Homily Two on the Ascension of the Lord
By Holy Hieromartyr Sergius Mechev
By Holy Hieromartyr Sergius Mechev
“Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with a voice of rejoicing.”
Today the Holy Church calls us to gladness and joy. But wherein does this joy consist, and why should we rejoice?
Today we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ from earth to heaven. Today the Lord has ascended, and therefore “all you nations clap your hands, for the Lord has ascended to where He was before” (Sticheron at “Lord, I have cried,” 1st).
If the Lord had not ascended into heaven, but had continued to remain on earth, then this great joy would not exist, because then the work of our salvation, for which the Lord came down to earth, would not have been completed. Therefore we must rejoice today, because the Lord ascended bodily into heaven. The Lord descended from heaven in order to restore human nature, fallen into corruption, “to raise it up and glorify it together with Himself” (Canon 1, Ode 3) — to bring it back to its former state, truly making us gods by grace. For “the Word of God became man so that we might become deified” (Saint Athanasios the Great, On the Incarnation of the Word, ch. 59).
“Men of Galilee, He Who has departed from you, this same Jesus is the God-man,” (Sticheron at the Litia, 5th) proclaimed the Angels to the Apostles, and the Apostles “returned to Jerusalem with great joy” (Luke 24:52).
That is why the Apostles rejoiced, and why we also rejoice and celebrate: because the Lord “renewed the fallen nature of Adam in the lowest parts of the earth and raised it above every principality and power” (Litia, 5th Sticheron). The heavenly powers themselves marvel because they behold a man ascending into heaven and seated at the right hand of God the Father. They marvel that the “God-man” ascends into heaven and that the “God-man shall come again as Judge of the living and the dead” (ibid.).
The Son of God, consubstantial with the Father, was born on earth from the Most Pure and Most Immaculate Virgin Mary. He became man and in all things became like us, except for sin. In His Divine Hypostasis He “assumed flesh animated by a rational and intelligent soul” (John of Damascus), and thereby renewed our nature. Then through His sufferings and death He delivered it from the dominion of sin and death. “You descended beneath the earth, You who by Your hand fashioned man, in order to raise up the assemblies of mankind from the fall by Your almighty power,” sings the Holy Church in the Lamentations of Great Saturday, which she calls the “Most Blessed Sabbath.”
On this day the Lord, having completed the renewal of man, rested in the tomb, granting us also “eternal rest.”
But the Lord Jesus Christ not only descended from heaven to earth, and not only by His death and resurrection freed our fallen nature from the dominion of sin and death, but also ascended with it into heaven, thereby “fulfilling the dispensation for us and uniting things on earth with the heavenly” (Kontakion of the Ascension).
By His Ascension into heaven the Savior opened for each of us the path of ascent from earth to heaven. Yet we were created in the image and likeness of God with free will, and therefore it depends upon us alone whether we walk this path or not.
He who “sets his mind on things above, not on earthly things” (Col. 3:2), believes that we possess an immortal soul and were created for eternal life and endless perfection. Such a view of man is directly opposed to the view of the world. The world looks upon man as an animal entirely dependent upon external conditions. It believes that one need only change these conditions in order to change man himself. Christianity also gives the body its proper place, and therefore the Church acknowledges the importance of changing outward conditions, one way or another, in the upbringing of man. Yet we believe that this has only an auxiliary significance, while the essential thing is our soul, with the divine spark of conscience implanted within it and the will, free either to follow the voice of conscience or to oppose it.
Christ said that the Kingdom of God is within us — in our soul, in our conscience — and that despite what is imposed upon us from outside, despite what we are taught and what proceeds from the conditions of our upbringing, we may still follow the voice of conscience or oppose it.
The Church knows many examples showing that external conditions, no matter how significant, do not wholly determine the formation of our spiritual personality. The Holy Fathers point to the Apostle Judas as an example. He was with Christ together with the other Apostles, heard the Savior’s words, and saw His miracles. The greatest attention was shown to Judas, and yet, despite all this, he fell and betrayed his Teacher. Therefore the Holy Church believes that however great the influence of external circumstances upon our spiritual and inner life may be, they do not have decisive significance. The main thing is our free will, our decision, and the inner labor that flows from it.
The Lord has done everything for us. He saved us from sin and death. He raised up our nature and exalted it into heaven. And now it depends upon each of us whether we appropriate the fruits of what Christ accomplished for us. If we believe in Him, if we seek Him, if we value our souls even a little and desire to taste eternal life, then we must labor to build up our soul, “so that the good may belong no less to the one choosing it than to the one planting its seeds” (Gregory the Theologian, Oration 45 on Holy Pascha). This understanding gives no room for pride, because we know that the foundation of virtue and its seed were planted in us by the Lord; yet we ourselves must also labor in order to cultivate this seed.
Relying upon the fruits of Christ’s redeeming sacrifice, yet also by our own will and effort, we must walk, knock at the doors of God’s mercy, and ask. In this sense, all of us are creators of our souls. This is the great labor accomplished on earth.
Today the Holy Church calls us to rejoice in the accomplishment of our salvation by the Lord and reminds us that now everything depends on us.
The Lord recreated us through His incarnation. He saved us and raised our nature with Himself to the throne of the Heavenly Father. He calls us also to participate in this new creation. He summons us to become creators of our own souls. For this, we must first follow Him upon His path: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me” (Mark 8:34). Then we must ask Him to help us in this great work of creating the soul. And this prayer will be heard, because the Lord Himself said: “Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened” (Matt. 7:7–8).
This is precisely our great task now: that we should become creators of our souls. The Holy Fathers call “makers of men” those who turn evil and impassioned people into good ones. But this name applies even more to those who throughout their earthly life fashion their own soul, freeing the image of God within them from the passions and raising it up to likeness unto God. This work belongs not only to God but also to man; without us, God will not save us. Every person must himself walk toward God, and the Lord will come to meet him and help him. And if within us there truly exists not only a body wholly dependent upon outward conditions, but also the image of God called to free creativity, then we can and must participate in this renewal of our souls.
“The angelic hosts, O Savior, beholding human nature ascending with You, were ceaselessly amazed and sang Your praises” (Canon 1, Ode 3). And we too must thank God and rejoice that our fallen nature has been raised to heaven and seated at the right hand of the Father.
If we follow the path of purification of our souls, we shall behold the heavens opened and the God-man seated upon the throne of God the Father. Then on the day of the Last Judgment we shall easily rise toward our heavenly homeland. On ancient icons of the Last Judgment the souls of the righteous are depicted flying toward heaven. They rise upward freely from below to the heavenly throne — what lightness there is in those figures striving toward heaven! But there are others who cannot rise. These are the sinners who in their earthly life did not labor to build the Kingdom of God within their souls. They too desire to ascend, and even rise slightly, though with great difficulty, but then swiftly and violently fall downward again.
Therefore today, on this joyful feast of the Ascension of the Lord into Heaven, let us remember that “this same Jesus, the God-man,” Who renewed our soul and body, “shall come again as Judge of the living and the dead.”
Let us remember that on that day we also shall rise in a new body. Let us therefore walk the path of purification of our souls and make our body into a temple of the Holy Spirit, so that on that fearful and joyful day we may easily ascend to the heavenly throne and together with the prophets, apostles, martyrs, and all the saints enter Paradise, where the God-man sits bodily at the right hand of God. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
✠
Support the Mystagogy Resource Center
For more than fifteen years, the Mystagogy Resource Center has been a labor of love dedicated to making the riches of the Orthodox Christian tradition freely available to people throughout the world.
Thousands of articles, translations, lives of saints, theological reflections, historical resources, and daily materials have been published across this ministry’s websites, all offered free of charge for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the Orthodox faith.
This is a one-man ministry that requires countless hours of research, translation, writing, editing, and maintenance each day.
If this work has spiritually benefited, educated, encouraged, or inspired you in any way, I humbly ask you to consider supporting this ministry financially.
Generous annual and monthly benefactors make possible the continuation and expansion of this work for the future, for without such support this ministry cannot exist.
Every contribution, whether large or small, truly makes a difference and is deeply appreciated. May God bless you abundantly for your generosity and prayers.
❖ ❖ ❖
PayPal • Credit Card • Debit Card • Venmo
Become a Patron on Patreon
