“I Will Enter His Court With Praise…”
The gospel according to Luke can be considered to have the literary genre known as “inclusio.” Simply put an inclusio has the same word or phrase at the begining and end of a unit. Concerning Zechariah at the naming of John, Luke writes, “Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God” (Lk.1:64).
Then comes the ending of the gospel where after the ascension into heaven the disciples worshipped Jesus “… and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God”(Lk.24:50-53).
As an inclusio whatever is contained in the middle is a complement to the covers; to this end, another name for inclusio is “sandwich.”
The birth of Jesus is a reason for joy and praise. His ministry is a reason for joy and praise. His death for our salvation is a reason for joy and praise. And his ascension is a reason for joy and praise because it assures us of his continual intercession and the outpouring upon us of the Holy Spirit and our empowerment by the same Spirit.
All these are reasons for joyous worship and continuous praise. For the time being the apostles “stayed continually at the temple…” “Stayed continually…” should not be understood as living there. Rather it is that they were constantly there praising God.
Interestingly they were continually prasing God at the temple with a different understanding of God in contrast to the other Jews who were also worshipping and praising God without acceptance of Jesus Christ.
Lessons of the Ascension:
- Jesus took the apostles out of Jerusalem to the vicinity of Bethany where he ascended to heaven. This teaches us that great events don’t always occur at the centre. The margins are as important as the centres.
- He blessed them before departing. We are not without his blessings.
- Worship and joyous praise should be a constant to us.
- Those who recognise the Lordship of Jesus Christ should not exempt themselves from the world, but rather remain there and cause a rippling effect like a pebble thrown into a lake.
Song: I will praise my Lord everyday×2. I will praise my Lord everyday of my life, I will praise my Lord everyday…”
Prayer: Holy Spirit fill me with joy to sing the day and sing the night for my Lord. Amen!
Have a blessed weekend! Peace be with you!