Ascension Day: Christ Exalted, Heaven Opened

Forty days after Easter, the Church keeps the feast of the Ascension, the day when the risen Christ was taken up before his disciples. As the book of Acts of the Apostles tells us, “He was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight” (Acts of the Apostles 1:9).

The Ascension is not the story of Jesus leaving the world behind. It is the proclamation that human nature, our very flesh and blood, has been carried into the life of God. In Christ, humanity is enthroned in heaven. He ascends not to abandon the earth, but to fill all things with his presence.

Epistle to the Ephesians gives us the Church’s great vision of this mystery: “He ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things” (Epistle to the Ephesians 4:10). The Ascension means Christ reigns now. His lordship is not distant. It reaches into the ordinary, the broken, the hidden places of life. Heaven is no longer sealed. In Christ, heaven and earth are joined.

The great theologian Athanasius of Alexandria wrote, “He became human that we might become divine.” The Ascension is the radiant fulfilment of that hope. The one who descended into our frailty has now raised our humanity into glory.

And the mystic Julian of Norwich, whose vision was shaped by the nearness of God, wrote, “And all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” On Ascension Day, that promise sounds with particular force. Christ has gone before us. Our future is not emptiness, but communion.​

This is why Ascension is such a joyful feast. It tells us that the risen Christ reigns, that prayer is heard, that human life is precious beyond measure, and that the destiny of creation is glory.

You are warmly invited to celebrate Ascension Day with us at St John’s Church Sharow at 7.00pm, Thursday, 14th May 2026.

We will gather for worship, Holy Eucharist, and one of the most stirring moments of the year: trumpets sounding from atop the bell tower, letting praise ring out over the village and fields.

There is something profoundly fitting in that sound. On the day Christ ascended, the Church lifts both voice and heart. Trumpets from the tower do more than mark an occasion. They proclaim to the whole community that Christ is risen, Christ is ascended, and Christ reigns.
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Whether you come every week, or have not crossed the church threshold for many years, this feast belongs to you. Come and stand beneath the evening sky. Come and hear the call of joy. Come and celebrate the Lord who ascends, yet remains nearer to us than our own breath.