Written by Van Yandell
Acts 1: 9 “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.”
The sequence of the events of the week of the crucifixion to the giving of the Holy Spirit is very clearly outlined in the scriptures. Christ entered Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1–11,), He was tried and sentenced to crucifixion (Matthew 27:1-26), He was crucified (Matthew 27: 35), entombed (Matthew 27: 57-61), resurrected (Matthew 28: 6) and later appeared to the disciples (Luke 24: 36). He ascended into Heaven (Acts 1: 9) and then the Holy Spirit was given (Acts 2: 1-4).
All of these are important for the Christian perspective but there is a varying of the observances of these events.
We were building a church in Vela Velha, Brazil. Our crew had the work site mostly to ourselves along with a few adult Brazilians helping us.
Then one morning the work site was inundated with dozens of young children. To say they presented a danger to themselves would have been an incomplete statement. They also created a problem for the builders; running, yelling, throwing and then chasing a ball. How were we to work?
Finally I asked, “Where did all these kids come from?” The answer I received was “Today is Corpus Christi; school is dismissed.” “Oh, okay! What’s Corpus Christi?” I had thought of Corpus Christi as a town in Texas.
Legend has it that in 1519, on the Roman Catholic Feast Day of Corpus Christi, Spanish explorer Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda discovered a bay on what is now the southern coast of Texas. The bay, and the city that later developed there, took the name of the feast day celebrating the “Body of Christ.” So, wait a minute! I am confused.
I was told the day was to celebrate the Ascension but it appears celebrations took place beyond that one day (Acts 1: 9) to include the giving of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2). Vela Velha, Brazil is located in the state of Espirito Santo meaning “Home (or state) of the Holy Spirit.”
Actually, it is a day in which some people of the world celebrate the ascension of Christ into Heaven, forty days after His resurrection. My immediate thought was “this is a day of great significance in Christian history.”
The celebration of “Corpus Christi” apparently varies from one Christian belief/religion to another and also from one region or country (thus people groups) to another.
Some observe the day as a day of feasting while others recognize it as the solemnity of the most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. In this designation, it is observed with communion (Lord’s Supper).
As in the date for Easter, the date for Corpus Christi is set by the moon and the shifting of the earth on its axis. Easter is the first Sunday, after the first full moon, after the spring equinox.
Most years, Easter and Passover fall in the same weekend. Passover is a Jewish celebration of the date of the exodus from Egypt and the night the “death angel” passed over the Jewish homes (Exodus 12: 23). Calendars as we use today did not exist then. That is one reason lunar and seasonal cycles were used to designate dates.
The Hebrews were instructed to smear blood on their door posts and lintels to signal the death angel to “pass over” (Exodus 12: 7). The Passover not only signifies God’s great power in issuing the plagues against the Pharaoh, the parting of the waters of the Red Sea, but also in sending an angel to take the lives of Egypt’s firstborn (Exodus 11: 5).
The use of the blood of a slain lamb became the basis for the blood sacrifice throughout the Old and New Testaments. Throughout Jewish history, the blood sacrifice on the altar was the process to gain forgiveness of sin (Hebrews 9: 22). The lamb had to be “without blemish” (Deuteronomy 17: 1).
The shedding of Jesus’ blood became the atoning sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. Following up on the Old Testament teachings of the perfect sacrifice, Jesus led the perfect sinless life in order to be the perfection required (1 Peter 2: 22). This also reinforces the belief of the virgin birth (Matthew 1: 23) in that a mere human could not have met that requirement.
The celebration of the Ascension is a special day of which Christians should be aware and regard as important and significant.
Acts 1: 3 verifies HIS appearing to the apostles and proving who He was and continuing to teach them about the Kingdom of God. He instructed them to stay in Jerusalem until the giving of the Holy Spirit which He verified in verse five.
One of our most powerful “Great Commission” scriptures was stated by Jesus at that time and documented in Acts 1: 8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
“You will receive power” indicates a future date, and that time came in Acts 2: 1-4 “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.”
Many Christians feel they do not possess the necessary requirements to teach others about Jesus. By the statement of John the Baptist in Matthew 3: 11 “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.” If you are a born again believer in Christ Jesus, crucified for the remission of sin and resurrected, you are indwelt with God’s spirit. HIS Spirit gives us that power we must have to be His witnesses in this lost world.
Christ’s Ascension or what was referred to as Corpus Christi in Vela Velha, Brazil was a holiday observed on the second Thursday following Pentecost.
Putting this puzzle together is mostly insignificant in that knowing those times has nothing to do with our eternal destination. I find it interesting to analyze these types of chronologies in the Bible but for our purpose of gaining an eternal perspective and promoting the gospel of Christ Jesus to an unchurched world it is like chasing the wind.
I have urged students and readers to seek out the deeper meanings in the Bible. When we consider the sequence of events and the unusual circumstances by which they transpired, we see an orchestrating of the time periods that connect the actions of men and God with the timing of the lunar cycles and the calendars of both today’s Gregorian calendar and the Jewish calendar.
If I can make a point here, what is really important is that the seeker (of truth) be assured that the scriptures offer tremendous evidence of their validity.
The simplicity of the Gospel is encouraging to all in that John 3: 16 states “Whosoever believes in Him shall have eternal life.” That belief being: Christ Jesus was crucified for the remission of sin and resurrected.
We celebrate several days each year because of the major events in the life of our Jesus (birth, life, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension). His Ascension is a very significant event and by us knowing of it, Christianity becomes more and more relevant to the believer and student of the Bible.