He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father
“So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God” records the gospel according to Mark.
Christ's body was glorified at the moment of his Resurrection.
But during the forty days when he ate and drank with his disciples and taught them about the kingdom, his glory remained veiled under the appearance of ordinary humanity.
Jesus' final apparition ends with the irreversible entry of his humanity into divine glory.
Thus, the ascension signaled a decisive transition. Christ’s earthly ministry is complete; his heavenly ministry has begun. Ascension is the culmination of Jesus’ glorification.
Who can ascend to heaven? Jesus himself said, “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.”
The son of God descended in humility and ascended in victory. He descended, became visible, and ascended, becoming invisible. He descended into mortality and ascended with immortality.
He descended, assuming a physical body, and ascended, making it a spiritual body. He descended, stripping off his glory, and ascended, robed with glory.
Left to its own natural powers, humanity does not have access to the "Father's house." Only Christ can open to humans such access.
Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, precedes us into the Father's glorious kingdom so that we, the members of his Body, may live in the hope of one day being with him forever.
Luke says, “As they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.”
The cloud is the same cloud which descended upon the Tabernacle constructed by Moses and the Temple built by Solomon. To enter the cloud was to go into the holy of holies, the immediate presence of God.
Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. "By 'the Father's right hand' we understand the glory and honor of divinity, where he who exists as Son of God before all ages, is seated bodily after he became incarnate and his flesh was glorified."
This image of sitting “at the right hand of the Father” is influenced by Psalm 110: “The Lord said to my lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool.’
Our Lord went up Body and Soul into heaven in the sight of His apostles, to take possession of His glory, and to be our Advocate and Mediator in heaven with the Father.
He ascended as Man, as Head of the redeemed, and has prepared a dwelling in heaven for all those who follow in His steps.
With the Ascension of Jesus, Paradise, once lost, was regained. Humanity had given mortal flesh to the Word of God, and He, in turn, immortalized and glorified that flesh.
Thus, His Ascension marked the definitive entrance of humanity into God’s heavenly realm. Human nature now shares in God’s life in a new way through Christ.
This fills me with hope that, one day, God willing, I too will share in the divine life, with my body and soul reunited.