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In the church, we are often focused with keeping our greatest celebrations on Sundays, as much as possible. Rarely do we venture out to have services on other days of the week.
So why is Ascension always on the Thursday right before the 7th Sunday of Easter?
It’s because this is exactly 40 days after the Resurrection.
In Acts of the Apostles, Luke tells Theophilus (a name that literally means “Lover of God”) that Jesus was with the Disciples telling them all they needed to know about God’s Kingdom. After 40 days of teaching, Jesus then ascended into Heaven.
We celebrate the Ascension on this day, the 40th after the Resurrection to mirror Luke’s account in Acts. We will do the same for Pentecost, the 50th day after the Resurrection (Pentecost coming from the Greek word for 50th). In mirroring the events of the past, we bring them to the present so that we may live into them and in doing so come closer to our Lord Jesus Christ.