It is easy to imagine the disciples’ confusion, their utter confusion. A mere seven weeks before, the disciples had their hopes and dreams for the Kingdom of God crushed. Pilate, with the power of Rome behind him, had Jesus nailed to a cross. The disciples’ dreams of pushing out the Roman invaders had died with Jesus on that cross. The disciples’ dreams of reforming the religious bureaucracy of Israel had died with Jesus on that cross. The disciples’ dreams of God’s Kingdom come down from Heaven died with Jesus on that cross.
Then, within days of this crushing defeat, the disciples began to see appearances of the one whom they called Lord. They began to see Jesus alive, resurrected, ready to roll Rome on back from whence they came...or so they thought. The disciples thought that Jesus, having revealed himself as the Son of God, having defeated Death itself, having changed the course of all human history forever and ever world without end, now he was going to call down the wrath of Almighty God in Heaven. Now he was going to establish the kingdom. Watch out world! No more walking for miles and miles through backwater hamlets preaching about the kingdom to come to a bunch of poor rabble. No more depending on the good will of a few rich benefactors to put food into their stomachs. Now things were going to happen! Why, Jesus had even started to talk about some special gift, a piece of God's Spirit or something that was to be given to anyone who had hung tough through the lean years. Now the Kingdom of God would be escorted in by God's holy angels themselves! The disciples were greatly excited.
But what actually happened? Jesus had once again appeared to them. He was talking about the gift of the Holy Spirit. The disciples asked the question burning upon their hearts, "Lord, now are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" And Jesus responded to this question by saying, "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set...," which means essentially: "Hey, don't worry about the details I have the logistics all worked out.” Jesus continued, "...but you will receive power...," and the disciples were thinking: "Hey, that's just what we need a little more of is power because the Romans are pretty powerful themselves." Then Jesus concluded, "...you will be my witnesses...to all the ends of the earth." And the disciples were confused. Utterly confused.
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We today hear the word “witnesses” and our minds might think about "witnessing" and various kinds of evangelism that we may or may not feel comfortable with, but the disciples had a far worse feeling than we can ever imagine. The word Jesus used is martueso, which is where we get the word "martyr." The disciples were thinking about political power and control and Jesus told them they were to become martyrs for his sake: "Uh, Jesus, that's not quite what we had in mind. Can you rephrase that, please?" But Jesus did not back away from the notion that the disciples were to be martyrs; instead, Jesus did something that left the disciples dumbstruck. He ascended into heaven.
The holy angel that came from God came mostly to break up the crowd: "Alright guys, stop looking up into the heavens. You've seen enough. Jesus will come back some day the same way you saw him go. Until then we've got work to do, so let's get after it already." The disciples were utterly confused. What had just happened? Why did Jesus have to go?
Jesus seems to have planned his departure from the very beginning of his ministry. He had come to earth with the goal of leaving again after transferring his mission to others. Jesus had been preparing for this moment for several years, and, what's more, he had been preparing his disciples for this moment as well. Nothing pleased Jesus more than the successes of his disciples; nothing disturbed him more than their failures. The first time Jesus sent the disciples out alone, he warned them about opposition that would likely confront them and make their job of kingdom work difficult: "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves," he said. "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child...and all men will hate you because of me," he said. Yet, Jesus also said, "I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I am going away." Why? Why did Jesus have to go?
Jesus left few traces of himself on earth. He wrote no books or even pamphlets. A wandering preacher, he left no home or even belongings that could be enshrined in a museum. He did not marry, settle down, and start a family. Indeed, we would know nothing about him except for the traces he left within other human beings, within his followers, the disciples. This was his plan. The Law and the prophets had focused beams of light on the Messiah who was to come, and now that light was shooting out, as if hitting a prism, into all the lives of those who knew him. As Augustine put it: "You ascended from before our eyes, and we turned back grieving, only to find you in our hearts." Jesus, the Son of God in human flesh, left this earth physically that the Spirit of Jesus might return incarnate in every human heart that trusts in him. As incredible as it may sound, the Church is where God lives. What Jesus brought to a few – healing, grace, the good news message of God's love – the Church can now bring to all. Scary as this is, it's true: the Church exists to continue the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ.
It's like the old yarn about the conversation Jesus and the angel Gabriel had after Jesus ascended into heaven. Gabriel asked Jesus, "So, did everything work out ok down there?" Jesus replied, "Yep, everything's going just as planned." Gabriel then pushed a bit, "Yeah, I was wondering about that. Since you've been back I've been noticing that things are still pretty messed up down there with crime and greed and wars, you know, stuff like that. I thought you were going to take care of all that stuff." “Well, sure," Jesus said, "but I'm still working on it. I've got my follow-up team in place and they're handling things from here." "Oh good," said Gabriel, "there's a follow-up team. Whew! How many people do you have and who all is on it?" "Oh, just these twelve guys I found who were busy doing other things...and a few women as well," said Jesus. Gabriel was stunned: "That’s it?" "Yeah," said Jesus, "that's it." "Well, what if this little group fails," asked Gabriel, "You do have a back-up plan don't you?" "No," said Jesus almost casually, "there's no back-up plan. If they fail, then I guess we're all in trouble."
Personally, I kind of side with Gabriel in this story. I agree with the sentiment that asks: that's it? You mean to say Jesus just left us? But he was our leader! How can we go on without our leader? Why couldn't he have sent his Spirit and yet still stayed around longer? Why did he leave us alone? Why did Jesus have to go?
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One response to the question of why Jesus had to go is that Jesus had to go so that we could grow. If our leader is always around, then we're always looking over our shoulder for their approval. If Jesus is doing the work, then we don't have to. Hey, Jesus can raise the dead, I'm certainly not going to make any hospital calls. Jesus can make bread from the stones, who needs Bread for the World as a mission agency? Jesus can preach and teach, let’s just beam his messages into every TV set in the world; I’m out of a job! But the issue goes even deeper than this, doesn't it? We know that when the designated leader leaves, his or her departure calls forth from everyone else intellectual, emotional and spiritual resources we have but of which we may not be aware. The baby bird does not fly unless and until its mother pushes it out of the tree.
When a student goes away to college, the designated authority in their life, parents, are gone. And a parent's absence calls forth all sorts of responsible behavior from the young adult, who may not get things quite the way mom or dad get them but whose learning curve of life gets pretty steep. Or what about the experience of losing both one's mom and dad and coming to the realization that, "I am now the family patriarch or the family matriarch," and how that stirs up some very deep places within us...and we can't help but grow into a deeper reality of who we are. I remember the first wedding rehearsal I ever did. I was a 22 year old intern who had been to one wedding in my entire life. The pastor, Jim Farley, called me into his office and told me he wanted me to watch him conduct a rehearsal. So I went and took notes and later we talked about what he did. The next week he called me in and said he wanted me to conduct a rehearsal, and he just happened to mention how he wasn't going to be there. I tell you, nervous does not begin to describe how I felt, but somehow I made it through. And truth be told, Jim had to go for me to grow.
Jesus had to go for his disciples to grow. And there is no question but that the disciples had to grow. The novelist Annie Dilliard, who happens to be Presbyterian, observed, "What a pity that so hard on the heels of Christ come the Christians." Another novelist, Frederick Buechner, also a Presbyterian, has written about the church in Corinth, the same church that was always fighting and bickering and filing lawsuits against one another and all sorts of stuff. Buechner writes, "They were in fact Christ's body, as Paul wrote to them...Christ's eyes, ears, hands – but the way they were carrying on, they made Christ look bloodshot, dog-earred and all thumbs." Here is an interesting question to ponder: If Jesus could foresee such disasters as the Crusades, the Inquisition, and Apartheid, why did he ascend in the first place?
But let us also remember that, along with the darkness, the Church – Christ's Body – also brings light.
Ø In the name of Jesus, St. Francis kissed the beggar and took off his robes.
Ø In the name of Jesus, Mother Teresa founded the home for the Dying.
Ø In the name of Jesus, Bonhoeffer stood against Hitler.
Ø In the name of Jesus, King stood against Bull Connor and his dogs.
Ø In the name of Jesus, Millard Fuller founded Habitat for Humanity.
Ø In the name of Jesus, lepers are cared for in Korea.
Ø In the name of Jesus, Hindu untouchables are cared for in India.
Ø In the name of Jesus, prostitutes are restored to their own belovedness in L.A.
Ø In the name of Jesus, the greatest universities in the world were founded.
Ø In the name of Jesus, hospitals have been built throughout the developing nations.
Ø In the name of Jesus, one of my friends had the courage to tell me, “God loves you!”
Ø In the name of Jesus, missionaries cover the four corners of the earth to spread the good news that Almighty God in heaven loves all humankind.
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It turns out the disciples were right after all when they asked, "Lord, now are you going to restore the kingdom?" They were wrong about the implications of what that meant, but, yes, now, the time of his leaving, was the time Jesus was going to restore the kingdom. Now things were going to happen! Now the kingdom of God would be escorted in...but not by God's holy angels! Rather, the kingdom would be escorted in on the humble elbows of people like you and me, his disciples.
Sometimes I don't feel quite up to it. But I know that if I can't do it yet, there's still time to grow.
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