LUKE 24:50–53
THE ASCENSION OF JESUS
BRIEF INTERPRETATION
Text – Luke 24:50–53
50 Then he led them [out] as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them.
51 As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven.
52 They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
53 and they were continually in the temple praising God.
Introduction
The Ascension of Jesus marks the culmination of his earthly mission and the transition to the Church’s waiting for the promised Holy Spirit. It reveals not a departure in absence, but a new mode of Christ’s presence and lordship.
Historical and Jewish Context
Bethany, located on the Mount of Olives, holds deep biblical significance. The Mount of Olives was associated in Jewish tradition with God’s final intervention in history (Zec 14:4). Jesus’ act of blessing recalls priestly gestures in Israel (Num 6:22–27), emphasizing continuity between Old Covenant worship and its fulfillment in Christ. The disciples’ return to Jerusalem “with great joy” contrasts sharply with earlier fear, showing their growing understanding of God’s plan.
Catholic Theological Perspective
The Ascension affirms that the risen Jesus enters fully into divine glory while remaining united to humanity. Christ ascends not to abandon the Church, but to intercede as eternal High Priest (Heb 7:25). According to Catholic teaching, the Ascension prepares for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and inaugurates Christ’s kingship (CCC 659–660). The disciples’ worship of Jesus confirms his divine identity and the legitimacy of Christian adoration.
Parallels in Scripture
Acts 1:9–11 – A detailed account of the Ascension and promise of Christ’s return.
Ps 47:6–7 – God ascends amid shouts of joy.
Dan 7:13–14 – The Son of Man receives everlasting dominion.
Heb 9:24 – Christ enters heaven to appear before God on our behalf.
Key Terms
Bethany – The place of departure and blessing, symbolizing intimacy and fulfillment.
Blessed them – A priestly act sealing the mission of the disciples.
Taken up to heaven – Christ’s entrance into divine glory and authority.
Homage – Worship acknowledging Jesus as Lord and God.
Great joy – The fruit of faith and hope rooted in the Ascension.
Catholic Liturgical Significance
The Ascension is celebrated as a solemnity, traditionally forty days after Easter. It emphasizes Christ’s glorification and the Church’s missionary mandate. The faithful are reminded that Christian life is oriented toward heaven while remaining active in worship and witness on earth.
Conclusion
The Ascension completes Christ’s saving work on earth and opens the way for the Church’s mission in the power of the Spirit. Jesus blesses his disciples not with sorrow, but with joy and hope rooted in divine promise.
Reflection
Do I live with confidence that Christ reigns in glory and intercedes for me?
Does the joy of the Ascension shape my worship and daily witness?
Am I attentive to the blessings Christ continues to pour out on the Church?
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, ascended in glory, draw my heart toward heaven while strengthening my faith on earth. Help me to live in joyful hope, trusting in your constant presence and intercession. May my life be a hymn of praise to you, now and forever. Amen.
DETAILED INTERPRETATION
The Ascension
Then Jesus led them almost as far as Bethany; and he lifted up his hands and blessed them (Lk 24:50).
Then Jesus led them almost as far as Bethany
Luke, in his gospel, presents the ‘ascension’ as if it took place on the day of the resurrection. However, the same author describes it after forty days in his second volume of the book, the Acts of the Apostles. “He (the Risen Lord) presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them for forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:13). Luke summarized the post-resurrection period and presented the ascension as a prolongation of the resurrection because both are part of the glorious victory of Jesus. The evangelist foresaw the details of the ascension that he was about to present in the Acts 1:1-12. In the gospel, the ascension is the end of the public ministry of Jesus. Whereas in the Acts, it is the beginning of a new phase for the formation and initial development of the Church.
Then Jesus led them almost as far as Bethany
Bethany is a small village on the eastern slopes of the Mount of Olives, 3.2 km from Jerusalem. The evangelist wrote, “As far as Bethany” to specify that Jesus led the disciples to a secluded place in Bethany out of town for privacy. According to the Acts, this took place only “a sabbath day’s journey away” (Acts 1:12) from Jerusalem. Hence, the location must be an isolated place on the Mount of Olives between Jerusalem and the town of Bethany.
Bethany became popular because of the following events in Biblical times:
1. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus lived there. Jesus raised Lazarus on the fourth day after his burial here (Jn 11:1-44).
2. A woman anointed Jesus with an alabaster jar of costly perfumed oil while Jesus was dining at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper (Mt 26:6-13; Mk 14:3-9).
3. The triumphant entry of Jesus to the Temple started from “Bethphage and Bethany at the place called the Mount of Olives” (Lk 19:29).
4. After cleansing the Temple, Jesus “went out of the city to Bethany, and there he spent the night” (Mt 21:17).
5. Jesus bid farewell to his disciples and ascended to heaven from Bethany (Lk 24:50-51).
6. During the ascension, two men dressed in white garments appeared to the apostles, and told them that Jesus “will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven” (Acts 1:11). So, the expectation is that the second coming of Christ will be in the same place.
The ascension took place at a place on the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:11) close to Bethany. The mount is biblically important for several other reasons:
1. The Mount of Olives is also known as the Mount of Anointment because it provided olive oil for the Temple and for the anointing of Israel’s kings and priests.
2. At the life-threat from Absalom, “As David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, he wept without ceasing. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. All those who were with him also had their heads covered and were weeping as they went” (2 Sam 15:30).
3. Solomon built high places of worship to the pagan gods of his foreign wives on the mountain opposite Jerusalem. He “burned incense and sacrificed to their gods” (1 Kgs 11:7-8).
4. Josiah destroyed the high places of worship Solomon had built south of the Mount of Olives (2 Kgs 23:13-14).
5. According to Prophet Zechariah, when the Messiah would return, “God’s feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is opposite Jerusalem to the east. The Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west by a very deep valley, and half of the mountain will move to the north and half of it to the south” (Zech 14:4).
6. Jesus prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the present world while “he was sitting on the Mount of Olives” (Mt 24:3).
7. The agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane was on the Mount of Olives (Lk 22:39).
he lifted up his hands and blessed them
Before his ascension into heaven, Jesus gave a farewell blessing to his disciples. He had given his farewell message during his last supper with them. Jesus had continued giving instructions to them after the resurrection. This blessing was like Aaron’s benediction of the Israelites after offering sacrifices for them (Lev 9:22).
God gave a formula of blessing to Aaron through Moses to bless the Israelites: “Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them: The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace! So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them” (Num 6:23-27). Jesus might not have used the same formula. Paul gives a Trinitarian Blessing formula: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the holy Spirit be with all of you” (2 Cor 13:13).
(51) And as he blessed them, he withdrew from them and was taken up into heaven. They worshipped him and …
As he blessed them, he withdrew from them and was taken up into heaven
Though the disciples could not witness the resurrection, they were fortunate to be eyewitnesses of the ascension. In Acts 1:9, Luke says, “as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.”
Before Jesus’ ascension, God had taken Enoch and Elijah into heaven without having them face death. “The whole lifetime of Enoch was three hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God, and he was no longer here, for God took him” (Gen 5:23-24). There is no mention of any eyewitness to this. When Elijah was taken up, his successor, Elisha, was an eyewitness. “As they walked on still conversing, a fiery chariot and fiery horses came between the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind, and Elisha saw it happen” (2 Kgs 2:11-12). When Jesus ascended to heaven, the 11 apostles saw that until “a cloud took him from their sight” (Acts 1:9).
They worshipped him
The worship of Jesus by the disciples is a clear sign that, after his resurrection, the disciples deemed Jesus as God because the Israelites worshipped God only. When people worshipped Jesus, he allowed them to do so, acknowledging his divinity.
Kneeling or paying homage to Jesus meant worshipping him. John wrote in Revelation, “I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me. But he said to me, ‘Don’t! I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brothers, the prophets and of those who keep the message of this book. Worship God’” (Rev 22:8-9).
The following were some occasions when people did homage to Jesus as a sign of worship:
1. The magi worshipped the Infant Jesus at the manger in Bethlehem (Mt 2:11).
2. A leper who approached Jesus for healing worshipped him (Mt 8:2).
3. An official knelt down before Jesus seeking to have him regain the life of his daughter who had just died (Mt 9:18).
3. The people on a boat, who saw Jesus walking on the water, worshipped him (Mt 14:22-33).
4. When a demoniac saw “Jesus from a distance, he ran up and prostrated himself before him” (Mk 5:6).
5. Jesus gave sight to a man born blind. When he recognized Jesus as the Son of Man, he worshipped Jesus (Jn 9:38).
6. A Canaanite woman worshiped Jesus when requesting him to heal her daughter tormented by a demon (Mt 15:25).
7. The mother of the sons of Zebedee paid homage to Jesus asking for favourable positions for her sons (Mt 20:20).
8. The disciples acclaiming Jesus, “Hosanna to the Son of David” was an expression of worship (Mt 21:9; Jn 12:13).
9. When Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary after his resurrection, they worshipped him (Mt 28:9).
10. When Jesus invited Thomas to touch his wound marks, Thomas expressed his worship of Jesus saying, “My Lord and my God!” (Jn 20:28).
However, this is the first time Luke reports that the apostles worshipped Jesus. They were more convinced of his divinity than ever before.
(52) returned to Jerusalem full of joy and … returned to Jerusalem
Though most of the apostles were from Galilee, and Jesus ministered there more than in Judaea, the apostles did not return to Galilee or resume their family life and original profession. From the post-resurrection instructions of Jesus, they realized that the ascension of Jesus was not the end of their call. They had to wait in Jerusalem to receive the Holy Spirit. The spread of the Church should start from Jerusalem to all the nations. Jesus’ last message to them prior to his ascension was, “repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Lk 24:47). “And [behold] I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Lk 24:49). So they “returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God” (Lk 24:5253) that helped them spiritually prepare for the descent of the Holy Spirit. full of joy
Even though Jesus left the disciples, they returned to Jerusalem with extreme joy for several reasons. A few weeks ago, their master had endured the heartbreaking trail of mockery and torture, followed by death. That seemed to be an utter failure of Jesus for them. They were left in spiritual darkness. However, Jesus rose from the dead as he had predicted, appeared to them several times, and they could witness him ascending to his Father. The disciples knew that “the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God” (Lk 22:69). Still, that is not the end but the beginning of a new phase in salvation history.
Jesus had promised that he would send the Holy Spirit upon them, and that they would continue his mission until his return in glory to judge the universe when the Father will make his enemies a footstool for his feet (Ps 110:1; 1 Cor 15:25; Heb 10:13). They remembered Jesus’ Last Supper discourse, “I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be” (Jn 14:3). So, they had reason to be joyful after the ascension of the Lord.
Luke’s gospel begins and ends with events of joy. He starts with the announcement of the birth of John (Lk 1:5-25) and Jesus (Lk 1:26-38), and then concludes with the resurrection (Lk 24:1- 49) and ascension of Jesus (Lk 1:50-53).
Luke gives importance to the evidence of joy in heaven over the conversion of sinners. Through the parable of the lost sheep (Lk 15:4-7), Jesus taught that “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance” (Lk 15:7). Jesus concluded the parable of the lost coin (Lk 15:8-10) saying, “I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Lk 15:10). In the parable of the prodigal son (Lk 15:1132), the father told the elder son, “Now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found” (Lk 15:32).
(53) were continually in the Temple praising God.
After visiting the Infant Jesus born in the stable, “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen” (Lk 2:20). Similarly, the apostles felt they should go to the Temple to praise and thank God. For them, it was the fulfilment of Psalm 30:12-13. “You changed my mourning into dancing; you took off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness. So that my glory may praise you and not be silent. O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks.”
Luke begins and ends his gospel in the Temple. He began with the annunciation of the birth of John to Zachariah while he was incensing in the Temple (Lk 1:5-25). The gospel ends with the praise of the apostles in the Temple. They continued in prayer in the Temple and in the upper room as given in Acts 1:13-14, awaiting the descent of the Holy Spirit.
MESSAGE
1. The apostles worshipped Jesus out of conviction when they saw Jesus ascending to heaven. Let us experience Jesus and worship him in the Church by participating in the Holy Mass.
2. Though the apostles had received the Holy Spirit from Jesus, they waited for the descent of the same Spirit on them on the day of Pentecost to get further empowerment. Though we have received the same Holy Spirit at the time of baptism, let us renew the Spirit with the other sacraments of the Church.