Ascension Day

40 days after Easter Sunday, the Feast of the Ascension of Christ marks an important milestone in the 50-day post-Easter period. Following the biblical texts, the Christian churches not only commemorate the historical event of the ascension of the risen Christ into heaven but also connect it with a call to constant vigilance, as the Lord will return at the end of times to hold the eschatological final judgment over humanity.

By choosing 40 days, the early church consciously aligned itself with the tradition of biblical Israel, as according to its scriptures, the Great Flood lasted 40 days and nights, Moses spoke with God on Mount Sinai for 40 days, or the prophet Elijah is said to have wandered for 40 days to the mountain of God, Horeb. According to the New Testament writings, Jesus himself also fasted for 40 days in the desert.

From a historical perspective on religions, both ancient religions and the Quran recognize an ascension of humans to heaven. In Roman religion, for example, through the elevation of Caius Julius Caesar to the status of a god, or in biblical Israel through the narrative that Enoch was taken directly to heaven by God. Early Christianity therefore found itself in an interreligious discourse with other religious concepts of (late) antiquity when it likely incorporated the feast of the "Ascension of Christ" into the church calendars in the 4th century.