17th May 2026 

"He ascended into heaven..."

News & Notices this week is published on Ascension Day, forty days after Easter Sunday. On this day, in the words of the Creed, the Church celebrates that Jesus "ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father."

So, Ascensiontide marks the end of a story. Since Advent, we have been telling this story in our liturgy and our worship. It's the story of a promised Saviour, and of his birth in a stable at Bethlehem, the Word made Flesh. It's the story of his dwelling among us as Immanuel - God with Us - sharing our humanity from baptism to testing in the wilderness, calling disciples, teaching, healing the sick, casting out demons. It's the story of his journey to Jerusalem, and his suffering and dying on the cross for us. It's the story of his Resurrection, of Love triumphing over all the forces of death and hell. And now, his work on earth complete, Jesus blesses his disciples on a hillside and is taken from them up into heaven, where a cloud hides him from their sight.

Some of us like to know the end of a story. We binge read or binge watch box sets because we want to know what happens, how everything turns out. Sometimes I might flick to the final chapter before I've read the whole of a novel - especially if I'm worried about what might happen to my favourite character! But sometimes I don't want a story or series I'm enjoying to end. I resist reading the last few chapters or watching the final episode because I want to stay in the story, to keep the characters with me.

The disciples are described in Acts 1 as "gazing up towards heaven". As they watched Jesus' departure, I wonder how they felt? I wonder if they rejoiced, recognising that Jesus had returned to his eternal home, to the honour and glory he deserves, recognising that God has tied up the loose ends and made a fitting conclusion? Or whether their gazing up to heaven was tinged with regret, that this wonderful story in which they had been invited to participate was now over - and they didn't really know what was next? As they prayed together in the upper room over the following days, I wonder what thoughts and hopes, fears and anxieties were going through their minds?

Of course, the joy of Ascensiontide is that it is both the end of a story and the beginning of a new one. For in just a few days, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus will be poured out on the gathered disciples and propel them out of the upper room and into the streets, empowering them to tell the story of Jesus across the world and down through the ages.  It's a story for every time and every place, a story in which we are all invited to participate.