Ascension. Meaning and significance of Ascension

The Ascension is celebrated 40 days after the Resurrection, on Thursday, the 6th week after Easter. This year we celebrate it on 2 June. It is also known as Ispas. On this day, Christians greet each other with “Christ is risen!” and “Truly He is risen!”. The Ascension of the Lord had witnessed; it was a light-filled parting, for the disciples returned to Jerusalem “with great joy.” For this reason, there is no greeting in our service books similar to the one at Easter.

The Ascension of the Lord is one of the oldest Christian feasts, as mentioned in the Apostolic Constitutions. The earliest mention of the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord is found in Eusebius of Caesarea, in his work “On the Feast of the Passover,” composed in 332.

Christ ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives in the sight of the Apostles and two angels. The angels spoke to the disciples about Christ’s second coming so they would not be overwhelmed by the pain of parting.

What is the Ascension?

On the fortieth day after the Resurrection, the Saviour again appeared to His disciples, took them with Him, and they left Jerusalem. They went up the Mount of Olives and spoke to them for the last time, telling them not to leave the city until they had received the Holy Spirit; then to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all nations.

As a lot of people already know, Ascension is one of the twelve great royal feasts of our Church and is always celebrated on the Thursday of the sixth week after Easter, forty days after the Resurrection. On this day, we commemorate the moment when, in the presence of His Apostles, the Saviour Christ ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives.

The Saviour raised His hands and blessed them all. And as he blessed them and they worshipped him, a cloud covered him, and they saw him no more. Two angels dressed in white robes then stood by the disciples and told them that the Saviour had ascended to God the Father and would come again at the end of time to judge all men according to their deeds.

What was the role of Jesus Ascension?

Also, fulfilling the ordinance for us and uniting earthly things with heavenly things, You have exalted Yourself to glory, O Christ our God, from whence You have never departed. Still, remaining undivided, You cry out to those who love You: I am with you, and no one is against you.

The sight of Jesus’ ascension gave the apostles supreme confidence in His deity. The promise of the sending of the Spirit as power from above confirmed their belief that he is the Son of the Father, who had told them that in this capacity he would send them the Spirit from the Father, who proceeds from the Father, or whom the Father would send in his name (cf. John 15:26; 14:26) and who would teach them all truth, taking it from himself (cf. John 16:13-14).

Therefore, when they saw Him ascending, they worshipped Him, and He blessed them. The complete sense of his deity removed from them any fear they had had when he was taken to the crucifixion. Though they remained visibly without Him, they were filled with “great joy” (Luke 24:50-52). They experienced the presence of God close to them. Among them were the women, his mother, and his “brothers,” his relatives in the flesh, but also many others who had often been with him and had seen him risen, and perhaps some who had also been present at His ascension.

How many days after the Resurrection did the invalidation of Jesus take place?

From the Bible, we learn that after the Resurrection, Jesus Christ appeared to the disciples for 40 days and then ascended into heaven in their presence. So the apostles witnessed this event. In the people, there is also said to have been another witness named Ispas. A shepherd who was hiding behind the stones then told what he saw.

Forty days after His Resurrection, the Saviour Christ ascended into heaven. The Gospels tell us briefly about this moment. St Mark the Evangelist mentions it in a single verse, and St Luke the Evangelist gives more details. The Ascension of the Lord urges us to spiritual elevation, asking us to overcome the things that bind us too much to the earth and to lift our minds and hearts to heaven.

It is also said in the Bible that Christ prophesied his return and entrusted the apostles to send him the Holy Spirit, which he did ten days later, at Pentecost, that is, Pentecost.

In the presence of how many apostles did the Ascension take place?

But Christ kept His humanity in a state before the ascension, for forty days, capable of descending to a visible relationship with men, competent also by their spiritual way of perceiving through it the divinity of which it was complete in its resurrection state. He kept His humanity in this state for a while to convince the disciples of His resurrection.

The ascension into heaven was again not in the presence of a single Apostle but in the company of three known Apostles, so it could be said that this could have been the subjective illusion of the one. He prepared all the Apostles and others for it, and it took place in the presence of all. By this, they were again convinced that the One who ascended was not a man, but the Son of God.

Before Christ ascended before them, he again affirmed his deity, commanding them to be his witnesses in all the world “to the ends of the earth.” His ascension was also an act that convinced them of his deity so that, after seeing him ascend, they returned from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem, sitting in the upper room in prayer.

Key Verse related to The Ascension of Jesus Christ

“When you went to bed last night, Jesus was at work subduing his enemies. While you slept, he was continuing to rule over the world. He was still at it when you woke up this morning and as you read this. That is the outrageous claim of the ascension.”
Tim Chester & Jonny Woodrow

Ascension

What did Jesus do from the Resurrection to the Ascension?

As witnesses to the Resurrection, the basis of their preaching, they proclaimed the words of the Gospel in different places with unparalleled enthusiasm and zeal. Summing up what happened immediately after the Resurrection, St. Paul, in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, 15th chapter, tells us that after the Resurrection from the dead, the Saviour appeared to the miraculous women, to the 11 Apostles and about 500 brethren gathered in one place.

According to biblical sources, from the Resurrection to the Ascension, the Saviour Jesus strengthened the disciples, who, fearful as they were, hid in their houses for fear of the Jews, most of them not having the courage to accompany the Lord to Calvary to be with him at the moment of crucifixion on the cross.

Nor did they have the courage to go with the miraculous women to the tomb on the first day of the week, early in the morning, to fulfill the Jewish tradition. As soon as they saw him rise, the disciples were changed; they became fearless. The resurrection changed them and the whole world.

What did the disciples do after the ascension?

The Saviour had prepared them sometime before, told them several times about His coming sufferings, but also mentioned that He would go and cook for them. When they were grieved at this parting, He strengthened the word, saying: Unless I go, I will not send you the Comforter who will teach you all, by which is not meant that He did not prepare enough, but that they, the disciples, could not understand all the words which the Lord expounded during His saving activity.

The Gospel tells us that after the Ascension, the Lord’s disciples returned from Mount Eleon with great joy and preached the gospel and what they had seen. We would at first be grieved and wonder how they could return with great pleasure after parting from their Teacher to whom they were accustomed, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

The Feast of the Ascension shows that separations also bring joy, such as the Savior’s separation from the disciples who returned joyfully to Jerusalem. He had told the disciples before: Behold, I am with you to the end of the ages and taught them what they must do in the time between the Resurrection and His Ascension into heaven to change the world.

Significance of Ascension

Also, Christ’s ascension to glory and His residence at the right hand of the Father is the image of the complete deification of His humanity. By all His acts, incarnation, death, and resurrection, He gradually deified the human nature which He assumed, but He fully transfigured it by His Ascension.

The significance of this event of the Ascension of the Lord into Heaven is one of joy because it symbolizes that Jesus went out into a world of golden streets to prepare the way for us. The blessing of the Lord brings human worship, bringing spiritual joy.

And from joy is born praise and prayer. St. Luke the Evangelist tells us, “And as he blessed them, he ascended into heaven. And they, worshipping him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they were all the while in the temple, praising and blessing God.” (Luke 24:51-53)

Primary Takeaways

Because of the supreme transfiguration of His body, Christ can become interior to those who believe in Him. But, the ascension of the Lord does not mean His withdrawal from creation, for He continues to be present and at work through the Holy Spirit.
The bodily ascension into heaven is a testimony to the fact that man was created for eternity, for the Son does not only appear to the Father as God but also as Man.
Christ, by His Ascension, does not only show where man is to reach but makes Himself the way and the power that man may reach this state. He sits on the divine throne of glory, but He also dwells in the hearts of those who love Him.

Conclusion

But, for the Church, through the Resurrection and Ascension, a new age has begun to dawn, the age of the future and eschatological restoration to the glory of God, since through these events, we have not only a rising of Christ to power and glory but also a lifting of man to soteriological and eschatological wholeness. Those who accept faith in the Resurrection and Ascension are turned towards the future and the coming of Christ again.

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Bibliography

Farrow, D. (2004). Ascension and Ecclesia. A&C Black.
Fitzmyer, J. A. (1984). The ascension of Christ and Pentecost. Theological Studies, 45(3), 409-440.
Spiro, A. (1953, January). The ascension of Phinehas. In Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research (Vol. 22, pp. 91-114). American Academy for Jewish Research.
Sleeman, M. (2009). Geography and the ascension narrative in acts (Vol. 146). Cambridge University Press.
Daly, R. A. (1925, June). The geology of Ascension island. In Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Vol. 60, No. 1, pp. 3-80). American Academy of Arts & Sciences.