The next picture is of a much more humble nature, it is a small chapel on top of the Mount of Olives. It marks the place from where Jesus is said to have ascended into heaven.

The picture below shows a place in the centre of the chapel where a footprint in the stone, is said to be the last footstep of Jesus.

The reason why it is so much more modest is probably because most Christians would hopefully not take the ascension of Jesus quite so literally. It might be a nice idea of Jesus floating on up into the sky, but fortunately Christians have tended to think of the ascension in a less literal sense. Jesus walked off and left his disciples behind, he did not fly.

The truth is that apart from this little chapel, Christians do not have a special place where the ascension of Jesus is specially remembered. The early Christians discovered that whilst Jesus was no longer physically present with them, nevertheless he was very close spiritually. When Jesus ascended to his Father, he was no longer confined to earthly places, wherever the Christian went Jesus was by their side.

No wonder that those first Christians were unafraid to go and proclaim the good news of Jesus. He had not disappeared, rather he had become even more present.

Perhaps the most significant assurance of the truth of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus is just how energised these disciples became in their commitment to spreading the good news of who Jesus was. They were ready to die for what they believed to be true, because Jesus had not left them behind, he was now always by their side.