Jesus Says Good-Bye

There is something we often rush past in the Ascension story. We focus on what it means—the theology, our mission, Christ’s promise—and all of that certainly matters. While preparing this sermon, doing research and thinking, another question popped up: What did it feel like for Jesus to say goodbye?

Because if we take the Incarnation seriously—if we really believe that in Christ, God has taken on human flesh—then we cannot skip over the fact that Jesus was also a human being with human feelings. And that means allowing space for something we don’t often name:
The ache. The sadness. That Jesus likely felt as he was leaving.

Martin Luther did not dwell sentimentally on Jesus’ emotions, but he insisted fiercely on Christ’s full humanity. Jesus is not pretending to be human—he is human. Which means he loves, he forms relationships, he connects to people in real and tangible ways.
And if that is true, then this moment is not easy.

These disciples are Jesus’ people. He called them one by one.. And now he is leaving them to carry on without seeing him.

We know what that kind of leaving feels like. It is the burdensome heaviness in the chest. And it is not unfaithful or irreverent to say: Jesus likely felt that. Not as regret. But because he loved. The deeper the love, the more real the ache of parting.

There is the one who is leaving and those who are left. The disciples are standing there, looking up, straining their eyes toward the sky, as if they might catch one more glimpse of Jesus. What now? Where did he go? What are we supposed to do with this?

We’re not so different. We still tend to look for Christ “up there,” somewhere distant, removed, safely contained in heaven. But Martin Luther would likely interrupt us right there. He would say, “No—you’ve got it backward.” Why are you looking for Christ in the sky when he has already promised to be with you?” For Luther, the Ascension is not about Jesus going away. It is about Jesus becoming present in a way he never was before. He says it plainly: “Christ ascended in order that he might fill all things”

Luther says Christ now “sits at the right hand of God,” but he makes clear that the right hand of God is not a physical place. Rather, it is God’s almighty power, present throughout heaven and earth. Though unseen, Christ is still at work through Word, Sacrament, and Spirit. The Ascension opens the way for faith—a new way of clinging to Christ.

As Luther writes, “he did not ascend for his own sake, but for our sake, that he might be Lord and work in us and for us.” Ascension and mission belong together: Christ reigns, and his work continues through his people.

Christ “fills all things, meaning there is nowhere you go – no hospital room, no quiet grief, no crowded street, no workplace, and no church where Christ is not already present. Allelluia. Thanks be to God.

Yet these profound theological truths do not erase the emotional weight of the moment before the Ascension. Jesus understands what is happening, but the disciples do not yet. This goodbye is real, but it is not a separation.

And so Jesus meets them not with explanation, but with blessing, a powerfully poignant moment for Jesus. He blesses them—right in the middle of their ache. That painful worry of what are we going to do now?

There is another part to the way Jesus says goodbye: He entrusts his disciples with what comes next. He places the work in their hands. He is giving them an all important undertaking.
His goodbye becomes a handing over.

Perhaps this is where the Ascension meets us most personally: in the experience of letting go and saying goodbye. We know that feeling when a child boards the bus for the first time, leaves for school or college, or starts a life of their own through marriage.. Then there are the deeper farewells, when those we love leave this life. In all these moments, we know the pain of being left behind.

We live in hope of the resurrection and today we can celebrate with the disciples, the enthronement of Jesus Christ in heaven over all the earth, Jesus had to leave, but he sent the Holy Spirit to be there for us, he communicates with us in prayer, and left behind his gospel. Christ is Risen. He is risen indeed. Thanks be to God. Let us Pray.