Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple blessing God. 
–Luke 24:50-53

This Sunday we come to the final week in our series on the endings of the Gospels, and the transition to Pentecost. We have listened closely to how each Gospel writer tells the resurrection story differently.

Mark leaves us standing in uncertainty and tension, with frightened disciples and an empty tomb that asks what we will do next. Matthew turns our eyes outward toward mission and discipleship. John slows everything down around a breakfast fire on the beach, reminding us that resurrection is often experienced through relationship, restoration, and love.

And now Luke.

Luke’s Gospel ends with Jesus lifting his hands in blessing as the disciples watch him ascend. But instead of sorrow, the disciples return to Jerusalem filled with joy. That detail matters to Luke. The story of Jesus does not end in despair or absence. It opens into worship, hope, and a calling that is just beginning.

What makes Luke especially interesting is that he tells the ascension story twice. Once at the end of the Gospel, and again at the beginning of Acts. In the Gospel, the ascension feels like the closing scene of Jesus’ earthly ministry. In Acts, the same moment becomes the opening scene for the Spirit moving through ordinary people. The focus shifts from what Jesus began to what the followers of Jesus are now called to continue.

While the events in Luke 24 seem to happen in one day, Acts follows the arc of the other gospels in identifying the time between Jesus’ resurrection and ascension as 40 days. It is helpful to think about it like a cliffhanger television show season finale (remember the old “who shot JR” season of Dallas).

The writers touched back into the same moment, but with a new purpose and perspective. Luke seems to do something very similar. The Gospel brings Jesus’ earthly ministry to its theological climax, while Acts reopens the scene, highlighting different details, to tell the story of the church.

Maybe that is part of the gift of Ascension Sunday for us too. We are reminded that faith is not only about looking back at what Jesus once did. It is also about recognizing how the Spirit is still moving through people willing to carry blessing, healing, mercy, and hope into the world today.

I look forward to worshiping with you Sunday in the sanctuary or on YouTube as we bring this meaningful series to a close, and perhaps discover together that the story is still unfolding.

Brett