Introduction
The central theme in Luke 24:44-53, Acts 1:1-11, and Ephesians 1:15-23 is Jesus’ ascension and its implications for His authority, mission, and the empowerment of His followers. These passages collectively highlight the ascension as the pivotal event that establishes His supreme authority, fulfills God’s redemptive plan, and empowers His followers through the Holy Spirit to carry out His mission. The ascension marks the fulfillment of Scripture, and the commissioning of the Spirit empowered church to spread His message globally. The ascension reveals who Jesus is, establishing him as the Lord and Messiah, exalted at God’s right hand. It tells us where we must go spiritually and what we must do now to remember and serve Him. We are witnesses, called to testify to Christ’s transformative presence in our lives, even if we haven’t seen Him with our eyes. Through the “eyes of the heart” we experience and share His reality, empowered by the Spirit to serve Him faithfully.
By ascending, Jesus is not abandoning his disciples or us. He is resuming his rightful place in the heavenly realms, where the Father exalts him. This pivotal moment sets the stage for the Holy Spirit’s coming and repositions Jesus to pour out His heavenly blessings on His followers.
The disciples’ final response, what our response should be now, captures the profound significance of the event: “They worshiped Him” (Luke 24:52a). Now in Luke and Acts, worship is reserved exclusively for God, never for idols or humans. By worshiping Jesus, the disciples demonstrate that they have finally recognized and understood Him as the divine Lord and Messiah. This realization leads them to “return to Jerusalem with great joy” (Lk. 24:52b). Jesus has moved them from Satan’s grip of fear to the joy of Jesus that is complete (Jn. 15:11) by clearly showing who He is, what He expects of them, and how, through the Spirit, He will empower their ministry. It’s the same message we have. It’s why we remember this event May 29th, 40 days after Easter, the 40 post-resurrection days that transformed our world, and still transforms our lives.
Ephesians is a potent reminder for us. Though the Ephesian believers are “sealed” by the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ and express faith through love, the “spirit of wisdom and revelation” (Eph. 1:17), the Father’s gift of spiritual fervor is needed to fuel their desire and ours 2thousand 25 years later in our post-Christian culture, fuel the desire for deeper wisdom, revelation, and knowledge of Him, for a commitment renewal to His mission.
Theme of spiritual lethargy, blindness, and forgetfulness
One way to understand the pitfalls in our faith life now is to look at the life examples of early believers. In our passages from Luke, Acts, and Ephesians, the disciples struggle with spiritual lethargy, blindness, and forgetfulness, even after witnessing Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. These passages show how Jesus’ ascension, divine revelation, and Spirit-empowerment address these struggles.
Each passage shows us Jesus, or the Spirit, correcting spiritual dullness, opening the eyes of the heart to God’s redemptive plan, and reminding believers of their mission, which is their identity, our purpose. The ascension is the climactic event, a pivotal moment in history, that dispels spiritual shortcomings by affirming Christ’s authority and enabling His followers, that’s the disciples and you and I, to live out His purposes with clarity and power.
Through His Word and Spirit, Jesus overcomes our weaknesses, firing us up, reorienting us to His mission, and empowering us, fueling the desire to live it out.
Wow.
Spiritual Lethargy
Then there’s the disciples—and now there’s us.
Luke: The disciples fail to grasp the fulfillment of Scripture, even after Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus reminds them that His death and resurrection were foretold in the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. Their spiritual blindness prevents them from connecting God’s promises to their present reality—of grasping the significance of Jesus’ resurrection and mission. Jesus counters this by opening their minds to understand the Scriptures (v. 45), awakening them—and us—from spiritual sluggishness to recognize His fulfillment of God’s plan.
Acts: The disciples’ question about the restoration of Israel’s kingdom (v. 6) suggests a lingering inertia—a misunderstanding of Jesus’ mission, focusing on earthly rather than spiritual priorities. Jesus redirects us to His global mission, empowered by the Spirit (v. 8).
Ephesians: Paul prays for the Ephesians—and listen, it’s for us as well—to receive a “spirit of wisdom and revelation” (v. 17). There’s a real need to overcome spiritual dullness or complacency in fully grasping God’s power and Christ’s exaltation. Like the disciples, we can lapse into spiritual lethargy. We often forget God’s promises, misinterpret, or become blind to His purposes due to our limited perspective—or the myriad distractions thrown at us by the evil one.
We need to shake things up, remember—and even then, we need a spiritual boost.
Spiritual Blindness
The disciples lived in a culture immersed in Scripture. They would have known of the transformative power available to believers through the Spirit from a reading of Isaiah 11:2: “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.” And Isaiah 61:1: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.”
David prayed in Psalm 51:11, “Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” The Psalms use the phrase “Spirit of God” or “Spirit of the Lord,” which is understood to refer to the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament.
Why were they spiritually blind? Trampled in the dust of existence, their hearts were not on fire; their eyes did not look up to where their help came from. We have Scripture—but oh my, we have philosophies on top of philosophies, distortion as a rule. We don’t even know where to look. We need to attend.
Luke: The disciples are “blind” to how the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms point to Him. In a Road to Emmaus moment, Jesus’ explanation to them—and to us—removes this blindness. His words and His example reveal the truth of His death, resurrection, and mission (vv. 46–47).
Acts: The disciples ask about restoring the kingdom to Israel, revealing an earthly focus on power rather than God’s plan. They fail to see spiritually: “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7). So are we. “Our souls do not know” (Ps. 139:14). We can’t imagine, and so—like the disciples—can’t fathom Jesus’ teachings about the kingdom (e.g., Luke 17:20–21) and are blind to the spiritual scope of Jesus’ work.
The angels’ intervention after the Ascension (vv. 10–11) corrects their gaze—and corrects us—because we wander in a post-modern Negev, staring at clouds. Move from staring upward to what was, and act on what is: Jesus’ commission.
Ephesians: Paul’s request that “the eyes of your heart may be enlightened” (v. 18) directly addresses spiritual blindness. He desires the Ephesians to see the hope, riches, and power available through Christ’s ascension and enthronement at God’s right hand (vv. 19–22).
Forgetfulness:
Luke: The disciples had forgotten or failed to connect Jesus’ earlier teachings to His resurrection. Jesus reminds them of His words (“everything I said to you,” v. 44) and ties them to Scripture, grounding their faith in God’s promises. The promise of the Holy Spirit (v. 49) ensures ongoing empowerment to overcome forgetfulness and sustain their mission. We have the “everything” Jesus said in writing—we just need to read it, follow it, and incorporate it into our lives.
Acts: The disciples seem to forget Jesus’ earlier teachings about the kingdom’s nature. Jesus’ final instructions and the promise of the Spirit (v. 8) serve as a reminder of their role as witnesses, reorienting them to God’s plan. Sure, He’s setting up the apostolic ministry to spread the Word. That’s for us today. Say, “Thank you, Jesus.” We have His Word; we have meaning and purpose because of that seed. Thank you.
Ephesians: The Ephesians may have forgotten. They may not have fully appreciated the magnitude of Christ’s authority and their identity as His body. Do we? That’s why it’s Ascension Day—40 days after Easter—so we remember. Do this in memory of me. Do this to remember God’s plan: to live with that reality as the basis of your worldview. Paul’s prayer reminds us of Christ’s supreme rule and our place in His plan (vv. 22–23).
Conclusion:
Like the disciples, we can lapse into spiritual lethargy. We can lose our faith focus—forgetting God’s promises, misinterpreting, or becoming spiritually blind to His purposes due to our limited and now distorted perspective or Satan’s distractions.
We need to shake things up—remember—and even then, we need a spiritual boost. The Ascension and promise of the Spirit is such a wake-up call. It turns us toward worship, joy, and readiness for mission. It displaces spiritual weakness, confusion, and passivity with readiness for Spirit-empowered action.
Read Scripture. Pray. Imitate Him. Do your belief. See with the heart. Do this in memory each day, for: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; They are new every morning; Great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22–23
Related Reflections
Acts 1:4-5
God’s redemptive plan doesn’t end with the cross. Jesus appeared to the apostles for 40 days: a biblically significant period of preparation, transition, and transformation. Jesus is moving the disciples, and us, from one phase in God’s plan to the next (v. 3c). The critical nature of the next step is underscored by His command to wait in Jerusalem (v. 5). Waiting, as well as location, timing, and event sequencing, is critical for the plan’s success.
Active waiting on God’s timing and promises (v. 4) is an essential part of our walk with God (Ps. 27:14; Is. 40:31). Sadly, it’s a counterintuitive skill in our impatient world. Animated by hope and expectation, waiting nurtures spiritual maturity (Heb.6:1), a deeper relationship, understanding, and trust in God’s plan, preparing us for the next steps.
Acts 1:4-5. 4 And eating together with them, he commanded them, that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard (saith he) by my mouth.5 For John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence.
Acts 1:4-5 Pt. 2
Jesus instructs the apostles to wait for the “promise of the Father,” revealed in prophecies made centuries earlier concerning the outpouring of the Spirit (Joel 2:28; Ezekiel 36:27). The prophets yearned to see and hear (Matt. 13:17) what the disciples would soon experience—a personal and communal encounter open to us. God is mindful of us (Ps. 8:4), faithful to His covenant promises that unfold unfettered by time, according to His purpose and schedule, and the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11).
God’s redemptive plan now continues through the transformative work of the Spirit, who equips, sustains, and adds fervor to the faith of the disciples then and believers today. The Spirit lit the fire of apostolic ministry, empowers the Church’s mission today and enabling us to participate in God’s work and spread the gospel.
Acts 1:4-5. 4 And eating together with them, he commanded them, that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard (saith he) by my mouth.5 For John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence.
Acts 1:9-11
Jesus came from the Father, stepped into history on His redemptive mission, and then, His part complete, ascended back to the Father (Jn. 16:28), exalted and glorified. Astonished disciples gazed up into the sky, seemingly at a loss. In another “do not cling to me” moment (John 20:17), an angel nudges them, and us, back to earth. We, like they, must engage in what’s happening: embrace the transition from followers to Spirit-empowered witnesses who must “obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29) and profess a faith that is the “conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1).
Nothing is over. Something new is starting. There is work to do—active discipleship to meet an urgent need. Jesus has not left, and He will return. That truth is our anchor, our hope, and our source of strength.
Acts 1:9-11. And when he had said these things, while they looked on, he was raised up: and a cloud received him out of their sight.10 And while they were beholding him going up to heaven, behold two men stood by them in white garments.11 Who also said: Ye men of Galilee, why stand you looking up to heaven? This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, as you have seen him going into heaven.
Ephesians 1:17-18.
The Ephesians have been “sealed” by the Holy Spirit through their belief in Christ (vv. 12–13) and possess strong faith, exemplified in their exercise of love (Jn. 13:35). The “Spirit” of verse 17 is the Father’s gift of fervor that drives the pursuit of “wisdom,” “revelation,” and “knowledge” of Him. It’s the Emmaus disciples’ desire for Jesus to “stay with us” (Lk. 24:29)—their hearts-on-fire hunger for more “opening” of Scripture (Lk. 24:32), to sharpen discernment, recognize Christ on the road, and grasp God’s “mysterious plan” (Eph. 3:3).
Knowledge deepens with effort. Staying with Jesus (Jn. 15:4a) and stoking the fire with the Spirit’s help become our purpose: to fully live now in “confident hope” of God’s promised inheritance.
Ephesians 1:17-18 “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation, in the knowledge of him:18 The eyes of your heart enlightened, that you may know what the hope is of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.”
Luke 24:44-45.
Jesus has just fed the four thousand (Mk. 8:1–10), yet despite witnessing this miracle, the disciples worry about having enough bread. “Do you not perceive or understand?” Jesus asks. “Do you not remember?” (Mk. 8:17–18). They don’t.
Cleopas on the Emmaus Road does not, nor the wonder-bedazzled disciples Jesus addresses in Luke 24:41. It’s a case of “hardness of heart” (Mk. 8:17), a problem then, a pandemic now. They were raised in Scripture, yet Jesus must recall earlier teachings, must open understanding (v. 45), must weave Scripture into a coherent narrative of redemption.
Today? Scripture is a stumbling block, foolishness, irrelevant. If read, it’s picked at: bite-sized, parsed, disconnected. The Old is old; the New, more relevant. Jewish roots wither from neglect.
We cannot understand simply by saying that all things were fulfilled. We must understand how and why “all things must be fulfilled.”
Luke 24:44-45. “And he said to them: These are the words which I spoke to you, while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. 45 Then he opened their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures.”