Gospel Reflection for
The Ascension of The Lord
The Holy of Holies Open to All
But what exactly are we to be witnesses of?
Jesus tells us right before he ascends into heaven: “that repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached in his name.” If Christ had not ascended, we would not be able to preach that.
His Ascension finishes the job of reconciling fallen humanity to God, because it brings our human nature back into a right relationship with God. It guarantees that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was completely accepted by the Father.
Reconciling fallen humanity with God has always been the main problem that religion tries to solve. In the Old Testament, the Israelites achieved this right relationship through what was called the sacrifice of atonement (at-one-ment: the sacrifice that made sinners, once again, one with God). This sacrifice took place in the Holy of Holies, the innermost chamber of Moses’ tent of worship and, later, of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Holy of Holies was separated from the inner altar of incense by a huge, thick, ancient curtain. Only the High Priest was allowed to pass through the curtain, and even he could only enter once a year, on the Day of Atonement. That ancient ritual foreshadowed Christ’s Ascension.
In his Ascension, Christ was taken up into the real, eternal Holy of Holies, the inner chamber of the universe, heaven itself. But instead of coming back out, he stays there, in his human nature, as our representative, as the everlasting bridge of reconciliation between mankind and God.
Through faith in Christ, we have no more doubts that our sins can be forgiven; we don’t have to wait for the Day of Atonement; we can live constantly in a right relationship with God. This is what we are witnesses of.
This is the message we have received: every human heart’s deepest longing can finally be fulfilled, because Christ’s sacrifice has been accepted by the Father.