✨ “Why Do You Stand There?” — From Witnesses to Co-Rulers
Ascension Sunday – Lectionary Year B Acts 1:1–11 | Psalm 47 | Ephesians 1:17–23 | Mark 16:15–20
🕊A Cloud, Two Witnesses, and the Glory of God
As Jesus is taken up, a cloud receives Him from their sight. And two men in white appear beside the disciples and ask:
“Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky?” (Acts 1:11)
It’s not the first time heaven sends two witnesses.
On the mountain of Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah appear, radiant in light (Luke 9:30).
In Revelation 11, two witnesses stand firm in tribulation, testifying before being caught up in a cloud.
And now, at the Ascension, two again appear—bearing witness not just to what was, but to what will be.
Two witnesses. It’s always been enough.
“Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three.” (Deuteronomy 19:15)
Heaven affirms what the earth can barely grasp:
Jesus’ departure is not abandonment but fulfillment and invitation.
⏳“It Is Not for You to Know…”
Before the cloud lifts, they ask what any of us would ask:
“Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
He answered: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority.’ (Acts 1:6–7)
Even now, raised in glory, Jesus defers to the Father leading us to trust the hidden work and quiet timing.
🎶Psalm 47: God Goes Up with Joy
Psalm 47 helps us name what the disciples were still learning to see.
“God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.” (Psalm 47:5)
This is not a song of distance. It is a song of recognition. The One they saw lifted from the earth is now known as King.
“Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.” (Psalm 47:6)
Worship responds to what we often don’t yet understand. The cloud may have hidden Him from their eyes, but heaven knew exactly what was happening.
“For God is the King of all the earth; sing to Him a psalm of praise.” (Psalm 47:7)
This psalm has always been read by the Church as a coronation hymn. It tells the truth that takes time to settle: that Jesus reigns now—not later.
That the risen Lord is not waiting for a throne. He is already seated.
Ascension is not about escape. It is about presence—on a scale we can barely hold.
He fills the heavens and He draws near to us in the Spirit.
👑Far Above… But Not Far Away
“He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.” (Ephesians 4:10)
“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 2:6)
The Ascension is enthronement that is shared. We are not just looking up to where He went, we are seated with Him, hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3).
🌍We Participate in the Restoration of All Things
The messengers say:
“This same Jesus… will come back in the same way you have seen Him go.” (Acts 1:11)
We don’t wait like spectators. We wait like friends and witnesses.
Like the two in Revelation 11, we stand before the Lord of the earth—testifying, prophesying, lighting lamps, opening scrolls.
🔥Seated, So He Can Send: The Spirit Changes Everything
Jesus tells them to wait……. UNTIL
“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses…” (Acts 1:8)
“Exalted to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.” (Acts 2:33)
The Spirit is not a footnote but the fulfillment to Ascension.
Christ is seated—so the Spirit can be poured out. Shared AUTHORITY—so that we, His body, can move with power and grace.
“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:27)
We now carry the story…..
🐚C.S. Lewis on Amphibians: Heaven-Touched Earthlings
“Humans are amphibians—half spirit and half animal… As spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time.” The Screwtape Letters, Letter 8
We live in both realms. We are spirit and flesh, time-bound and eternal.
And the Spirit fills this strange space—joining heaven and earth in us.
Jesus did not ascend to escape His body.
He ascended to raise ours.
To lift this human life into the heart of God.
To pour the Spirit into creatures who straddle dust and glory.
We are not waiting for the world to be fixed.
We are part of its healing.
“The creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.” (Romans 8:19)
✝️The Gospel According to Mark: Signs Will Follow
The Church is the next chapter.
“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation… Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed His word by the signs that accompanied it.” (Mark 16:15, 20)
The Gospel ends in movement. Jesus ascends—and the Church moves out, an acceleration. The throne is occupied. The Spirit is poured out. And now the body begins to move.