Ep. 188 - The Ascension: When Jesus Entered the True Holy of Holies
Mass Readings for May 17, 2026
We’ll crack open the opening lines of Acts to uncover how forty days with the Risen Lord signals the birth of the Church, connecting Jesus’ post-resurrection catechesis with the ancient days of Moses atop Sinai. The apostles’ “million dollar question” about restoring the kingdom to Israel sets the stage for a sweeping journey through salvation history and reveals the hopes pulsing at the heart of the early Christian community. Dive with us into the subtlety of Greek word choices and the Old Testament idea of a covenant of salt, as we unravel hidden ties to priesthood and royal lineage. Plus, we’ll explore how the Ascension fulfills prophecies from Daniel and Isaiah—and unearth why Luke ties this climactic moment to both the mission of the Church and the cosmic role of Jesus as High Priest, echoing the Day of Atonement.
Journeying into Acts for the Feast of the Ascension, this episode uncovers:
The hidden significance in Luke’s opening lines about what Jesus "began to do and teach," and how Acts records what Jesus continues to do through his followers [00:10:58]
Why Jesus spends exactly forty days with his disciples after the resurrection and how that mirrors Moses atop Mount Sinai planning the first tabernacle [00:13:34]
The deeper meaning behind the Greek detail that Jesus "ate with" his disciples and its roots in ancient "covenants of salt" with both the Levites and King David [00:20:00]
The emotional and theological depth behind the apostles' "million dollar question" about restoring the kingdom to Israel—and Jesus’ cryptic answer that redefines the restoration and predicts the Church’s global spread [00:25:24]
An overlooked parallel between Jesus' Ascension and Elijah’s assumption, including why "looking on" as the Master departs results in a double portion of the Spirit [00:41:12]
The prophetic vision in Daniel connecting Jesus’ Ascension to the Son of Man being presented to the Ancient of Days—a move that completes and replaces temple sacrifice forever [00:44:00]
And the breathtaking link between the Ascension, the Jewish feast of Yom Kippur, and how a vanished ancient miracle signaled that Jesus’ sacrifice had fulfilled the Day of Atonement once and for all [00:46:26]
References
Exodus 24:18 - “And Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.”
1 Peter 2:5 - “Like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
Numbers 18:19 - “All the holy offerings which the sons of Israel present to the LORD I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual debt; it is a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD for you and for your offspring with you.”
2 Chronicles 13:5 - “Ought you not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel for ever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt?”
Isaiah 49:6 - “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserves of Israel; I will give you as a Light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
2 Kings 2:9-10 - “When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.’ And Elisha said, ‘I beg you, let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” And he said, ‘You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.’”
Deuteronomy 34:9 - “And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him.”
Daniel 7:11-14 - “I looked then because of the sound of the great words which the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”
Hebrews 9:11-12 - “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”
Bibliography
Healy, Mary. Hebrews. Edited by Peter S. Williamson and Mary Healy. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic: A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2016.
Keener, Craig S. Acts: An Exegetical Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2012–2013.
Kurz, William S. Acts of the Apostles. Edited by Peter S. Williamson and Mary Healy. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013.
Pimentel, Stephen. Witnesses of the Messiah: On Acts of the Apostles 1-15. Steubenville, Ohio: Emmaus Road, 2002.
Discussion Questions
Reflect on the significance of the 40 days Jesus spent with his disciples after the resurrection. How does this echo Old Testament events such as Moses on Mount Sinai?
The episode draws a connection between Jesus eating with his disciples and the concept of a "covenant of salt." How does understanding the literal Greek meanings shed new light on the nature of Jesus’s relationship with the apostles?
The disciples' "million dollar question" about the restoration of the kingdom to Israel is noted as the longing of all salvation history. How does Jesus’s answer both satisfy and challenge their expectations?
Discuss the prophetic significance of Jesus’s statement about the spread of the Church — “You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” How does this summarize the mission and growth of the early Church as described in Acts?
The Ascension event is compared to Elijah’s being assumed into heaven and the passing on of his spirit to Elisha. How do these Old Testament events enrich our understanding of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit?
What is the importance of the Ascension in relation to Jesus’s roles as priest and sacrifice, especially in the context of the Jewish feast of Yom Kippur?
The episode highlights Isaiah 49:6 and its fulfillment in the Church becoming a “light to the nations.” How does this ancient prophecy connect to the vocation and self-understanding of the Church today?
On a practical level, how can the faithful today respond to the challenge of being “witnesses to the ends of the earth” and carrying out the mission begun by the apostles and continued by the Church throughout history?