with symbols that come from their Jewish tradition. The vine is a staple part of Israel’s agricultural life. It carries the idea of the life that flows into the branches from the thick stalk of the vine. Jesus becomes that giver of life and prosperity, but behind his life-giving presence is the Father. Like the vinedresser, the Father must cut away anything that impedes that life or comes from a source that is not nourished from the ‘true vine’. Jesus exists to make the Father known, and so it must be with disciples of Jesus. We must ‘remain with’ Jesus and thus make the Father known.
King David had been a shepherd as a boy, so the image of the Shepherd Messiah underlies this text. But the intimacy of Jesus’ relationship with his flock goes beyond even this. This gospel is a statement of the seriousness of Jesus’ commitment to the Father’s will and his self-giving love for humankind. Jesus’ life is freely given for his flock. It is sometimes thought that Jesus died to satisfy the will of the Father imposed on the Son. This is not so. Jesus’ gift was a free gift because he responded at all times to that which was most profound in him: the Father’s love, which he wished to make known to the world. It is generous, self-giving love for others. In what ways are Christians today called to offer this same self-giving love for others? Who are those in our world who are most in need of this generous love?
Apart from passing reference to an appearance to Simon Peter (24:34), Luke records only two appearances of the risen Jesus, the first to the disciples at Emmaus, the second to the whole group back in Jerusalem. In a sense they are so closely linked as to form but one appearance that serves to link Jesus’ resurrection with the final episode of the gospel, his ascension. After the opening verse connecting today’s story with that of Emmaus, the gospel falls into two parts. The first establishes the reality of the resurrection by emphasising the physical in terms that are reminiscent of John’s gospel As he does for Thomas (John 20:24-29), Jesus shows the disciples his hands and feet; and as he cooks fish for the disciples by the sea of Galilee (John 21:9-14), so he eats fish before them in Jerusalem. In the second part Jesus repeats what he did for the disciples on the way to Emmaus. He recalls and reinterprets the scriptures for them, not only so that they can come to grips with what has already happened – his death and resurrection – but be prepared for the future. They are to preach ‘repentance for the forgiveness of sins. To all the nations’. In one short declaration – ‘You are witnesses to this’. Luke paves the way for his companion volume, the Acts, to tell the story of the mission to the nations.
The importance of today’s gospel story is shown by the fact that it led to the original conclusion of John’s gospel. The story proper falls into two parts; the appearance of the risen Lord to the assembled disciples on the first Easter Day and his appearance before Thomas a week later. John presents Jesus’ resurrection, his giving of the Spirit and the commissioning of the disciples in a single unified sequence. By contrast, the gospel-writer Luke introduces a time-span of forty days before Jesus’ ascension, and fifty days before the outpouring of the Spirit. Each is communicating the same profound truth within a different theological framework. The text for today can be sub-divided into four parts. In part one, Jesus appears to the fear-filled disciples and greets them with peace. This twofold greeting should be given strong emphasis. Part to consists of Jesus’ commissioning the disciples and breathing out his Spirit upon them. Part three relates the encounter between the risen Lord and the apostle Thomas, culminating in words that implicate us: “Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe’. The reading comes to a climax with the final summary of the gospel’s purpose: “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing this you may have life through his name”. Each part should be heard by the congregation as a distinct unit. The reading as a whole is a wonderful invitations to renew our faith in Jesus and to live in the peace and joy of his Spirit.
On Good Friday afternoon John’s gospel left us at the tomb of Jesus. Today it takes us back there. With Mary of Magdala, Peter and the disciples Jesus loved, we discover ‘very early on the first day of the week’ that the tomb is empty. What are we to make of this? There’s a striking difference in the gospels between the passion narratives and the resurrection stories. The accounts of the passion are long, with a strong storyline. The resurrection stories, by contrast, are relatively short and enigmatic. They have an air of mystery and obscurity about them. They raise more questions that provide answers. Today’s passage is no exception. Who is the disciple Jesus love? Why is so much made of who got to the tomb or went in first? At this point no answers are given. We are left wonder whether we ourselves have understood ‘the teaching of scripture, that he must rise from the dead’. It may be just as well that the readings finishes where it does because the next verse goes on to say, Then the disciples returned to their homes’. This statement only provokes more questions. Answers begin to emerge with the episode that follows – Jesus’ appearance to Mary Magdalen. It’s a great shame that the story of this beautiful and touching encounter is never heard on a Sunday.
Every year on this Sunday the story of Jesus’ betrayal, passion and death is told at length. The reading is taken in turn from one of the synoptic gospels – Matthew, Mark or Luke because we always read John’s account on Good Friday. This year we read from Mark. No two versions of the passion narrative are the same. They have much in common but differ in the detail. It is helpful to think of each evangelist as an artist painting a portrait. Portrait painters are creative artists that are not satisfied with presenting a surface likeness; they seek to uncover a deeper truth. What they produce will appear very different, even if the subject is the same. For all the brevity of Mark’s gospel, his passion narrative is just as long as that of the other evangelists. Thus it looms larger in the overall work. In his introduction to the gospels scripture scholar Frank Moloney points out that “Mark tells the passion and death of Jesus in two coherent sequences: Jesus, the disciples and the Jewish leaders and the Roman trail, crucifixion, death and burial.
The Greeks referred to in this text are likely to have been ‘Godfearers’ or non-Jewish people who are attracted to Judaism as a religion. Not being born Jews, they are unable to fully become part of the chosen people of Israel and to enter into its religious life. Here, though, they express their wish to ‘see Jesus’. The classic call to discipleship is ‘Come and see’. There is an element here that builds on earlier references in John to the fact that the gospel is not just for the Jews but for all people who express faith. The call of the gospel is universal. The imminent death of the grain is already beginning to yield a rich harvest. Jesus is well aware of the fate in store for him but accepts that this is the central act of his mission. Glorification and exultation await him. It is in being lifted up that Jesus will draw all people to himself. In what ways do you feel drawn to Jesus at this point in your journey? Reflect back on what caused you to say, ‘Sir, I would like to see Jesus.’ What called you to discipleship?
Nicodemus comes in search of truth but has difficulty in accepting who Jesus is. He struggles to reach beyond the understandings of his upbringing within Judaism. In a sense, Jesus’ words to him are a reassurance that if he publicly embraces faith in Jesus, his life will be saved. Condemnation only comes to those who have had the opportunity to embrace faith but have refused it. In John’s Gospel, the greatest moment in Jesus’ life is the moment of his death on the cross. This is not simply a moment of suffering and death but a spiritual exultation because it is at that moment that God’s love for the world is made manifest. ‘God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son’ so that we could have life. The only proper response to this great love and gift of life is to choose light and not darkness. What have been some of the moments of exultation in your life? What have been the periods of darkness? Is there a struggle in coming into the light?