Acts 1:9

Why did He rise in the flesh in which He suffered, unless to show the resurrection of the flesh? And wishing to confirm this, when His disciples did not know whether to believe He had truly risen in the body, and were looking upon Him and doubting, He said to them, "Ye have not yet faith, see that it is I;" and He let them handle Him, and showed them the prints of the nails in His hands. And when they were by every kind of proof persuaded that it was Himself, and in the body, they asked Him to eat with them, that they might thus still more accurately ascertain that He had in verity risen bodily; and He did eat honey-comb and fish. And when He had thus shown them that there is truly a resurrection of the flesh, wishing to show them this also, that it is not impossible for flesh to ascend into heaven (as He had said that our dwelling-place is in heaven), "He was taken up into heaven while they beheld," as He was in the flesh.

The Passover affords a more than usually solemn day for baptism; when, withal, the Lord's passion, in which we are baptized, was completed. Nor will it be incongruous to interpret figuratively the fact that, when the Lord was about to celebrate the last Passover, He said to the disciples who were sent to make preparation, "You will meet a man bearing water." He points out the place for celebrating the Passover by the sign of water. After that, Pentecost is a most joyous space for conferring baptisms; wherein, too, the resurrection of the Lord was repeatedly proved among the disciples [Acts 1:3], and the hope of the advent of the Lord indirectly pointed to, in that, at that time, when He had been received back into the heavens [Acts 1:9], the angels told the apostles that "He would so come, as He had withal ascended into the heavens;" [Acts 1:11] at Pentecost, of course. But, moreover, when Jeremiah says, "And I will gather them together from the extremities of the land in the feast-day," he signifies the day of the Passover and of Pentecost, which is properly a "feast-day." However, every day is the Lord's; every hour, every time, is apt for baptism: if there is a difference in the solemnity, distinction there is none in the grace.

That, however, which we have reserved for a concluding argument, will now stand as a plea for all, and for the apostle himself, who in very deed would have to be charged with extreme indiscretion, if he had so abruptly, as some will have it, and as they say, blindfold, and so indiscriminately, and so unconditionally, excluded from the kingdom of God, and indeed from the court of heaven itself, all flesh and blood whatsoever; since Jesus is still sitting there at the right hand of the Father, man, yet God-the last Adam, yet the primary Word-flesh and blood, yet purer than ours-who "shall descend in like manner as He ascended into heaven" the same both in substance and form, as the angels affirmed, so as even to be recognised by those who pierced Him.

The prophet comprises both His advents in few words. Behold, he says, one like the Son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He did not say, like the Son of God, but the Son of man, that he might show that He had to be clothed with flesh on the earth, that having assumed the form of a man and the condition of mortality, He might teach men righteousness; and when, having completed the commands of God, He had revealed the truth to the nations, He might also suffer death, that He might overcome and lay open the other world also, and thus at length rising again, He might proceed to His Father borne aloft on a cloud. For the prophet said in addition: And came even to the Ancient of days, and was presented to Him. He called the Most High God the Ancient of days, whose age and origin cannot be comprehended; for He alone was from generations, and He will be always to generations.

"And having this said, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight." Seest thou that they did preach and fulfil the Gospel? For great was the gift He had bestowed on them. In the very place, He says, where ye are afraid, that is, in Jerusalem, there preach ye first, and afterwards unto the uttermost part of the earth. Then for assurance of what He had said, "While they beheld, He was taken up." Not "while they beheld" did He rise from the dead, but "while they beheld, He was taken up." Inasmuch, however, as the sight of their eyes even here was not all-sufficient; for in the Resurrection they saw the end, but not the beginning, and in the Ascension they saw the beginning, but not the end: because in the former it had been superfluous to have seen the beginning, the Lord Himself Who spake these things being present, and the sepulchre showing clearly that He is not there; but in the latter, they needed to be informed of the sequel by word of others.

But why did "a cloud receive Him?" This too was a sure sign that He went up to Heaven. Not fire, as in the case of Elijah, nor fiery chariot but "a cloud received Him;" which was a symbol of Heaven, as the Prophet says; "Who maketh the clouds His chariot" (Ps. civ. 3); it is of the Father Himself that this is said. Therefore he says, "on a cloud;" in the symbol, he would say, of the Divine power, for no other Power is seen to appear on a cloud. For hear again what another Prophet says: "The Lord sitteth upon a light cloud" (Is. xix. 1). For it was while they were listening with great attention to what He was saying, and this in answer to a very interesting question, and with their minds fully aroused and quite awake, that this thing took place. Also on the mount Sinai the cloud was because of Him; since Moses also entered into the darkness, but the cloud there was not because of Moses. And He did not merely say, "I go," lest they should again grieve, but He said, "I send the Spirit"; and that He was going away into heaven they saw with their eyes.

"He was taken up." Already it has been shown, that He went up into heaven. "And a cloud, etc." "Clouds and darkness are under His feet," (Ps. xviii. 9; xcvii. 2) saith the Scripture: for this is declared by the expression, "And a cloud received Him:" the Lord of heaven, it means. For as a king is shown by the royal chariot, so was the royal chariot sent for Him.

[And] let us commend the manner of his rule through the powers that are subject to him: born of a virgin mother, rising again by treading upon death, seeking the scepter of heaven. He announces [such] deeds by these [angelic] servants. Nor do the elements cease to serve their thunderer. In his honor as he is coming, a star does service as a soldier, going before the magi. A cloud waits upon him in obedience as he goes.

And having said these things, while they were watching, Jesus was taken up; leading them to another place on the shore, so that they would not question him again, he immediately began his ascent into heaven. And he adds, while they were watching: since here the whole beginning of their faith and need was established, but not the end of the matter. For this reason also the angels explained that Jesus rests in heaven; for they were unable to see him that far away. In the resurrection, however, it was the opposite: the beginning indeed was not seen by them; for it would have been unnecessary, since the one who had risen appeared alive, and the tomb was empty; but the end was apparent, for the living one was revealed to them.

Indeed, a cloud received the Lord, to demonstrate the equality of honor to the Father. For it is said of the Father: A cloud and darkness are round about Him. (Ps. 97:2) And indeed God who became flesh, having used a cloud as a chariot, for He was the Lord: but Elijah, fire. (2 Kings 2:1) For Jesus, being the Master of all, and ascending by his own power, takes a somewhat earthly and lower path toward the ascent, not being carried but carrying the vehicle; but Elijah is a servant, and therefore needing an unprofitable chariot and horses, the speed of which aids him in the upward journey. Therefore, it is said of him: Elijah went up in a whirlwind as into heaven; but of the Lord it is said, As He was going up into heaven. Two white-haired men are attested to confirm the Lord's restoration into heaven, "a matter is established by the testimony of two or three witnesses." (2 Cor. 13:1)

"And when he had said these things, while they looked on, he was raised up: and a cloud received him out of their sight," etc. Luke declares that, with those words which he said above, while the apostles looked on, the Lord suddenly ascended to heaven; and, lest anyone should think that such a miracle was a figment of imagination, he says that angels of God stood by them, saying: "Why do ye wonder at these things? He will so come for the Judgement as he was manifestly taken from the midst of you." Then Luke says that the apostles returned from Mount Olivet, where all this took place, to Jerusalem, and entered an upper room, where eleven men, whose names he gives, were staying together. They were persevering in their prayers with holy women, and Mary the Lord's mother and his brothers, so that he who was seen to have been taken up should not go away from them.

To establish the truth of the Lord's resurrection, we should also note what Luke reports, saying: "Eating together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem." And a little later: "While they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud received him from their sight." Note the words, mark the mysteries. Eating together he was lifted up. He ate, and he ascended, so that through the act of eating the truth of his flesh might be made evident.

And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up. Mark, indeed, recounting another discourse of the Lord, says: And the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven (Mark 16). But since Luke added more significantly, When he had said these things, he was taken up, indeed showing that when the words he had mentioned were fulfilled, the Lord ascended to heaven.

And a cloud received him out of their sight. Everywhere the creation obeys its Creator. The stars point out his birth, they cover him when suffering, the clouds receive him as he ascends, and they will accompany him when he returns for judgment.

He rose in such a way that they did not see it, but His ascension they did see; since even seeing did not resolve everything on this occasion: they saw the end of the resurrection, but did not see its beginning; they saw the beginning of the ascension, but did not see its end. Why? Because there it was unnecessary to see the beginning, since the Risen One Himself was before them and spoke of it, and since the tomb itself showed that He was not in it; but here it was necessary to know the end as well, since the eyes cannot reach the full height and sight could not determine whether He ascended into heaven or, having risen to a certain height, stopped. Therefore the Angels, appearing before them, revealed to them what they could not comprehend by means of sight. And the cloud lifted Him up because it is a symbol of the Lord's and Divine power, since in a cloud one cannot see a symbol of any other power. Therefore David also says of the Father: "You make the clouds Your chariot" (Ps. 104:3), and in another place: "Behold, the Lord rides on a swift cloud" (Isa. 19:1). And many other passages speak of the same thing. However, the Lord did this too not simply and not without purpose, but knowing that if He were to ascend invisibly to them, as He also descended and, even more so, as He came down, then even at the manifestation of the Spirit they would not believe that this was the very same Spirit Whom a few days before He had promised to send; knowing that in such a case He would prepare in them the suspicion that He Himself had not come from heaven either; knowing, finally, that in such a case, if having ascended invisibly He then called Paul from heaven, if He sent from there to Peter a sheet not made by hands (see Acts 10:11), they would not have believed that He was doing this after His departure from them in the flesh — knowing all this, He ascended "while they were looking toward heaven." From the cloud of the Virgin He enters into a cloud, and by means of a cloud ascends to where He was before. The expression "where He was" understand not in the sense of place, and not in the sense that He laid aside the flesh and His incarnate Divinity became as before incorporeal; no, the expression "where He was" — attend to me — points to the height of incorporeality within corporeality, to the greatness of bodilessness within bodiliness, to the self-existing value of His voluntary humiliation in the incarnation of His immutability, to the fact that in visible form He no longer moves about or dwells among people.
They did not say "being lifted up" or "being carried," but "ascending." If He, before the cross, clothed still in a body subject to suffering and heaviness, walked upon the waters, then no one should doubt that He, after having received an incorruptible body, cleaved through the air.

Obviously, an event which lies outside the falling or disintegrating process which we know as Nature, is not imaginable. If anything is clear from the records of our Lord's appearances after His resurrection, it is that the risen body was very different from the body that died and that it lives under conditions quite unlike those of natural life. It is frequently not recognized by those who see it: and it is not related to space in the same way as our bodies. The sudden appearances and disappearances suggest the ghost of popular tradition: yet He emphatically insists that He is not merely a spirit and takes steps to demonstrate that the risen body can still perform animal operations, such as eating. What makes all this baffling to us is our assumption that to pass beyond what we call Nature—beyond the three dimensions and the five highly specialized and limited senses—is immediately to be in a world of pure negative spirituality, a world where space of any sort and sense of any sort has no function. I know no grounds for believing this. To explain even an atom Schrodinger wants seven dimensions: and give us new senses and we should find a new Nature. There may be Natures piled upon Natures, each supernatural to the one beneath it, before we come to the abyss of pure spirit; and to be in that abyss, at the right hand of the Father, may not mean being absent from any of these Natures—may mean a yet more dynamic presence on all levels. That is why I think it very rash to assume that the story of the Ascension is mere allegory. I know it sounds like the work of people who imagined an absolute up and down and a local heaven in the sky. But to say this is after all to say, "Assuming that the story is fake, we could thus explain how it arose." Without that assumption we find ourselves "moving about in worlds unrealized" with no probability—or improbability—to guide us. For if the story is true, then a being still in some mode, though not our mode, corporeal, withdrew at His own will from the Nature presented by our three dimensions and five senses, not necessarily into the nonsensuous and undimensioned but possibly into, or through, a world or worlds of supersense and superspace. And He might choose to do it gradually. Who on earth knows what the spectators might see? If they say they saw a momentary movement along the vertical plane—then an indistinct mass—then nothing—who is to pronounce this improbable?

And when they were by every kind of proof persuaded that it was himself [resurrected], and in the body, they asked him to eat with them, that they might thus still more accurately ascertain that he had truly risen bodily; and he did eat honeycomb and fish. And when he had thus shown them that there is truly a resurrection of the flesh, he also wished to show them that it is not impossible for flesh to ascend into heaven (as he had said that our dwelling place is in heaven), so "he was taken up into heaven while they beheld," just as he was in the flesh. If, therefore, after all that has been said, any one demand demonstration of the resurrection, he is in no respect different from the Sadducees, since the resurrection of the flesh is the power of God, and, being above all reasoning, is established by faith and seen in works.