On the Expansive Gospel

The season of Easter ends with a celebration of Jesus’ ascension. It’s another mountaintop moment of the Church Year and a fitting transition into Pentecost and the mindset that we should live with during the long stretch of Ordinary Time that lies ahead.

The various gospel narratives all handle the last moments of Jesus’ earthly time differently. The journalistic writer, Luke, gives the most detail of the ascension event with Jesus finally taking off in Luke’s second book, Acts of the Apostles. The earliest gospel, Mark, briefly describes Jesus being taken up into heaven and sitting down at the right hand of God.

Meanwhile, the book of John leaves the ascension story out, though it could easily be said that the book as a whole emphatically echoes the ascension themes presented by the other writers. And Matthew goes right up to the moment before liftoff, but chooses to end with Jesus still present and preaching as powerfully as ever.

The final words of Jesus are different depending on the characteristics of each book as well. Matthew has a political bent, emphasizing that all authority belongs to Jesus. Luke focuses on the power of the Holy Spirit coming next in his saga. And, Mark makes sure we know that good works accompany those who proclaim the gospel; that the always-on-the-move Jesus is still moving, just now through the actions of the disciples. (Luke 24:36-53, plus Acts 1:1-11; Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:14-20)

Across all the gospel writings is a similar overarching charge to spread the good news of the risen-from-the-dead Jesus Christ. After all the other stories in the gospels that lead up to this send off—especially the most recently read resurrection stories—this should not be too surprising. A main theme has been that of an expansive gospel, meant for everyone everywhere. This is a gospel that is always reaching out and inviting new people in. This is a gospel that is about building bridges and giving a spotlight to new, previously-sidelined voices.

In regards to the Church Calendar, the theme of an expansive gospel has been incubating in the background throughout the first half of the Church Year (the festival season; Temporal Cycle). When we look back from the mountaintop of the ascension at Advent, Christmastide, Epiphany, Lent, and Holy Week we can see more clearly that an expansive gospel has been in the works this whole time.

During Eastertide, the expansive gospel has finally come into full bloom and we now have the second half of the Church Year (which begins with Pentecost, followed by Ordinary Time; the Sanctoral Cycle) to explore what this means for our daily life onward. Our ponderings now turn more outwards as we ask ourselves how we share and live out the endlessly expansive and endlessly good news gospel of our Lord Jesus with the world.