Ascension Sunday As Jesus' Season Finale

During this time of year a lot of the networks are busy with their season finales. Among the shows that people watched this week were Dancing With the Stars and American Idol.

On American Idol, Arkansas native Kris Allen defeated crowd favorite Adam Lambert. While on Dancing With the Stars, olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson and her partner Mark Ballas inched out sexy actor Gilles Marini and partner Cheryl Burke to win the coveted trophy.

One of the big questions being asked today by a lot of people is "Did America got it right?" 

The reason for this question was that some people are saying that the winners of both shows were wrong choices. That there were more deserving persons other than the ones voted by the public. Unfortunately, this controversy will not die for now.

This weeks text is Luke 24:44-53. It was a passage that shows Jesus spending his final time with his disciples prior to his ascension. In a sense, this was his season finale with his closest of followers. During that moment Jesus did a recap on the events that have happened, and also opened their minds to enable them to understand the Scriptures.  After blessing them, he then gave them authority and power to become witnesses to the world.

The question now becomes did Jesus got it right? Was Jesus right in his decision to leave the disciples on their own?  

When I was living in the Philippines I used to be dependent on my parents. I used to rely on them for almost everything in life. Unfortunately, my folks passed away when I was still in my early twenties. Was Jesus right in taking away my parents, and for me to be left on my own? As this situation has forced me to grow a lot quicker. At first I was upset with God. Why did he took away my life. Why did he allowed my parents to die. As one of the song lyrics in the play Les Miserables once said "Now life has killed the dream I dream" (from the song I Dreamed a Dream). But now I understand that events such as this have to happen in life so that we can grow as persons and as Christians. I don't think I would have grown to what I am ( a family man and a pastor) today if my parents were still alive. I guess the same thing can be said about the disciples. I don't think they would have grown as evangelists and witnesses if Jesus didn't leave them on their own.