What Is Ascension Day and How Do We Celebrate It?

Ascension Day doesn’t seem to top the charts in church celebrations. In fact, most denominations won’t celebrate it. Yet, it still marks an important part of church history.

Forty days after resurrection Sunday, Jesus left his disciples with a charge in Matthew 28: to go into all nations—preaching the good news of Christ.

And right after that, Jesus ascended into heaven. He floated up into the sky. It marks the end of Jesus’ ministry on earth and the beginning of ours.

In today’s article, we’ll explore Ascension Day, how certain churches celebrate it, and why it ultimately matters to Christianity as a whole.

What Is Ascension Day?

We’d touched on this above, but in the church calendar, Ascension Day is the remembrance of Jesus’ ascension into heaven. Jesus had completed a three-year ministry on earth. During that period, he gathered several followers and preached about salvation. He had also died, rose on the third day, and met with people for 40 days.

Jesus knew the next step would be to step aside and allow the Holy Spirit to participate in Pentecost. Every person in the Trinity plays a great role in the Biblical narrative. God the Father creates and establishes the law for Israel.

When Israel repeatedly broke that law, Jesus came to earth to be the atonement for humanity’s sin.

And now, the Holy Spirit can live in people’s hearts, allowing many more to come into salvation.

As mentioned in a Christianity.com article, Ascension Day marks a transition for Christ. He was a humble servant of the Lord on earth, willing to suffer—yes, even death on the cross. And now he has been exalted. He is now seated at the right hand of the father.

Now, Christians remember his work on earth, the salvation he has given us, and his promise to return. Next time, on a white horse.

When Is Ascension Day on the Church Calendar?

Ascension Day tends to fall 40 days after Easter because the Bible states Jesus met with people for 40 days after his resurrection (Acts 1:3).

For 2023, Ascension Day will take place on May 18.

For 2024, it will happen on May 9.

For 2025, it will happen on May 29.

You’ll notice that the date often falls in May, but it depends on when Easter occurs in a calendar year.

Since we now know the importance of Ascension Day and when it happens, how do certain churches celebrate it?

How Is Ascension Day Celebrated?

It should probably be no surprise that high church traditions typically celebrate Ascension Day feasts. Low church traditions tend to celebrate bigger holidays, such as Christmas, Easter, and sometimes Lent.

It’s also important to mention that even the churches that celebrate Ascension Day may differ in how they eat and celebrate Christ’s Ascension.

Certain European churches will eat fowl and birds of all kinds. The practice harkens back to a medieval tradition. Jesus “flew” into heaven, so the food symbolizes the upward flight. The tradition can span beyond just the walls of Europe, but it appears to originate there.

Sometimes fruit can be seen at feasts—as Christ had ushered in the first fruits of his church through the apostles.

Cloudy pastries filled with cream may also be seen as Jesus had ascended into the clouds and out of view for the disciples.

Overall, it doesn’t seem like there’s one universal way to celebrate. So long as people gather together to enjoy food and Christ’s work.

Activities for the day have ranged from chasing crickets to spotting cloud patterns in the sky, differing from church to church, parish to parish.

We can imagine that on the Sunday leading up to Ascension that many churches probably also have a reading included in the service about Christ’s ascension into heaven.

What Church Holiday Comes After Ascension Day?

We often can’t talk about Ascension Day without first addressing the holiday of Pentecost, which takes place 50 days after Easter Sunday.

The Holy Spirit didn’t descend immediately when the disciples returned to Jerusalem. So the disciples prayed. And ten days after the Ascension, the Holy Spirit rested on their heads like tongues of fire. It was the first day of the early church.

We need to see these two holidays in view of one another. One builds on the other, and the lessons we can learn from one also inform what we can learn about the other.

Pentecost can teach us that:

1. Patience is important: You’d think Christ would immediately gift the Holy Spirit the moment he entered the clouds. He gives the followers 10 days. God works while we wait.

2. God moves unexpectedly: If we’d made up the story, we’d probably have the Holy Spirit meet the disciples in the middle of Jerusalem. We would probably prefer the event to include a full pyrotechnics display. Instead, the Spirit meets them in a shut-up room in the middle of prayer.

3. Pentecost couldn’t have happened without the Ascension: The disciples wanted Jesus to stay forever. But Jesus knew that his time on earth was up, and it was time for the Holy Spirit to move. This dance of the Trinity shows each member uplifting one another, allowing each other to have their moment to shine in history.

Should I Celebrate Ascension Day?

If your church doesn’t happen to partake in this holiday, you may be wondering if you’re allowed to participate in the first place. Depending on how your church feels about following traditional Christian holidays, they may find it “too high churchy.” Since this event happened in the Bible, I don’t see any issues if Christian families want to take time to remember it. I won’t tell you how to celebrate, but I can offer a few ideas if you’re unsure how to begin.

Eat a Food that Helps You to Remember

I often think about Passover and how those feasts usually have symbolic food elements. Bitter herbs for the bitter years spent in Egypt. Unleavened bread for the unleavened bread that the people ate before they left, etc. There are some great examples above, from chicken to grapes, but try to find a food that means something to you and helps you to remember this day. I’d make myself some cloud eggs to recall how Jesus ascended into the clouds.

Do an Activity that Helps You to Remember

We are beings with muscle memories. When we do an action, it can help us to remember or preserve certain events. There’s a reason why certain Christians go on pilgrimages to holy sites or places in the Holy Land. Walking in the same places Jesus, Paul, or other important biblical figures can help cement those passages into their minds. Although most of us can’t afford a trip to Jerusalem, we can think of different activities to help us remember. For instance, we can go with our family into a grass plot and look up at the clouds, saying what the shapes remind us of. We can walk in a local fruit farm and remember that Jesus planted the seeds that sprouted into the fruit of his early church. The possibilities are endless.

Read from Scripture to Help You Remember

There’s something so valuable about reading the Bible together with friends or family. Consider hosting a Bible study on Ascension Day or a day closest to it. Or read Matthew 28 and Acts 1 out loud at the dinner table. Ask each other questions such as, “What do you think the disciples were feeling when Jesus ascended?” to “What does ‘go into all nations’ mean for us today?” There’s a reason why young Jewish boys would memorize the Torah and speak it aloud from memory. It’s so important that we hear the words and see how Jesus has moved throughout the millennia.

No matter how you celebrate—or simply acknowledge the day—I hope you find special meaning in Ascension Day this year.

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/artplus

Hope Bolinger is an acquisitions editor at End Game Press, book editor for hire, and the author of almost 30 books. More than 1500 of her works have been featured in various publications. Check out her books at hopebolinger.com for clean books in most genres, great for adults and kids. Check out her editing profile at Reedsy.com to find out about hiring her for your next book project.