Himmelfahrt

Each year on the Thursday that’s the fortieth day after Easter, the Church celebrates Himmelfahrt Christi, the ascension of Christ into heaven as told by Luke at Acts 1:1-11, from Mount Olivet outside Jerusalem. It needn’t bother us that Luke tells it differently at Luke 24:50f, with Christ ascending the evening of Easter Day. Or that Matthew 28 proclaims something happening on a mountain outside Galilee. Looking at our New Testament canon of Scripture, Gospel John evidently didn’t hear about it, or perhaps John or Lazarus was among the doubters cited at Matthew 28:17. And of course with a different agenda altogether, the Gospel according to Mark ends with the frightened women fleeing the empty tomb at Easter dawn and saying nothing to anyone.

Much has been made of it in Himmelfahrt art over the centuries, my favorite a 16th century German painting popularly called “the disappearing feet” first introduced to me by our theology professor at LTSG back in the 1980s. 

Not necessarily lost in the Matthew 28:17 crowd, I wonder if the historicity relates in any way to the somewhat more spectacular ascension of Elijah at 2 Kings 2:11. It doesn’t matter of course, everybody enjoys a celebration and the Church loves a feast and it's entirely scriptural. As I understand it, some Christian countries have celebrated Himmelfahrt Christi with a national holiday, and may still to this day, I don’t know.

TW+