This text is used for the Lectionary Year A on May 25, 2014.

Luke’s gospel begins in Jerusalem with faithful followers of the one true God receiving a message from God that he was about to make the boldest of moves.  It ends in much the same way.  In Luke 1, we learn that the Spirit of God will come upon one who will announce the arrival of the Son of the Most High who will save the people from their sins.  In Luke 24, that Son announces that the Spirit of God will soon come upon the disciples so that they might go into the world and preach about the forgiveness of sins to all nations.  As a result, the conclusion of Luke’s gospel serves not as an ending of the story of Jesus, but rather, as a transition from Jesus’s earthly ministry in Israel to his global ministry via his church. Continue reading →