After He rose from the dead, Jesus presented Himself alive to the Apostles, appearing to them and continuing to teach them about the kingdom of God. These visits came over the course of forty days, until the time arrived for Him to ascend to the right hand of the Father. Though the Gospel of Luke ends with Christ’s ascension, the book of Acts, St. Luke’s continuing account to Theophilus, opens with it. The Ascension is not the end of the story! Just as He promised, Jesus would not leave His people as orphans, but would come to them in a greater way. Therefore, Jesus tells the disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit, who would clothe them with “power from on high.”
“A cloud took Him out of their sight,” but Jesus remains with His people through His Gospel and Sacraments. He comes to us in the Word, by the promise of His Father and the power of the Holy Spirit, whom He pours out upon “the church, which is His body.” We bless God and worship Christ with joy, for He blesses us with forgiveness, lifts us up in His hands, and seats us with Himself “in the heavenly realms.”
In calling Matthew the tax collector to follow Him, Jesus demonstrates that He has come “not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matt. 9:9, 13). As a good physician, He comes not to confirm them in their sins, but to heal them with His grace, calling them to repentance, faith and newness of life (Matt. 9:12). He puts them to death by the preaching of His Law, in order to raise them with His Gospel, to live before Him in the righteousness of His resurrection (Hos. 6:1–2, 5). It is in this way that God “gives life to the dead,” that is, through faith in Jesus, “who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Rom. 4:17, 24–25). Thus, sinners from all nations are called to share the same faith as Abraham, the father of all who trust in Jesus (Rom. 4:16–18). And as our Lord in mercy thus welcomes us poor sinners to recline at the table in His house, so does He “desire steadfast love and not sacrifice” (Matt. 9:10, 13; Hos. 6:6), that we should have mercy on our neighbors and forgive their sins against us for Jesus’ sake.
After He rose from the dead, Jesus presented Himself alive to the Apostles, appearing to them and continuing to teach them about the kingdom of God. These visits came over the course of forty days, until the time arrived for Him to ascend to the right hand of the Father. Though the Gospel of Luke ends with Christ’s ascension, the book of Acts, St. Luke’s continuing account to Theophilus, opens with it. The Ascension is not the end of the story! Just as He promised, Jesus would not leave His people as orphans, but would come to them in a greater way. Therefore, Jesus tells the disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit, who would clothe them with “