What Is Ascension Day and Why Do Christians Celebrate It?

Ascension Day, also known as Ascension Day, is celebrated to commemorate the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven. This celebration is one of the most important celebrations of the Christian Church, along with the crucifixion, Easter and Pentecost. Ascension Day is usually celebrated on Thursday, the 40th day after Easter.

The Gospel of John, chapter 3, verse 13: “No one has ascended to heaven except he came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man.”

Ascension Day in 2024

This year, Ascension Day will be held on Thursday, May 9, 2024.

When did Jesus ascend to heaven?

Dan Graves explains where the Bible mentions Jesus’ ascension and the event sometimes known as “Holy Thursday”:

Forty days after Jesus rose from the grave, he ascended into heaven. Luke describes this event as follows:

Therefore, when they [the disciples and the resurrected Christ] came together, they asked him, saying, “Lord, wilt thou restore the kingdom to Israel at this time?”
And he said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has appointed.” But you will find strength when the Holy Spirit descends on you; And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
And when he had said these words, they were watching him, and he was taken up into heaven, and a cloud took him from their sight…” (Acts 1:4-9 New King James Version).

As the date of Easter changes every year, the feast of the Ascension changes with it. It is always celebrated on the 40th day after Easter, and since Easter is always a Sunday, Ascension Day is always a Sunday and is often known as “Holy Thursday”. Whenever Easter is on April 5th, Ascension Day is on May 14th. The last time this happened was in 1953 and the next time will be in 2025.

Ascension Day celebrates the exaltation of Christ. While he was on earth, he was a servant. But now in the sky, the ruler and God is everything. By entering heaven as humanity’s representative, he completed the work of our salvation and is the guarantee of the final glory of all who love him.

As Jesus ascended in the clouds, so will he return. Luke has described this scene again:
“And as they gazed fixedly toward heaven as he ascended, suddenly two men in white stood by them, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This The same Jesus, who was taken up from among you, will return to the same people as you saw him go up into heaven.

This is the great hope of all Christians. For as Jesus ascended to heaven, so shall all Christians. According to Paul’s writing to the Thessalonian church, those who have died will be resurrected first; Those who are alive will be caught up to meet him in the air. This event is called rapture. With this hope in mind, Christians sometimes end their meetings with the words, “Come, Lord Jesus.”

Ascension Day traditions

As the date of Easter changes every year, the feast of the Ascension changes with it. It is always celebrated on the 40th day after Easter, and since Easter is always a Sunday, Ascension Day is always a Thursday and is often known as “Holy Thursday”.

Ascension Day celebrates the exaltation of Christ. While he was on earth, he was a servant. But now in the sky, the ruler and God is everything. By entering heaven as humanity’s representative, he completed the work of our salvation and is the guarantee of the final glory of all who love him.

As Jesus ascended in the clouds, so will he return. Luke has described this scene again:

“And as they gazed fixedly toward heaven as he ascended, suddenly two men in white stood by them, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This The same Jesus, who was taken up from among you, will return to the same people as you saw him go up into heaven.

What does the ascension of Jesus tell us about his human nature?

Randy Alcorn discusses how the ascension emphasizes the full divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ:

One of the remarkable points about the ascension is that it confirms that Christ’s physical body went to heaven after his resurrection. This is what Christian belief calls his “same body,” meaning that our bodies will be restored to the same form in the resurrection. Some Christians believe that when Christ returned to heaven, he gave up his humanity and became a fully spiritual being. But this is wrong. Ascension creates a fundamental change.

The truth is not that Jesus was born as a baby at Christmas and then 33 years later, the resurrection and ascension took place and then he was no longer human. The resurrection shows that the incarnation (the deification of man) is not temporary. However, it may still be questioned whether, after defeating death in the resurrection, when it was time to return to heaven, Christ might have said, “The time is up, there is no more reason to be human” and to release itself from the body and assume the form (or lack of form) inherent in the second member of the Trinity.

Alcorn continues that the ascension shows that Jesus retained both divine and human aspects for eternity:

As a perfect man, he will never die again. He ascended to heaven in his glorified resurrection body and will remain there forever as perfect man as well as God. Christ’s ascension is our guarantee that not only will our souls go to heaven, but our bodies will also be transformed one day in the resurrection.

Therefore, the ascension of Jesus Christ confirms that He is both fully God and fully man. He will maintain this duality for eternity and serve as a model for mankind who will eventually attain resurrection and eternal life in heaven with transformed bodies.

Jesus’ Ascension and His Eternal Nature as God-Man

Randy Alcorn explains how the ascension emphasizes that Jesus could have simply disappeared, but instead physically ascended to a place from where he will return to earth in the same physical body.

Thus, Jesus first became a man (incarnation), then conquered death and received his eternal glorified body as a man (resurrection), and as a man returned to heaven (ascension) and as a new man. will be resurrected (the second coming; and as the first product of the resurrection, it will resurrect our bodies like his body). He will rule the new earth as God-man. He has become a permanent member of the human race.

So if you’ve ever wished you could walk the earth with Jesus like His disciples, I have good news for you… if you know Him, it will happen. You will have a new (resurrection) body and it will be a new (resurrection) earth, but it will really be you, it will really be Jesus, and it will really be the earth. No sin, no death, no curse. I myself will be without all the bad parts, and the earth will be the earth without all the bad parts. (The new bodies are not immaterial bodies, and the new earth is not other than the earth, any more than a new machine is a non-machine.)

As Job said, “I know that my redeemer liveth, and shall stand at last.” And after my skin is destroyed, I will nevertheless see God in my body; I myself will see him with my own eyes – I, and no one else. How my heart longs within me!” (Job 19:25-27)

What is the significance of the ascension of Jesus Christ?

Brian Hedges explains three key things we all need to know about Jesus from his ascension:

1. Christ ascends and sits on the throne, pours his spirit on the church.
Jesus told his disciples that it would be better for them if he were gone, because only then would he send them another helper, the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-16). And that’s exactly what happened on the day of Pentecost, ten days after Jesus’ ascension. The Holy Spirit descended upon the Church with power and began a new era in the history of salvation.

This is why Peter connects the ascension of Jesus and the grace of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:33:
Therefore, when he was lifted up by the right hand of God Almighty, and received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he poured out what you see and hear.

2. Christ has ascended and sits on the throne, applying the blessings of salvation.
The resurrected and glorified Christ, who achieved salvation through his suffering on the cross, now applies the obtained salvation by granting the gift of repentance and forgiveness of sins.

As Peter says in Acts 5:31:
God exalted him with his right hand as leader and savior to grant repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

3. Christ is ascended and enthroned, watching over his suffering people as they bear witness to him.
We see this in Acts 7 that Stephen becomes the first martyr of the Christian Church.
But he, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God and saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said: Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. (Acts 7:55-56)

Today in the article : What Is Ascension Day and Why Do Christians Celebrate It? We reviewed useful information about the Bible and the way of Jesus. If you wish, you can view other articles of Ali Vahidi about Christianity