As we continue our journey On the Path to Pentecost, this reflection marks the fifth step in the series. In the last post, we reflected on how Jesus taught his disciples about the divine love that would shape their lives — a love that would comfort, prepare, and call them into the world.
Today, we turn to the Ascension: that mysterious and beautiful moment when Jesus was “carried up into heaven” before the eyes of his friends. It’s a scene that can feel distant to modern readers, yet it holds a profound message for anyone beginning to explore faith.
Is Heaven Closer Than We Think?
Ascension Sunday invites us to pause and imagine the moment Jesus was “carried up into heaven,” as St Luke describes in Acts 1:9–11 and Luke 24:50–53.
It’s a scene full of wonder: Jesus blessing his friends, a cloud of glory, and then — he is gone from their sight. and for many of us today, this raises a natural question: where exactly did he go?
Christians have asked where heaven is for centuries. Some imagine it far above the clouds, somewhere “up there.” Others picture it as a distant realm beyond the stars. But the Bible doesn’t give us a map. Instead, it gives us clues — clues that suggest heaven may be much closer than we imagine.
One helpful way to think about heaven is as another dimension of God’s creation. Not a place millions of miles away, but a reality that surrounds us, separated only by what many have called a “veil.”
For centuries, the church has taught that heaven is where God’s presence is fully known, where those who have died rest in his care, and where Christ now reigns.
If it’s true — if heaven is a dimension rather than a location — then Jesus didn’t go to a distant corner of the universe but stepped into God’s hidden realm — he passed through that veil, hidden from sight but not removed from us.
This idea isn’t as strange as it sounds. In Jewish thought of the time, heaven was understood as God’s realm, not necessarily far away in physical space.
The disciples’ language of Jesus “going up” was likely a figure of speech — the same way we say we feel “uplifted” or “downcast.” It expresses meaning, not geography.
Modern theologians — and even mathematicians such as Charles Hinton, who wrote about a real but unseen fourth dimension — offer examples that help us imagine how heaven could be close at hand, even if hidden from our sight.
And many Christians today speak of “thin places” — moments or locations where the veil between heaven and earth feels almost transparent.
The Celtic saint George MacLeod famously described the island of Iona as a place where “the veil is thin, no thicker than tissue paper.”
If heaven is nearer than we think, then the Ascension becomes even more beautiful. Jesus didn’t leave us behind. He stepped into God’s dimension so that something extraordinary could happen: the Holy Spirit could step into ours.
Pentecost followed the Ascension like dawn follows night, and from that moment the Spirit has been present with believers — not occasionally, but always.
This means that heaven and earth are already being drawn closer together. Every act of love, every prayer, every moment of worship, every time someone chooses forgiveness over bitterness — these are glimpses of God’s kingdom coming “on earth as it is in heaven.”
And the invitation is simple. To become part of this story, to share in the hope of heaven, is to trust Jesus — to believe he is who he said he is, and to walk in his way.
The Ascension isn’t about Jesus going far away. It’s about Jesus opening the way for heaven to come near.
Visit A Church Near You and learn more about Jesus from other Christians;
Moments like Christ’s Ascension naturally stir our imagination about what it will be like to meet Jesus in his heavenly realm. This song (I Can Only Imagine by MercyMe) expresses that hope beautifully.