This morning in our Prayer and Practices Group, we talked about Ascension Day…the day Jesus ascended to the Father, 40 days after His resurrection. We talked about the importance of the event and what it means for us. Honestly, I don’t remember a lot about Ascension Day growing up.

I’ve been reading in Hebrews and so my thoughts naturally went to the High Priest in ancient Israel because Hebrews talks so much about the human High Priest contrasted with Jesus, our High Priest. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 3:14-16.

In ancient times, the High Priest was the only one who could enter into the Holy of Holies and that only once a year on the Day of Atonement, after he had offered sacrifices for his own sins and for Israel. I thought about what that must have been like for the Israelites. They could not go where the High Priest went but waited until he returned. I wondered what that must have been like for them…how long did that take, did they anxiously wait to see him return? Did God seem far away when the High Priest went into the tent or the Temple and did they feel closer to God knowing he forgave their sins after the High Priest came back out to them? What was it like for the High Priest who had such a tremendous honor and responsibility realizing he, too, needed atonement for his sins? It’s hard to imagine what that was like so long ago.

This morning reading Hebrews 10:19-22: Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

The Most Holy Place is where God is. Jesus ascended to the Father. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father. John 10:17-18. He laid down His life for us, the perfect sacrifice enabling our sins to be forgiven. He rose from the dead and after 40 days returned to the Father. Can you imagine what that was like for the Father, for Jesus, for the Holy Spirit and all the angels? Can you imagine the rejoicing, the deep impact of all that Jesus did?

He did that so we could draw near to God. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth. John 4:23-24.

In these troubling times we are living in there are times when all seems dark. When the dark closes in it’s hard to feel God. I lose Him. How grateful I am that I can enter the Most Holy Place…God’s Presence…and pour out my heart of hurt. I don’t have to wait for a human High Priest to go into that special place only one time a year, I have a High Priest who ascended to the Father. This morning in prayer after contemplating His ascension and what that means, He told me…Spirit to spirit. My Spirit dwells with your spirit and there we are together. My love is your truth and anchor when darkness seeps in. Your spirit cries out to me and I am here. He reminds me I haven’t lost Him, I just let the darkness overwhelm for a time. We are all hurting. And we can go to Him and ask for His help to understand things we cannot fathom without His help. And the amazing promise is that He is there and He loves you. He is our perfect High Priest and He is always here for you and for me. Not just one ancient nation, not just one country, not just one group of “faithful servants” or church goers, not just one religion… but every person. That’s how much the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit love us and made a way for us to be near to them in a loving relationship of spirit and truth.