A homily from St. Petersburg, 1874, filled with stirring insight into the spiritual meaning of our Lord’s ascension.
What an exalted sight was presented by the ascent of our Lord Jesus Christ. There had been no such triumph since the beginning of the world. It started on earth and came to a completion in the heavens.
The description of this triumph on earth is written in the Gospel of St. Luke, who speaks of how our Lord, raising up his hands, blessed the apostles and other believers. Then, he stepped away from them and by His almighty power ascended to the heavens, to a cloud as if to a chariot of triumph, which lifted Him and hid Him from the eyes of the Apostles. This spectacle was so astonishing, in spite of the fact that the Apostles were accustomed to all the miracles of our Lord, and was so amazing that it is not known how long they would have remained standing and gazing after our ascended Lord, had not the angels instructed them and brought them back to themselves: “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)
But this was only the beginning of the triumph, and the complete and perfect one awaited Him in the heavens. And this is how the holy Prophet David describes it in Psalm 23:
Multitudes of angels accompanied Him and multitudes met him. The accompanying angels called to the awaiting ones, “lift up your gates, you princes, and the King of glory will enter� The others inquired, �Who is this King of Glory?� �The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle,� was the answer. It is the One Who defeated the world, sin and the devil. It is the new Adam who has destroyed the wall between heaven and earth erected by the old Adam. �Lift up your gates, you princes,� and �be lifted up, you eternal doors,� for they are no longer needed. From now on, the heavens shall be open that the King of Glory can enter along with those believing in Him. �Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory.�
When the Son of God reached above the heavens to the Throne of God of Sabbaoth, then, this is how our Heavenly Father welcomed His Beloved Only-Begotten Son:
“Sit Thou at My Right hand” (Psalm 101), and enter into the glory that You had of Me before the formation of the world, and of which You had to conceal for a time in the form of man. I give You all authority in heaven and on earth. Henceforth, I do not judge anyone, but give the whole judgment over to You. I subjugate all to be as the footstool of thy feet.
Great was the degradation, heavy was the Cross, cruel were the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ; but this is why God the Father elevated Him and gave him a name that is above all names: �That at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth.� (Phil.2:10)
We have no greater honor than to carry the name of a Christian and to be disciples of the ascended Lord, because in the Ascension of our Lord is bounded all of our hope of receiving eternal salvation.
Christ our Saviour, in His God state had always been and is equal to God the Father and He, speaking in human terms, sat on the Throne of Glory even when He was bodily in the tomb, and His Spirit in hell as God. For whom then, is this magnificent reception arranged? Who is being escorted with such triumph by all the heavenly Hosts? Who is Pre-Eternal Son of God who is ascending from the earth to the heavens, our flesh which was assumed in the womb of the Ever-Virgin Mary. Our humanness is being seated on the throne of the Divinity.
What an honour and glory for us! The nature of man in Jesus Christ is elevated above the heavens, glorified above the cherubims and the seraphims, and since we �have been baptized unto Christ, have put on Christ.� Subsequently, we are elevated and glorified with Christ.
If people pride themselves in their ancestry with famous heritage, then they should pride themselves even more so in knowing that our origin and heritage are from Him, Who sits at the right hand of our Heavenly Father. If the merits of forefathers give honour and respect to their descendants, then what honour and respect will we receive before the angels and mankind through Christ our Saviour? If famous names are flattering to us, then, how much more should the name of Christian be, which gives us the right of entry into the abode of the King of Heaven? Aside from this fact, we will be honoured by eventually inheriting eternal bliss.
He is our Firstborn, our King, our Head; and where the Firstborn is, there are His subjects; where the Head, there the members. As by his death on the Cross, Christ the Saviour abolished death; as by His Ressurection from the tomb our future resurrection; so, by his Ascension to the Heavens, he confirms that we with our bodies will pass from earth to heaven.
Great was the mercy of the Son of God � that He left the heavens and descended to earth for a short time to accomplish the great deed of the Redemption of mankind. It would have been sufficient for us if He returned to us our lost paradise and sufficient if He established an earthly kingdom for our well-being. Let us wonder at the abyss of God�s mercy: He, instead of earthly paradise, establishes a Kingdom in the heavenly realm. �I go,� He said to the Apostles, �to prepare a place for you and when I prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.� (St. John 14:3)
But Christ the Saviour said that in the home of His Father, there are many abodes. Not only for the Apostles is a place prepared in the heavenly Kingdom, but also for us: �If I will ascend from earth, I will draw all to Me.�
The abodes of the Heavenly Father are so immense that they can accommodate all who believe. If we were not direct recipients of God�s teaching of the heavenly Teacher and were not witnesses to the miracles of Christ, to His Resurrection from the tomb and Ascension from earth to heaven, the more beneficial it is to our faith, because �blessed are they that have not seen but believed.� (St. John 20:29)
All we need is to show our faith through our deeds, �because faith without deeds is dead.� And the pre-eminent children of the Church, similarly to the Apostles, sacrificed all to prove the sanctity of their faith, to retain purity and chastity and to acquire salvation for themselves. They, as good soldiers of Christ, had to fight with the impurity of the idolaters, with the total depravity of their age, with the force and might of the powers and masters of the earth. Their good deeds were punished as criminal actions and a host of martyrs and confessors of Christ proved that from such an unequal struggle they always emerged victorious. We, on the contrary received �the yoke of Christ as easy and the burden light.�
Triumphantly, we can confess our holy Faith, because the masters and powers of the earth have bent their knees before the Crucified Lord and exhibit a high example of honouring God and of righteousness. We do not need to hide in the deserts and caves to worship the Triune God. The holy churches are open for us all. Everywhere, the holy sacraments are being offered for the strengthening of our faith and the doctoring of our spiritual maladies. Everywhere, we meet spiritual pastors who are ready to direct us to the Truth and show us the path to the Kingdom of Heaven. IN other words, the Holy Church, like an all-caring mother, gives us all means for salvation. It only remains for us to utilize these means and it remains to show that we are Christians not only in name, but in actuality.
Let us prove that we are Disciples of Christ by keeping love amongst us, loving our fellow man, and chasing away all animosity and all disagreement. �In this, all shall understand that you are My disciples, if you have love amongst yourselves.� Let us prove that we belong to Christ. Let us crucify our flesh with our passions and lusts. Let us not give way to sensual wishes, but save the purity of our soul and make our bodies temples of the living God. Let us cease from rage, anger jealousy and other passions, �because if you are Christ’s, you will crucify your flesh with its passions and lusts.� Finally, as followers of Christ, we must take up our Cross and carry it through, not for some short segment of time, but throughout our whole life to our grave. Regardless of what unpleasantness� befall us, we must endure them with full Christian patience for the sake of Christ. We must in all things submit our will to God’s will. We must kiss God’s hand, be it punishing or rewarding. If we co-suffer here with Christ, we will ascend and be glorified with Him.
And so, in celebrating the glorious Ascension of our Lord, let us remember now that our fatherland is not on earth, but in heaven and that life given to us here is for a short time. Let us utilize this short time to find eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Amen.
Archpriest P. Veletsky St. Petersburg, 1874