A birth. A ministry. A death. A resurrection. An ascension. And now… what? What is Jesus doing right now? And where is he doing it?
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Are you a preacher wondering what on earth you can possibly say new and interesting on Ascension this year—to say nothing of all the Ascensions that lie ahead of you?
Are you a churchgoer curious about this little odd holiday stranded on a Thursday between Easter and Pentecost?
Are you of a scientific mindframe, perpetually stressed out by the thought of Jesus rocketing up to the outer stratosphere like an out-of-control hot air balloon?
If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, then Forty Facets of the Ascension needs to be at the top of your reading list!
Questions about the Ascension answered in this book:
+ Why is up better than down?
+ Why do Luke and Acts both have Ascension stories… but not identical ones?
+ Was it really forty days later?
+ Why don’t any other New Testament authors depict the Ascension, like Luke does?
+ Or rather, why does Luke breach the reserve and depict the Ascension when nobody else did?
+ If Luke is the only one to depict the Ascension, why does he studiously avoid using the word “ascend”?
+ Who are the “two men” that appear at Jesus’ Ascension? If they’re not angels, why doesn’t Luke tell us who they are?
+ Whose ascension is Jesus’ Ascension absolutely nothing like? (Not a trick question, but a tricky question for sure.)
+ Is the Ascension necessary? Isn’t the Resurrection enough?
+ While we’re at it, what does Jesus’ Ascension have to do with being exalted to the right hand of the Father? Is that a separate thing or the same thing?
+ Why is Jesus’ self-sacrifice incomplete until his Ascension?
+ Is the ascended Jesus absent from the earth? If not, how can he possibly be present and still be his risen human self?
+ What is Jesus doing right now?
§1 How beautiful are the feet
§2 In his blessing them he parted from them
§3 Them looking on, he was lifted up
§4 Many days
§5 Fall like lightning
§6 The highest heaven
§7 A pleasing aroma
§8 He was not, for God took him
§9 Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?
§10 The voice of a god…
§11 …and not of a man
§12 See my hands and my feet
§13 Highly exalted
§14 A spirit does not have flesh and bones
§15 What further testimony do we need?
§16 A witness to his resurrection
§17 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended
§18 Serpent in the wilderness
§19 Now I am leaving the world and going to the Father
§20 The life of the flesh is in the blood
§21 One man should die for the people
§22 He entered once for all into the holy places
§23 After the order of Melchizedek
§24 He always lives to make intercession
§25 Sit at my right hand
§26 The Son of Man standing at the right hand of God
§27 I am Jesus whom you are persecuting
§28 As to one untimely born he appeared also to me
§29 Until he has put all enemies under his feet
§30 It is to your advantage that I go away
§31 The word of faith that we proclaim
§32 The body of Christ
§33 This is my body
§34 The bread of God is he who comes down from heaven
§35 What is sown is perishable
§36 What is raised is imperishable
§37 All authority on heaven and earth
§38 Thus will he come in the way you saw him go
§39 The Lord himself will descend from heaven
§40 The holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven
Bonus for fans: a recipe for Ascension Breadbirds!
Want to dig into this book with others? Download Discussion Questions for Forty Facets of the Ascension.
Sarah Hinlicky Wilson writes, walks, cooks, preaches, and podcasts here and there, hither and yon.
Sign up for her quarterly e-newsletter Theology & a Recipe and follow her other work at www.sarahhinlickywilson.com.
Listen to her long-running theology podcast Queen of the Sciences: Conversations between a Theologian and Her Dad, with Paul R. Hinlicky (her dad—you guessed it!).
“…is now the best resource I know for getting to grips with this seriously neglected portion of the good news.”
— Rev. Dr. Wesley Hill, Associate Professor of New Testament at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto, “The Multi-Splendored Ascension”
“Wilson is a preacher’s writer.”
— Dr. Kirsten Sanders, “Two Theological Whodunnits“
“There are few persons I’d rather interpret scripture with than Sarah Hinlicky Wilson. She combines the textual attentiveness of a bible scholar, the canonical comprehensiveness a theologian, and the pastoral creativity of a preacher. This work on the Ascension will enlighten, encourage, and empower any Christian reader with a hunger for knowledge and wisdom.”
— Rev. Dr. John L. Drury, Professor of New Testament and Spiritual Formation, Indiana Wesleyan University
Discussion of Forty Facets of the Ascension with Jason Micheli and Ken Sundet Jones on Tamed Cynic
Discussion of the Ascension in John 13:1–4 and Hebrews 9:24–28 on the Fresh Text podcast with John Drury
Interview about Forty Facets of the Ascension on Outside Ourselves podcast with Kelsi Klembara
Published by Thornbush Press (USA) in 2025
Paperback ISBN: 979-8-9899141-5-9
Hardcover ISBN: 979-8-9899141-6-6
Ebook ISBN: 979-8-9899141-7-3
Audiobook ISBN: 979-8-9899141-8-0
© 2025 Sarah Hinlicky Wilson
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