The New Testament is very insistent that Jesus Christ was not a disembodied spirit, either before or after his resurrection. As this image of his ascension into heaven shows, the risen Christ left physical footprints in the ground. With Jerusalem in the background, Jesus is shown ascending to heaven in triumph, carrying a banner of the cross as he again makes a sign of blessing with his hands. He is welcomed by heavenly angels to “sit at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56).

Later in the 1520s, a major controversy broke out between Protestants about the meaning of Christ’s ascent to the right hand of God. For reformers like Huldrych Zwingli, this was a literal statement about the risen Christ residing in heaven with God the Father. For others like Luther and Philip Melanchthon, the “right hand of the Father” was a biblical metaphor for the power of God, which meant that the risen Christ shared power and presence in creation as part of the fullness of God. This formed the basis for different views of Christ’s bodily or spiritual presence in the sacrament of Holy Communion, which continues to be a point of difference between various Protestants.

In the early 1520s, such controversies had not yet arisen, and so the image can give a straightforward of the account of the ascension according to Acts 1. In a sign of openness to the witness of women in the early church, the artist has included a woman (perhaps Jesus’ mother or Mary Magdalene) in the foreground next to Peter and the disciples. The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost in Acts 2 is foreshadowed through the billowing wind that blows Christ’s cloak and banner.

Jesus’ continued presence in the world and with his followers is emphasized in two other Bible references in the text. Luke 1:33 tells the words of the angel Gabriel to Mary that she would bear the savior and “of his kingdom there will be no end.” Jesus would continue to rule in the hearts of his followers and in unity with the Father. In John 12:26, Jesus predicted his death and announced to an astonished crowd, “If anyone serves me, [they] must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also.” As the final line of the final positive panel, this passage connects the ongoing presence and life of Christ with the humble service of his followers.