Jesus’ Ascension
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight Acts 1:9
When a Roman Emperor died, it was customary to declare someone had seen his soul escaping from his body and going up to heaven. Under the Arch of Titus at the top end of the Forum in Rome today, any tourist can see a carving of the soul of the Emperor Titus ascending upward.
The Emperor was thus seen to be becoming a god and so his son or heir was called “son of god.” This designation “son of god,” when accompanied by an impression of the face of the person making the claim, was anathema to Jews. Religious Jews refused to carry Roman coins that had the Emperor’s face and “son of god” title. This is behind Jesus’ exposure of the hypocrisy of the Sadducees in Luke 20 when they offer Jesus one of the coins they speak against.
When Jesus was taken up before their very eyes he didn’t leave his body behind as the Roman belief stated. Jesus’ whole, renewed, complete self ascended. Nothing was left behind.
Jesus was the true Son of God. Roman and Greek attempts to explain what happens at death were pale imitations. His was the real; theirs was the parody.
As Christians we have this amazing certainty that at our death, or Christ’s return, whichever comes first, we will leave this earth to be ushered into God’s splendour. And Christ’s return will be the moment we are given resurrected bodies. We have ‘borne the likeness of the earthly man’ but from then on throughout eternity, ‘we shall bear the likeness of the man from heaven’ (1 Corinthians 15:49)
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