New Chapter, Same Mission

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, have you ever had a moment where you completed something

and then was left thinking, “Now what?”

Maybe it was just finishing some big project.

Maybe it was your visiting family going home from vacation.

Maybe it was completing school.

Maybe it was retiring from work.

Whatever it was,

you had a routine down for so long

that doing something else just seemed unimaginable.

And the ministry of Jesus Christ seemed to come to a similar point.

Jesus is alive!

Death has been conquered!

He has shown himself to hundreds of people!

Jesus has just overcome the impossible!

Now what?

Jesus had these 12 disciples under his wing for three years,

and he continued to reveal himself and bless the community

each and every day.

Well,

as the Book of Acts tells us,

Jesus continued to speak about the kingdom of God.

Jesus spoke not about how the nation of Israel ought to be a great nation again like it once was

--like it was under King David or King Solomon,

rather,

he was talking about God ruling in the hearts of the people

preaching the repentance and forgiveness of sins.

It’s not a kingdom with physical boundaries

but a kingdom that consists of God’s believing people

wherever they are at.

Jesus says in the Gospel of Luke that this proclamation will begin in Jerusalem

and then will be spread throughout the whole world.

It will be given to all nations.

And Jesus is saying that God is going to help these disciples

by giving them the Holy Spirit.

And Jesus said in the Book of Acts

that they will have to wait for the Holy Spirit to arrive first

before they go.

After all,

the Jewish celebration of Pentecost

is just around the corner.

Much of what Jesus had told them is nothing new.

Truth be told,

this work Jesus was asking the disciples to do

is pretty much same work Jesus had taught them to do in the first place.

As the disciples are taking all this in,

they ask Jesus,

“Lord,

will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

The disciples are still waiting for Jesus to claim his position as king

like how King David and King Solomon had one done

--where they were doing what God told them to do

to make the nation of Israel a great theocracy.

Isn’t this what God promised the Christ would do?

“Cleanse the promise land Jesus

Get rid of the heathens.

Take up your throne.”

But Jesus was not interested in restoring a theocracy nation

--a nation of the promise land under God’s Old Testament rule.

Rather,

Jesus was interested in building up the kingdom of God.

Jesus had transferred the leadership of his people from the Old Testament kingdom

--based upon the 12 tribes of Israel

to the New Testament kingdom

--based upon the leadership of the 12 apostles.

This new team was to continue the work of preaching the forgiveness of sins

and having the people live with their faith in Jesus Christ.

The disciples I’m sure were amazed by what Jesus had said

because when you read the next several chapters of the book of Acts

they were just amazed at how far the Good News of Jesus Christ could go.

They were seeing people blessed by this news more than they ever thought was imaginable.

But in our text for today,

Jesus did another thing that was unimaginable.

Jesus ascended into heaven.

The man whom they’ve been spending quality time together with

just was lifted up

then he blessed the disciples

and then continued going into the sky.

Jesus took not the earthly throne

but the heavenly one.

Then two angels tell the disciples that yes,

Jesus was taken to heaven.

But he also will come back.

And I could imagine the disciples are thinking,

“What now?”

Well,

the disciples realized that they will have to do what Jesus told them to do.

Go back to Jerusalem and wait.

With today being Mother’s Day,

I wonder what Mary, the mother of Jesus, was thinking.

She has seen a lot from her own son.

And the timing of things for her as a mom

was different than what a mother would typically expect

especially for her times.

God had placed a child in her womb before she was married.

She was able to see Jesus become independent as he aged into adulthood.

Her son did miracles before he began is three-year ministry.

She was able to see her son just be a wonderful leader

that much of the community was able to see.

I’m sure the things Jesus did would have given Mary much joy

--to see her son do so well.