John Chrysostom, On Christ's Ascension

On the Ascension of Christ

A discourse of our father among the saints, John Chrysostom, on the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice, because today, having broken down the middle wall of the partition" Jesus, according to Paul, and having made peace concerning the enmity between God and our nature, has joined the things above to the things below. -Today the only-begotten has offered to the Father the first-fruits of the nature which he took from us; today the sacrifice made for the world has been offered living to God. - Today the dragon has been beheaded; today the serpent is dead; today the devil has been cast out of heaven; today the sin of humanity has been taken away. -Today man, who through the disobedience of Adam was exiled from paradise, through the second Adam has ascended not to an earthly paradise, "but into heaven itself," according to the blessed Paul, "now to appear in the presence of God". And who are the witnesses of the Lord's ascension into heaven? Twelve disciples. But do you doubt, O Jew, and disbelieve the apostles of Christ and the eyes that saw the Lord ascending into heaven on a cloud; do you not believe so many witnesses? Then do you not obey Moses the lawgiver either? For what does Moses say? "By the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." O wretched and miserable one; Moses the lawgiver says that three witnesses in agreement are worthy of belief concerning any matter; and when Luke the Evangelist brings forward four times three trustworthy witnesses, you reject them, o profane and lawless one? - Let the prophet Isaiah say, "your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow is bronze".

Are you not persuaded by our twelve witnesses who were eyewitnesses of the Lord’s ascension into heaven? Let Daniel the prophet alone now silence you; whom, even if you were shameless ten thousand times, you cannot contradict. Let Daniel the prophet come, shutting your shameless mouth, just as he once did that of the dragon, and bursting your belly just as he did that of the beast then. What then did Daniel say, prophesying about the ascension of the Lord? Let us hear: "'I saw,' he says, 'and behold, upon the clouds of heaven one like a son of man was coming'." For his second coming will be like his first ascension, just as the book of Acts signified, saying: "'As the apostles were looking intently while the Lord went into heaven. And behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said: Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you have seen him go into heaven'." Pay close attention, I beseech you, how the prophet clearly indicated the persons: "'Behold,' he says, 'upon the clouds of heaven one like a son of man coming; and he came even to the Ancient of Days'." And what should we understand is the end of the prophecy? "'And to him,' he says, 'was given dominion and honor and the kingdom'." Understand with wisdom, to whom does he say the dominion was given; not to God the Word, who coexists eternally with the Father; for he always has the power, but to the ensouled body from Mary united to him, which also today ascends into heaven on a cloud. For he is the same, perfect God and perfect man. "'To him, therefore, was given the dominion and the honor and the authority and the kingdom' according to the economy of the flesh. "'And all peoples, tribes, tongues will serve him, because his authority is an everlasting authority, which will not

In Christi ascensionem

Τοῦ ἐν ἁγίοις πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἰωάννου τοῦ Χρυσοστόμου λόγος εἰς τὴν ἀνάληψιν τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.

«Εὐφραινέσθωσαν οἱ οὐρανοὶ καὶ ἀγαλλιάσθω ἡ γῆ, ὅτι τὸ μεσότοιχον τοῦ

φραγμοῦ σήμερον λύσας» Ἰησοῦς κατὰ τὸν Παῦλον καὶ τὴν ἔχθραν τὴν μεταξὺ θεοῦ καὶ τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν εἰρηνοποιήσας συνῆψε τὰ ἄνω τοῖς κάτω. -Σήμερον ὁ μονογενὴς τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τῆς φύσεως, ἣν ἀνέλαβεν ἐξ ἡμῶν, προσενήνοχεν τῷ Πατρί· σήμερον ἡ ὑπὲρ τῆς οἰκουμένης θυσία γενομένη ζῶσα τῷ Θεῷ προσηνέχθη. - Σήμερον ὁ δράκων ἀποκεκεφάλισται· σήμερον ὁ ὄφις νενέκρωται· σήμερον ὁ διάβολος ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἐκβέβληται· σήμερον ἡ ἁμαρτία τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος ἀνῄρηται. -Σήμερον ὁ διὰ τὴν παρακοὴν Ἀδὰμ ἐξορισθεὶς ἐκ τοῦ παραδείσου ἄνθρωπος διὰ τοῦ δευτέρου Ἀδὰμ οὐκ εἰς παράδεισον γῆς, «ἀλλ' εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνῆλθεν·» κατὰ τὸν μακάριον Παῦλον, «ἐμφανισθῆναι νῦν τῷ προσώπῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ». Καὶ τίνες οἱ μάρτυρες τῆς εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀναλήψεως τοῦ Κυρίου; ∆έκα δύο μαθηταί. Ἀλλ' ἀμφιβάλλεις ὦ Ἰουδαῖε καὶ ἀπιστεῖς τοῖςἀποστόλοις τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ ὀφθαλμοῖς τοῖς θεασαμένοις ἐν νεφέλῃ ἀναβαίνοντα εἰς οὐρανοὺς τὸν Κύριον· οὐ πιστεύεις τοῖς τοσούτοις μάρτυσιν; Οὐκοῦν οὔτε τῷ νομοθέτῃ Μωυσεῖ πείθῃ; Τί γάρ φησιν Μωυσῆς· «Ἐπὶ στόματος δύο μαρτύρων καὶ τριῶν σταθήσεται πᾶν ῥῆμα.» Ἄθλιε καὶ ταλαίπωρε· Μωυσῆς ὁ νομοθέτης τρεῖς συμφω νοῦντας μάρτυρας περὶ παντὸς πράγματος πίστεως ἀξίους εἶναι λέγει· καὶ Λουκᾶ τοῦ Εὐαγγελιστοῦ τετράκις τρεῖς μάρτυρας ἀξιοπίστους παράγοντος ἀποδοκιμάζεις, βέβηλε καὶ παράνομε; - Λεγέτω ὁ προφήτης Ἠσαΐας «νεῦρον σιδηροῦν ὁ τράχηλός σου, καὶ τὸ μέτωπόν σου χαλκοῦν».

Οὐ πείθῃ τοῖς ἡμετέροις δέκα δύο μάρτυσιν αὐτόπταις γενομένοις τῆς εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀναλήψεως τοῦ Κυρίου; Εἷς ἄρτι ἐπιστομιζέτω σε μόνος ∆ανιὴλ ὁ προφήτης· ᾧ κἂν μυριάκις ἀπαναισχυντήσῃς, ἀντειπεῖν οὐ δύνασαι. Ἡκέτω ∆ανιὴλ ὁ προφήτης ἀποφράττων καὶ τὸ σὸν ἀναίσχυντον στόμα, καθάπερ καὶ τὸ τοῦ δράκοντός ποτε, καὶ ῥηγνύων καὶ τὴν σὴν γαστέρα καθ' ὃ καὶ τὴν τοῦ θηρίου ἐκείνου τότε. Τί οὖν ὁ ∆ανιὴλ περὶ τῆς ἀναλήψεως τοῦ Κυρίου προφητεύων εἶπεν, ἀκούσωμεν· «Ἐθεώρουν, φησὶ, καὶ ἰδού· ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὡς υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου ἀνερχόμενος» ἦν. Ὁμοία γὰρ καὶ ἡ δευτέρα αὐτοῦ ἔλευσις τῇ προτέρᾳ ἀναλήψει γενήσεται, καθὼς καὶ ἡ τῶν Πράξεων βίβλος ἐσήμανεν λέγουσα· «Ὡς ἀτενίζοντες ἦσαν οἱ ἀπόστολοι πορευομένου τοῦ Κυρίου εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν. Καὶ ἰδού· δύο ἄνδρες παρειστήκεισαν αὐτοῖς ἐν ἐσθῆτι λευκῇ, οἳ καὶ εἶπον· Ἄνδρες Γαλιλαῖοι· τί ἑστήκατε βλέποντες εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν; Οὗτος ὁ Ἰησοῦς, ὁ ἀναληφθεὶς ἀφ' ὑμῶν εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, οὕτως ἐλεύσεται, ὃν τρόπον ἐθεάσασθε πορευόμενον αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν». Πρόσεχε ἀκριβῶς, παρακαλῶ, πῶς δὴ ἐμήνυσεν ὁ προφήτης σαφῶς τὰς ὑποστάσεις· «Ἰδού, φησίν, ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὡς υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου ἐρχόμενος· καὶ ἕως τοῦ παλαιοῦ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἔφθασεν». Καὶ τί τὸ τέλος τῆς προφητείας κατανοήσωμεν· «Καὶ αὐτῷ φησιν ἐδόθη ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ ἡ τιμὴ καὶ ἡ βασιλεία». Νόει συνετῶς, τίνι λέγει δεδόσθαι τὴν ἀρχήν· οὐ τῷ ἀϊδίως συνυπάρχοντι τῷ Πατρὶ Θεῷ Λόγῳ· ἔχει γὰρ ἀεὶ τὸ κράτος, ἀλλὰ τῷ ἐκ Μαρίας ἑνωθέντι αὐτῷ ἐψυχωμένῳ σώματι τῷ καὶ ἐπὶ νεφέλης σήμερον εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀναβαίνοντι. Ὁ αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστι Θεὸς καὶ ἄνθρωπος τέλειος. «Αὐτῷ οὖν ἐδόθη ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ ἡ τιμὴ καὶ ἡ ἐξουσία καὶ ἡ βασιλεία» κατὰ τὴν τῆς σαρκὸς οἰκονομίαν. «Καὶ πάντες οἱ λαοί, φυλαί, γλῶσσαι δουλεύσουσιν αὐτῷ, ὅτι ἡ ἐξουσία αὐτοῦ ἐξουσία αἰώνιος, ἥτις οὐ