It’s natural to think that the Feast of Ascension is about what happened to Jesus at the end of his time on earth. But that isn’t really where the focus lies.
The Feast of the Ascension isn’t so much about what happened to Jesus, rather it’s about what happened to the disciples. Mark, as usual, has the most succinct account: Jesus went to heaven (well yes, that’s hardly a surprise), but the disciples “went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them”. The disciples stayed behind and got on with the work. (Mk 16:15-20)
Luke (Acts 1:1-11) gives us a more poetic image with Jesus disappearing into the sky behind a cloud – much beloved of Renaissance painters, but probably less helpful for those of us who grew up with pictures of space rockets blasting off. But Luke also drives home the point that this is not about what happens or happened to Jesus, it’s about those he left behind. Luke has two figures in white (as we find throughout Scripture, when a divine message is delivered without God speaking directly) tell the disciples to stop doodle allying about and get on with it: They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”
We may also sometimes be tempted to get lost looking for inspiration by staring into the sky, or just get lost staring into the distance. There is nothing to look for. Jesus isn’t going to return like a spaceship on reentry. He went leaving some very clear instructions. In Luke’s telling: “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”; and in Mark’s: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature”.
We have a job to do. The Feast of the Ascension tells us to get on with it. And reassures us that we are not left doing it alone – the power of God, through Jesus and his Spirit, is working with us.