On this day the Eritrean Orthodox Church celebrates The Feast of Ascension (Irget), which is one of the Nine great feasts of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This feast is always celebrated 40 days after Resurrection Sunday so it will always fall on a Thursday. Within these 40 days the Lord appeared to the disciples and spoke to them about the kingdom of God.
One may ask why did Jesus Christ have to ascend to heaven?
It is so that they could receive the power of the Holy Spirit. We see this account in Acts chapter 1 where our Lord instructed the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they receive the power of the Holy Spirit. He also stated that they will be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1 4-5). Throughout His ministry our Lord informed the disciple about the Holy Spirit and the necessity of his departure so that the Holy Spirit will be sent to them. However, this does not mean that the Lord abandoned his disciples. He comforts us saying “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
The ascension of our Lord also signified the start of the apostle’s ministry. As we see in Matthew 28:19, they were given the great commission to make disciples of many nations and baptise them in the name of the Holy Trinity. They were now ready as he taught them all they need to know. Our church teaches us that within the forty days our Lord instructed the disciples on church orders such as how to pray, ordain clergymen and the laws and structure of the church.
May we all have a Joyful Feast of the Ascension of our Lord!
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