This Sunday is the seventh Sunday of the Easter season. For seven weeks, we celebrate in a special way, Jesus rising from the dead, never to die again. We hear about Jesus appearing to the disciples, Jesus sharing meals with them, Jesus bringing them peace. But where is Jesus now? We do not see Jesus appearing to people, sharing meals with them, bringing them peace. Do we?
So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
Oh. Jesus is in heaven, together with God. "Sitting at the right hand of God," means that Jesus and God work together as One.
Jesus has gone ahead of the disciples to heaven. We wonder how the disciples feel about this. We wonder if they feel like he has left them alone.
The disciples must remember the parable of the Good Shepherd. Jesus says, when the Good Shepherd has called his sheep,
he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice (John 10:4)
The Good Shepherd does not leave his sheep alone. He goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. Can the disciples follow Jesus, too? Do they know his voice?
What do they know?
The disciples know Jesus is risen from the dead. They know now that death is not the end of life. They know that God loves so much that that God gives eternal life. This is the Good News. What do the disciples do with this Good News?
they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them
The disciples begin to tell the whole world about the Good News! Everyone should know that God loves so much!
We hear that the Lord works with them. The Lord is God. We know that God and Jesus work together as One. But how can the Lord work with them, if the Lord is in heaven?
We wonder and we wait.
We want to know, and God will show us very soon.
What else do the disciples know?
They know that Jesus loves them very much. They remember the words he spoke for the very first time at the Last Supper. They know he gave them his body in the bread, his blood in the wine. They know Jesus told them to do this, too, in remembrance of him.
We hear these words each time we gather at Mass. This is Jesus' special meal.
We do not need Jesus to appear to know that he is there on the altar.
We do not need Jesus to appear to know that he shares this meal with us.
We do not need Jesus to appear to know he brings his peace.
We know Jesus is with us, but we wonder how this can be when Jesus is in heaven.
We wonder and we wait.
We want to know, and God will show us soon.
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