Ascension DaySample

The Real Revolution

Do you remember that Jesus was enthusiastically welcomed as the celebrated liberator on Palm Sunday? Jesus, riding on a donkey’s foal, was welcomed in Jerusalem on a kind of Mad Tuesday (if you do not know what this is, try google). There was something brewing. There was something in the air. It could well be that the new leader arrives, launches the final uprising, and frees the country from hostile domination. However, history took a different turn rather quickly, and not even a week later, Jesus was arrested and put to death. No new leader, no new king.

But now, forty days after the resurrection, the time has truly come. Something is brewing again, there is something in the air again, and the apostles, who have been spending a lot of time with Jesus for the last couple of weeks, are sensing this. The leader has risen, and there will be a coronation celebration. But everything in the story of Jesus, commits you to think differently. The kingdom of heaven is hardly to be described, neither is the kingship of Jesus. If it is about a revolution and a deliverance, do not think it will work like an ordinary revolution. This revolution was really the world upside down. Before, Jesus spoke of the last being first, leaders being servants, and children being the greatest. 

Once, when Jesus was with his friends, they asked him the big question: ‘’Lord will You at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?’ (Acts 1:6) They did not get a proper answer like ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Classic. That is never really the case. There are never direct and clear answers. But something is coming. ‘When the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ (Acts 1:8)

Revolution is in the air, but the city has not turned out to welcome Him like on Palm Sunday. A small group of close friends is there. You do not expect it at all, do you, that these seem to be the perfect ingredients to unleash a true revolution.