From the Revd Nigel Coatsworth
Sir, - I found Canon David Bryant's sensitive reflection on the
ascension interesting and moving as he explored the issue of a God
who is present and yet absent (Faith, 8
May). I feel, however, that by taking St Luke's account as the
basis for our celebration as well as our liturgical calendar, we
miss out on the riches to be found both in Acts itself and other
New Testament writers, in the Church's understanding of the
ascension. (Is this why the Sunday after the Ascension has been
reduced to yet another Sunday in Eastertide?)
St Paul's letters are imbued not only with Christ's being raised
from death, but with him as Lord, the hymn to Christ in Philippians
2 being a case in point. Colossians 3 speaks of Christ "seated at
the right hand of God", while Ephesians 1 speaks of Jesus's
continuing rule "over all rule and authority and power and
dominion", and Ephesians 4 speaks of the ascended Christ giving
gifts of ministry to his Church. Far from being absent, Jesus is
very much present, not only alive, but exercising authority and
power for himself, and in and through his people.
The Letter to the Hebrews gives us another side of Jesus's
continuing ministry - as our High Priest, one of our own flesh and
blood, who has gone through the curtain into the very presence of
God, and there continually intercedes for us. Some would interpret
St Stephen's vision of Jesus at his trial "standing at the right
side of God" as Luke's showing Jesus as intercessor.
St Matthew's Gospel ends with Jesus's declaration that "all
authority in heaven and earth has been given to me," while the
Fourth Gospel is full of that paradoxical duality of Lordship and
Service, where the risen Lord is on his way "to the Father" to
receive back "the glory which he had from the beginning". John 17
reads like a coronation prayer of consecration, as John sees the
cross as Jesus's being lifted up and glorified to draw all people
to himself.
Luke's great gift is to be able to break things down and to
present theological aspects of Jesus's ministry as distinct events,
but the danger is that we lose the more complex and more
magnificent picture given to us by the New Testament as a
whole.
It is in hymns that we find some of the finest expressions of
what the ascension means to us: Charles Wesley's great hymn "Hail
the day that sees him rise", William Chatterton Dix's "Alleluya,
sing to Jesus", and Wendy Churchill's "Jesus is King" brilliantly
express this ongoing ministry of Jesus, where the ascension is not
simply a farewell, but his coronation, as he enters into his role
as King, Priest, and Intercessor.
Whether it be in the quiet of "the secret place" or in some
great communal celebration; whether it be in ministering God's love
and healing, or in deliverance ministry, the presence of "one of
our own" at the throne of him from whom all love and healing, all
authority and power, flow is the source and inspiration of all that
we are and do.
NIGEL COATSWORTH
Oakmere House
69 Hill Park Dudleston Heath
Ellesmere
Shropshire SY12 9LB