One of the overlooked aspects of Jesus rsquo ascension has to do not with the continuing materiality of the risen Lord or the ldquo whereness rdquo of Jesus rsquo glorified body but with the earthly implications of the ascension for the church Between the apostles rsquo hopeful question ldqu

The Acts of the Apostles presents a reverse Babel at Pentecost when the confusion of tongues described in Gn 11 1 ndash 9 is transformed into understanding among the earliest disciples of Jesus who find themselves speaking ldquo other languages rdquo The confusion of tongues at Babel gives to u

To be a Christian witness in the ancient church was to make known the euangelion literally ldquo good news rdquo or ldquo gospel rdquo from which we derive our word evangelization The Acts of the Apostles reports a great number of overt ldquo signs and wonders rdquo including exorcisms and

Jesus was a tekt n or craftsman by trade Mk 6 3 someone who built things with wood brick and stone We do not know what types of physical structures he worked on with his father Joseph but we can speak of his spiritual legacy as the one who built the house of God The master builder constru

There is a richness to the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus that makes it difficult to consume it in its entirety or to exhaust its sustenance Even seemingly minor details nourish the reader in surprising ways Emmaus itself the village to which Cleopas and the unnamed disciple are jou

Slaves in the Greco-Roman world were sometimes treated with kindness but this was dependent upon the whims of masters not legally required Even domestic slaves as mentioned in 1 Peter were vulnerable to the demands of their masters and 1 Pt 2 18 asks that they ldquo accept the authority rdquo