Today, May 17th, is Ascension Day—or the Feast of the Ascension—a day commemorating Jesus’ ascent into heaven. In the Christian calendar, Ascension day always falls forty days after Easter.

After the resurrection Jesus returned to His disciples. We read accounts of some of his miracles and appearances at the end of all of the Gospels. The longest accounts can be found at the end of Luke (Luke 24) and John (John 21:11-John 21).

The ascension itself is mentioned briefly at the end of Matthew and Mark, but we get a thorough description of the ascension itself in the beginning of Acts. Starting in chapter 1, verse 6:

6 When they were together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore self-rule to Isra’el?” 7 He answered, “You don’t need to know the dates or the times; the Father has kept these under his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Ruach HaKodesh comes upon you; you will be my witnesses both in Yerushalayim and in all Y’hudah and Shomron, indeed to the ends of the earth!”

9 After saying this, he was taken up before their eyes; and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 As they were staring into the sky after him, suddenly they saw two men dressed in white standing next to them. 11 The men said, “You Galileans! Why are you standing, staring into space? This Yeshua, who has been taken away from you into heaven, will come back to you in just the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

I often wonder what it would have been like to be with Jesus in those days after the resurrection. From the accounts we have it sounds like an extremely exciting time full of wonders and joy.