Why Did Jesus Ascend?

Why did Jesus ascend? Why did He leave us alone to fend for ourselves? At first blush, it can seem that He has abandoned us, but this is not so. Indeed, Jesus’ ascension is both utterly essential and quite beneficial. Besides the sending of the Holy Spirit into the world, Jesus ascended:

– So that He returns to His rightful place in heaven, enthroned at the Father’s right hand. While He never truly left the Father’s side when He walked this earth, it would be all too easy for mankind to think He is only present on earth had He not ascended. Without the ascension we might think Jesus is merely an eternal man, not the eternal God that He has always been.

– To focus us on more the things of heaven and less on the things of earth. If He remained here many would be tempted to see a pilgrimage to see Jesus their goal in life rather than living a life of faith, hope, and love consistent with seeing Jesus and living with Him for ever in heaven. Just as unbelievers are caught up in things of earth, we would be much less likely to seek first the Kingdom of God so long as Jesus lives physically among us.

– So that, at the right hand of the Father, He might intercede for us. Limited by His human body confined to the material world here on earth, Jesus could hear only so many of our petitions. Being in heaven outside of matter, time, and space – the created world – He can hear and answer an unlimited number of our prayers at any moment in time.

– To bring His humanity into the heavenly Kingdom so that we might follow. Yes, while Enoch, Elijah, Moses, and the Blessed Virgin were assumed into heaven by a special grace of God, none of us is likely to merit such a blessing. But because of all that Jesus has done for us, when we are resurrected at the end of time, we will follow Him and ascend to our eternal heavenly home just the same way He did.

– To focus and foster our faith. If Jesus had remained here, it would not have been an act of real faith to believe in Him. Indeed, we do not believe in our living brothers, sisters, cousins, friends, and neighbors. Since they are present to us, we know them. We might believe in their goodness, integrity, and kindness only because we know their goodness, integrity, and kindness, but that is not the same as believing in them.

– To force us to continue His mission. This is done through His mystical body, the Church. Had Jesus remained here, we could easily expect Jesus to do it for us instead of us doing it for Jesus. Just as it was the attitude of many people for decades that priests, monks, and nuns ought to evangelize, intercede, and do other aspects of Jesus’ mission, it is more clearly the responsibility of all the faithful to carry out the Gospel if Jesus has ascended. Otherwise it would be easy to think that this was Jesus’ job if He remained physically present among us.

– to be Really Present in the Eucharist. If Jesus remains among us physically, He would not be able to be with us spiritually and sacramentally in the Eucharist. It is not just a matter of Jesus being here on earth rather than there in Heaven. Jesus’ sacrifice on the altar of the cross has to ascend, come into the Father’s presence, and then be accepted by Him, otherwise the sacrifice remains incomplete and ineffective. As St Paul writes in the Letter to the Hebrews, Jesus “passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation, he entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption” (Heb 9:11-12). Without the ascension, there is no eternal redemption.

– to be operative, to be the One who acts in the sacraments. When a priest says ‘I absolve you’ or ‘I baptize you’ or ‘This is My Body’, it is Jesus acting through the priest, the priest is acting in the Person of Christ (in persona Christi) so that the sacrament is conferred not by the priest’s power or authority, but by Jesus’ power and authority. This is only possible if Jesus has ascended into Heaven.

—Fr Booth