As one has written just as the resurrection completes the crucifixion, the ascension completes the resurrection. Some maintain that Jesus returning to the Father is the most neglected doctrine of the Church and that we cannot understand Jesus apart from it. Perhaps we can best appreciate it by hearing how Peter sums it up in a sermon from the book of Acts, “This Jesus” proclaims Peter, “is exalted at the right hand of God.” We must remember that these early followers didn’t hang their heads low when Jesus left. They didn’t kick the can all the way back to Jerusalem. They didn’t say, “Well. That’s that.” No, Luke tells us: “And it came about that while he was blessing them, he parted from them, and they returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple, praising God.”

Perhaps the most unique perspective on the resurrected Jesus provided by Matthew is the very last phrase in the text which are the last words of the gospel, “And remember, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” You see when the curtain drops in this first gospel Jesus is still here. There is no ascension in Matthew. There’s no flying away into the clouds like Luke reports. Matthew wants us to know Jesus didn’t die and go away like everyone else we know. The resurrection isn’t a poetic way of saying that the spirit of Jesus lives on as a constant inspiration to us all. That’s a pretty modern, and fairly vanilla, way to view Easter that makes the resurrection as bland as cottage cheese.

Sunday’s text is from Matthew 26:6-13. It’s the story of the woman who gave a perfume gift worth a year’s wages to Jesus. It was also an act that drew the scorn of his disciples. Here’s a snippet from Sunday’s sermon:

Jesus catches them off guard. He scolds them and rebukes their attitude. “Don’t give her a hard time” he says. He reminds them they always have the poor, but he will be with them only a little while longer. Christ sees this action by the unnamed woman as an anointing for his burial. A meaning that I’m sure was lost on his disciples. I have a hard time understanding Jesus in this story. I must admit I have a hard time understanding the actions of the woman as well. I can, however, understand the disciples. Their reaction resonates with me and I’m sure with others also. You see, this type of thing is repeated every day in this church and thousands of churches around the world. At Christmas we give money to put a poinsettia in the sanctuary. Could that money be better spent on the needy? Here at Easter when lilies will adorn many houses of worship, wouldn’t it be better to use those funds to feed the hungry? All that money congregations spend for new buildings and furnishings, would we not be more in line to use that on the mission field somewhere? It’s easy to preach these kinds of things from this story and these are legitimate questions. But I’m afraid they’re not the right kind of questions for this particular episode.

Early church leaders taught that when we speak, we should do so only from silence. A person who hasn’t been quiet and still, will only speak from a noisy and busy heart. If a heart is noisy and busy, how and when is God able to give His wisdom? If we speak without such wisdom, we let loose an undisciplined, unfettered tongue that James calls “a restless evil full of deadly poison.” There was even a rule of thumb: if words are used to defend self or offend others, they don’t have their birth in stillness. Words that are used to restore and heal can only come from silence and then “much can be said without much being spoken.”