SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

5/16/10 Seventh Sunday of Easter

Today the church marks another span of 40 days. First came the 40 days of Lent that led us to Easter. Now, 40 days after Easter, we are led to the top of the Mount of Olives for the ascension of our Lord. From this windswept place, Jesus could see Jerusalem gleaming across the valley. Below him were the grave-filled slopes of the Jewish cemetery where the Prophet Zechariah slept. At his right hand Jesus could see the path where he rode on a donkey for his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Behind him was the route to Bethany. It was on that mountaintop that Jesus wept over Jerusalem. On the night of his betrayal, Jesus was at the foot of the Mount of Olives in the Garden of Gethsemane. Scripture tells us that Jesus ascended to heaven from this Mount of Olives, leaving his disciples gaping at the empty skies. And the Acts of the Apostles tells us that when Jesus returns, it will be to that same mountain.

Deacon Dick Folger