A FAREWELL filled with PROMISE

 

June 2, 2025

On Thursday May 29, 2025 many Christians around the world marked a day called Ascension Day. It is a rather significant part of the story of Jesus. So while I am a few days late in reflecting on this together, it seemed a good place to start this week’s devotions.

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Acts 1:9–11

"After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight."

 

Goodbyes are rarely easy.Whether it’s a child heading off to begin a career in a different town or city, a dear friend moving to a new city, we often experience a quiet ache when someone we love and care about leaves. And yet, sometimes those departures lead to new beginnings. Growth. Responsibility. Even blessing.

Jesus’ disciples stood on the hillside, watching Jesus ascend into heaven, and I wonder what emotions stirred in their hearts. Confusion? Sadness? Maybe even fear?

After all, Jesus had just risen from the dead! The disciples were finally getting used to having Him back. They probably thought, “This is it! Jesus is here to stay.” They had walked with Him again, talked with Him, eaten with Him. And now… He was leaving. He goes up. Into the clouds. Gone.

But here’s the truth we need to notice: the Ascension of Jesus was not an end, it was a continuation of God’s great story.

Before Jesus returned to the Father, He made a promise: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you…” (Acts 1:8). His physical departure was not abandonment, it was preparation. Jesus was making room for the coming of the Spirit. In going, He gave us the gift of His presence in a new and even closer way.

Sometimes people think of the Ascension as Jesus “going away,” but that’s not quite right. He didn’t remove Himself from the world, He simply changed how He would be present within it. By his Ascension Jesus sends us his Holy Spirit to be our constant companion.

The Heidelberg Catechism puts it like this:

Christ is true human and true God.
In his human nature Christ is not now on earth;
but in his divinity, majesty, grace, and Spirit
he is never absent from us. (Lord’s Day 18)

In other words, Jesus divine presence remains with His people through the Holy Spirit. It’s the real, personal, empowering presence of God with us, comforting, guiding, and strengthening.

The Ascension invites us to lift our eyes, not in grief or sadness, but in hope. It reminds us that Jesus is not distant. He is active, present, and ruling with grace and truth.

The Ascension calls us to step forward in faith, trusting that He goes with us by His Spirit, and that one day, as the angels told the disciples, “This same Jesus… will come back in the same way you have seen him go.”

Until then, you and I will live with purpose knowing that heaven and earth are closer than they might appear.

Let's Pray

Jesus,
Thank You for the promise that You are always with us. In Your going, You gave us the gift of Your Spirit. Help me to trust Your presence, live in Your power, and walk in Your ways, until the day I see You face to face.
Amen.