The Vigor of the Spirit

Sunset last evening.
Today is the traditional feast of the Ascension.  In our diocese and in most of the world the feast is celebrated this coming Sunday.
The number forty in the Bible means a sufficient amount of time.  When Luke says in the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles that the risen Jesus appeared to the Apostles "during forty days," Luke is telling us that Jesus spent an amount of time with them sufficient to help them understand "the Kingdom of God."  What makes it very clear that Luke does not intend for us to take "forty days" literally is that the very same Luke at the end of his Gospel has this final appearance of Jesus take place on the very day of the Resurrection.  It's easy not to notice this on Sunday because we read only the last eight verses of the Gospel.  The previous verses show the whole scene taking place on Easter.
Luke puts the Ascension both at the end of his Gospel and at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles to indicate that it is a pivotal action.  As Jesus, who has been the main character throughout the Gospel, leaves the scene, the Holy Spirit enters to be the main character in the Acts of the Apostles.  The Holy Spirit is someone just like Jesus who is a powerful substitute for Jesus.  The Spirit lives in the apostles and acts through them to spread the Gospel.
The same Holy Spirit lives in us today and continues to work in the world through the hearts of all who believe.