Today in the Spirit: Easter 7B (The Sunday After Ascension)
As opposed to the Ascension Day readings, which center around the narrative of the event itself, the Sunday after Ascension Day (never Easter 7 as in the BCP 2019) assignments focus more on the implications of Christ’s ascending and taking the throne with the Father for the life of the believer. Particularly in Year B, there is a notable concentration on the defeat of God’s enemies by the ministry of Christ, who those enemies are, and how believers live in relationship to them. So, in the assigned Gospel reading in Year B, John 17:11b-19, we hear the part of Jesus’s priestly prayer in which he petitions the Father on behalf of his contemporary disciples that the Father would sanctify them in the truth (set them apart from the corrupting influences of the world, 17), and that he would keep them from the evil one (15).
The preferred first reading from Acts 1:15-26 tells the story of the meeting after Jesus’s ascension and before the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, at which Matthias was selected as the replacement twelfth apostle. In Peter’s speech, Judas Iscariot is singled out as a traitor to God who met a tragic end.
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The alternative first reading from Exodus 28:1-4,9-10,29-30 describes the vesting of the priests of Israel as prescribed in God’s law given to Moses. Hearing the attributes of the descendants of Aaron so arrayed makes ready the worshiper’s heart to hear Jesus’ priestly prayer in the Gospel reading. Psalm 68:1-20, assigned every year for this Sunday (along with Psalm 47 as an alternative), is an ode to the conquering king who ascends to the throne of Israel, leading a train of captives as part of his victory procession.
The last in the series of NT readings from 1 John in Easter, Year B, is 1 John 5:6-15. For the apostle John, the enemies of the Gospel who have been defeated by the testimony of God through Christ are the false teachers seeking to infect the Church with notions that Jesus Christ could not have been born human or suffered death on the cross as a mortal man. The Collect for this Sunday celebrates the exaltation of Christ to the throne of glory even while acknowledging the sorrow of us who have been left on earth. So, looking forward to Pentecost, the petition is: “Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit.”
The Collect
O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
One of These Men Must Become a Witness (Acts 1:15-26)
21 [Peter]: “So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” 23 And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. (21-26)
Luke records that Jesus instructed his disciples to return to Jerusalem and wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit so that they would be clothed with power from on high (Lk. 24:49). What makes for good waiting on the Lord? In earlier passages on the activities of the post-Ascension Church in Jerusalem, we find that the group was meeting continually to worship and pray (Lk. 24:52f, Ac. 1:14). Here, we observe their waiting in faith also meant setting good order. Peter draws the congregation together and leads them in selecting a replacement twelfth apostle. Though it may seem strange to us (and even a mistake), this was for them a logical step for restoring a balance in personnel Jesus himself had established–twelve not eleven.
Are you, individually or as a church, waiting on the Lord Jesus just now? You don’t need me to tell you that just because the Holy Spirit has come does not mean we never have to wait for God’s direction. Are you faithful in gathering to pray and worship? And, more pertinently, from hearing this text, is your house (again, both individually and corporately) in good order? Are there issues of moral laxity you need to address? Is there any disobedience in your life, especially in matters of forgiveness of others, that needs to be resolved? Is there any improper governing of your family or church that needs correcting?
Today, Holy Spirit, you know I am waiting on you for power to give me direction and courage to move ahead in your will. Grant me, as you did Peter in this passage, the wisdom to put my house, our house, in order as needed.
For Glory and for Beauty (Exodus 28:1-4,9-10,29-30)
1 “Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 2 And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. 3 You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him for my priesthood. 4 These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests (1-4).
9 You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, 10 six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, in the order of their birth (9-10).
29 So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the Lord. 30 And in the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the Lord. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the Lord regularly. (29-30)
This text is part of a larger section of Exodus containing laws concerning worship (Chs. 25-31) and a subsection on priestly garments (Ch. 28). Our passage for the day is made up of selections of ordinances concerning the making of the ephod, a piece of ornate fabric worn on top of the robe, and the breastpiece, another piece worn on top of the ephod with twelve stones attached and engraved with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. The seemingly disjointed selection of verses means to show the dual effect of these garments–for glory and for beauty (2), and so Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the LORD (30).
Now, take these two statements and read through the priestly prayer of Jesus in John 17 (always the assigned Gospel readings for Easter 7), and what do we see? GLORY: “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you…” (1); BEAUTY: “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word” (6); BEAR the judgment of the people of Israel: “And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth” (18).
It is to all of this priestly ministry that we, as the body of Christ, have been called to carry on Christ’s mediating work between God and the world. Today, in the Spirit, contemplating Exodus and the priestly ministry of Jesus carried forward by the Church, I receive the high calling to be set apart in the truth.
God Shall Arise (Psalm 68:1-20)
God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered;
and those who hate him shall flee before him!
As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;
as wax melts before fire,
so the wicked shall perish before God!
But the righteous shall be glad;
they shall exult before God;
they shall be jubilant with joy! (1-3)
You ascended on high,
leading a host of captives in your train
and receiving gifts among men,
even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.
Blessed be the Lord,
who daily bears us up;
God is our salvation.
Our God is a God of salvation,
and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death. (18-20)
Commentators offer various theories as to the origin of this psalm and its use in ancient Hebrew worship. We Christians find connections in it to the whole of Christ’s saving mission: his incarnation (God in his holy habitation); his teaching (the LORD announced the word NIV); his crucifixion (the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain); his resurrection (the women who announce the news are a great host); his return (prepare a way for him who rides on the clouds GNT). And, of course, on the Sunday celebrating his ascension, we cry out rejoicing: You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.
What a rich testimony we have in this song of the breadth of the gift of the Father in sending the Son. And in all of it, we must note carefully the turning of the tables in the spiritual realms: by the ministry of the Christ, God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered… But the righteous shall be glad; they shall exalt before God; they shall be jubilant with joy! Here is what is behind the veil of creation, even if physically, we hardly notice. Here is what we must open our eyes of faith to see, even if our bodily eyes are not equipped to capture the sight. In Christ, the enemies of the kingdom of God, though still dangerous, lose their grip–and that kingdom’s subjects suddenly, joyously, find their feet.
Today, in the Spirit, with our hearts set apart and fixed on Christ ascended as Lord, we praise him and go about our day with energy for the new atmosphere his ministry has brought to the world.
Whatever We Ask (1 John 5:6-15)
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. (6-15)
Compare that last line in our reading, And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him, to others we have listened to in the last few weeks this Easter (see Jn. 15:13, 1 Jn. 3:21). What a challenge we have been given in this season to think that, by the apostle’ reckoning, our confidence in Christ must extend to believing that we receive what we pray for. The cumulative effect of this repeated teaching must influence us to understand two revolutionary ideas about prayer: 1) that God fervently desires to answer our prayers, and 2) that we can only operate as fruitful Christians in this world if God is answering our prayers.
Lord, I have served you and your mission in the kingdom for a long time now, and I have learned from hard experience that the only way forward is to depend entirely on you. And yet, I recognize in my behavior a persistence in going about your business, as if I can do it myself and that it all depends on me. My prayer life is lackluster. I struggle to believe you have truly received my prayers and to believe I have received what I ask. I am also aware that I failed to surrender to you as my Lord so that my prayers could be received through a heart of humility and obedience to you.
Today, through the Spirit who is in me to increase my confidence in the testimony of the life of the Son dwelling in my heart, let the teachings of Jesus and his apostles transform my prayer to be ever more steady and faithful.
My Joy Completed in Themselves (John 17:11b-19)
11b Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. (11b-19)
Or, But now I am coming to you, and I am saying these things in the world, so they may experience my joy completed in themselves (13, NET). There is a tension in this prayer of our Lord for his disciples. On one hand, there is an ominous tone with mention of Jesus having had to preserve the disciples (except one) from being lost, and of the need for protection from the evil one. On the other hand, what the Son of God asks the Father for is his own joy completed in his followers. Our Lord desires our joy in the midst of struggle. The prayer reflects the reality of the kingdom he has come to inaugurate and to be established by his death and resurrection—joy in conflict now followed by complete rest later.
How do you experience [Jesus’] joy completed in you now? It is certainly not something we churn up in ourselves. Every attempt to do that fails miserably. Our experience is rather that the exuberant, complete joy of the Holy Spirit comes to us as a surprise, wholly unexplained, sometimes at the highest point of struggle. It is the rejoicing and peace that Paul says surpasses all understanding, and which, in answer to Jesus’ priestly prayer, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:7). Jesus prays that through his sanctifying ministry of incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection the Father will keep them in his name and keep them from the evil one–and because he has prayed it, it is done, complete joy being the sign.
Let us not exchange lesser contentment that comes with failing to enter into ministry for the heavenly joy experienced by putting our hands to the plow without looking back. Today, Holy Spirit, encouraged by Jesus’ prayer for complete joy and knowing his prayers can never fail, I surrender to the call on my life.
Today in the Spirit
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