The Gospel of the Forty Days: Baptism, Part 2       Last week we began discussion of Jesus’ command to the Apostles to baptize, given during the forty days between His Resurrection and Ascension. An observant person may have asked, Why does Jesus command to baptize in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Mt 28:20), and yet at Pentecost Peter said to be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ (Ac 2:38)?       There are at least two answers. First, any time Jesus Christ is mentioned in the New Testament, as Son of God He is always in reference to the Father; and in the context of baptism, Peter here, and the New Testament elsewhere, speaks of the Holy Spirit given in baptism. Therefore, one can truly say that to baptize in the Name of Jesus Christ is to reference the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Perhaps for this reason, or because of the clarity of Jesus’ command, the early Church records that the words spoken while administering baptism ...

The Gospel of the Forty Days: Messianic Expectations       “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Or as a significant textual source has it: “Is it at this time that You will bring about the restoration, and when will the kingdom of Israel be?” (Ac 1:6.) The Apostles asked this of Jesus at the end of the forty days following His resurrection and just before He ascended into Heaven.       Many misinterpret the question as an expression of the expectation of a political Messiah. It is true that some First Century Jews, notably the Zealots (the Apostle Simeon had been one), were waiting for a political Messiah. But Biblical and extra-biblical Jewish sources indicate this was not at all the general Messianic expectation.       Brant Pitre, PhD, a scholar of the Jewish background to Christianity, reminds us that to understand the humanity of Jesus, His words and actions in historical context, we ne...

The "Gospel of the Forty Days"       This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday which remembers the descent of the Holy Spirit as told in chapter 2 of the Acts of the Apostles. Last Sunday we celebrated the Ascension of Jesus which remembers Christ’s ascent into Heaven as told in chapter 1 of Acts.       The Gospel of Mark also mentions the Ascension: “So then the Lord Jesus ... was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.” (Mk 16:19.) Mark might have been there to see Jesus ascend – as he may have been at Jesus' arrest (Mk 14:51-52), and the Apostles and disciples regularly met at his mother's house (Ac 12:12) – but how did he know Jesus “sat down at the right hand of God?” That wasn’t anything anyone could have seen.       In Peter’s Pentecost sermon he says Jesus was “exalted at the right hand of God” (Ac 2:33; cf., 1 Pet 3:22). How did he know that? Where did he get this? When?    ...

Christ's Ascension       Today, May 21st, is 40 days since Easter. 40 days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, He lead His disciples to Bethany, on the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem, and there He “was taken up into heaven and took His seat at the right hand of God” (Mk 16:19). St. Luke says that Jesus “parted from them and was carried up into heaven” (Lk 24:51), that “He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9). Recall that the first thing Jesus said to Mary Magdalene Easter morning was not to cling to Him because He had not yet ascended, and to go tell His brethren that He will be ascending (Jn 20:17).       Traditionally the Feast of the Ascension was celebrated on the Thursday, but in order for more people to participate, the dioceses now have the option of celebrating the following Sunday, which we do on the West Coast and so will celebrate this Sunday, May 24th.     ...