The Ascension of Jesus

These are the last words of Jesus before he ascended into heaven.  All three synoptic Gospels mention the instructions given by Jesus to the Apostles and the disciples to preach the word of God (Luke’s Gospel was broken into two, the second part being Acts of the Apostles, so we find it in Acts chap 1).

Mark was the first one to be inspired to write the Gospel to the gentiles, probably while he was in Rome as there was mighty persecution and he wanted to witness to the world Jesus’ good works.  As the persecutions were increasing in Rome, Mark wanted to ensure that Jesus teachings and works reaches to all even if he is not around.  Mark stresses on the power of the Holy Spirit that will be received by all those who believe in Jesus and at the end of his Gospel he affirms that Jesus continued to work with the disciples and revealed himself by the signs.

As we reflect on this passage, let us ask ourselves, “Was this message just for the Apostles and disciples gathered before Jesus ascended into heaven?”  They were a handful of them and today we are 2.38 Bn who follow Christ and many more who secretly believe for the fear of family or other religious leaders. Are we following the instructions given to us.

Though 1/3rd of the world is covered, there is a huge responsibility on us to complete the task given to us by Jesus’.  We just have to make Jesus known to the ones who have not heard of him, just sow the seed and the rest will be taken care by Jesus himself.

Lord Jesus, we surrender our lives to you, use us in your vineyard to spread the Good News to the ones we come in contact with, by first living our lives righteously and then talking about the teachings and works of Jesus while he was on earth.  Lord, give us the grace and power to do so.