The Ascension

Though it is certainly not the case, it seems that the gospel recorders fail to give us a proper ending to their story. It’s as if the resurrection was so profound that they just quit reporting. Matthew says they returned to Galilee and then stops with the great commission. He doesn’t even report the ascension. If the last eleven verses of Mark are a later addition, he quits at the tomb. John, like Matthew, leaves us in Galilee as he ends his report.

Luke gives us the location of the ascension—which turns out to be in the Jerusalem area. Earlier, John seemed to be out of sync with the synoptics. Now it seems Luke disagrees with the others. If we only had Luke’s report, we would assume that Jesus ascended on the evening of the Sunday he arose. Luke gives the return of the two from Emmaus. Then there is a command to stay in the city and the ascension. Who’s right?

Again, the answer is, all four. In fact, Luke, himself, in Acts 1:3 tells us that this covers a forty-day period. Where then do we insert the reports from Galilee in the story Luke tells? Most likely, they go between verses 49 and 50 of the last chapter.

What then took them back to Jerusalem? The answer is that we are not told. It might seem that they naturally were there to celebrate what we have come to call Pentecost, but they were there a couple of weeks early. Most likely, the answer is simple. They were there because Jesus sent them. The final comment of John seems a fitting summary statement ending the gospels.