Human in Heaven – Br. Luke Ditewig
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Br. Luke Ditewig
Ascension Day
Gathered together, the disciples and friends are amazed Jesus had appeared to Peter. The two who walked to Emmaus just returned and told of meeting Jesus in breaking bread. As they speak, Jesus stands among the gathering. “Peace be with you,” Jesus says. “Look, it’s me. Look at my hands and my feet. Remember my wounds. Watch me eat. I’m alive. Everything written about me must be fulfilled. Good news is to be proclaimed to everyone. You are witnesses of all of this.” Then Jesus leads them out to nearby Bethany and is carried up to heaven.
Jesus ascending into heaven is part of the resurrection story. Risen and ascended go together. The Word became flesh and lived among us as a human infant who grew into an adult, living, loving, losing, dying, rising, and ascending. God with us.
As our neighbor The Rev. Jarred Mercer wrote: “The ascension is simply the completion of the first movement of the incarnation.”[i] “As in the incarnation divinity was introduced into human life, so in the ascension humanity is introduced into the divine life. The human condition now inhabits heaven, the eternal presence of God.”[ii]
Jesus is God embodied. When born, Jesus was fully vulnerable as an infant. When risen, Jesus kept and showed his wounds. Resurrection didn’t magically restore Jesus to pre-crucifixion. Returning to heaven didn’t diminish Jesus’ humanity.
Jesus ascended with wounded hands and feet, needing food and companionship, vulnerable to and for love and heartbreak, grief and trust. “The human condition now inhabits heaven.” Mysteriously wonderful. Loving us humans, God comes all the way down to restore all, and God takes all up. Our condition and identity God loves, embraces, and heals with all the limitations. The good news is that all will be healed, all will be fully loved.
The pain and suffering now are real and so very hard. At the same time, God has power over all. God saves. Love has already and will ultimately win. We see this in Jesus. Again, from Mercer: “The ascension is the realization of our salvation: humanity has been exalted to enjoy the perfect love of God. Ascension is hope realized.”[iii]
One day we will fully enjoy the love of God where there will be no more weeping, where there will be no need of lamp or sun for the Lord will be our light. Amid the pain and hardship of today, we are not alone. Gaze and grasp and be still with Jesus, God who was a child, a teen, a friend, who was hurt, confused, who loved and lost, who lived and died, rose, and ascended.
Pray your pain and gratitude to God who is fully with us and who loves without limit. Look forward in hope for all to be healed. Rejoice with our risen and ascended Christ, wounded and triumphant.
[i] Strawbridge, Jennifer, Jarred Mercer, and Peter Groves. Love Makes No Sense: An Invitation to Christian Theology (2019) London: SCM Press, 103.
[ii] Ibid, 104.
[iii] Ibid, 104.