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What Is Ascension Day and How Is It Celebrated?
What Is Ascension Day and How Is It Celebrated?
The season of Easter has more to it than just Easter Sunday. There’s another Christian holiday tucked in there too: Ascension Day. This lesser-known feast day celebrates Christ’s ascension into heaven 40 days after his resurrection.
Churches across the world commemorate this day with special liturgical and scripture readings, and there are even a few more unique ways to celebrate it, too. Here’s everything you should know about Ascension Day, how it’s celebrated, and why it should bring us hope.
What is Ascension Day?
Ascension Day is a Christian holiday that celebrates the ascension of Jesus into heaven as told in Acts 1 and Luke 24:50-53:
When Jesus had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
Jesus’ ascension is a significant part of both the story of the Bible and how we understand Jesus’ deity. His ascension marks the end of his time on earth, bringing to a close his earthly mission, while setting the stage for the coming of the Holy Spirit just a few days later.
Jesus’ return to heaven also exalts him, reminding us that Jesus is more than just a man. He is also God, and his ascension seats him at the right hand of God the Father and establishes his divine authority and kingship over heaven and earth.
How is Ascension Day celebrated?
The celebration of Ascension Day varies across denominations and churches, but most churches that do celebrate it mark it with a special liturgy, prayers, and scripture readings of the Ascension.
How does the Ascension bring us hope?
Jesus’ ascension is more than something that’s simply to be remembered. It also offers us a future hope, even more than 2,000 years later. Now that he is in heaven, the Bible promises that Jesus is interceding and advocating for us (Rom 8:34, Heb 7:25) before God. He is still humanity’s representative, even now.
The ascension also gives us a taste of our own resurrected life in heaven. We, like Jesus, will get to spend our eternal lives in the presence of God (and what a wonderful thing that will be!).
Finally, the ascension serves as a reminder of Jesus’ second coming. Acts 1:11 promises that Jesus will return to earth one day in the same way he left it, but this time coming to restore, renew, and redeem for good.
Ascension Day reminds Christians that Jesus Christ did not simply leave the earth, but was exalted to a place of authority and continues to be present in a different way. It marks the completion of his earthly mission and points believers toward hope his ongoing intercession, the promise of eternal life, and the assurance of his return. This day encourages faith, joy, and confidence in God’s greater plan.