Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high

 Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, "Peace to you."  But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit.  And He said to them, "Why are you troubled?  And why do doubts arise in your hearts?  Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself.  Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."  When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.  But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, "Have you any food here?"  So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.  And He took it and ate in their presence.

Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."  And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.  Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.  And you are witnesses of these things.  Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."

And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.  Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven.  And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God.  Amen.

- Luke 24:36-53

Yesterday we read that, after hearing the stories of the women from Jesus' empty tomb,  Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.  Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.  And they talked together of all these things which had happened.  So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.  And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"  Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in those days?"  And He said to them, "What things?"  So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.  But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.  Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.  When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.  And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women has said; but Him they did not see."  Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.  Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.  But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."  And He went in to stay with them.  Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.  And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"  So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.

 Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, "Peace to you."  Peace to you is Christ's resurrectional greeting.  It is frequently proclaimed by priest or bishop in worship services.

But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit.  And He said to them, "Why are you troubled?  And why do doubts arise in your hearts?  Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself.  Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."  When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.  But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, "Have you any food here?"  So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.  And He took it and ate in their presence.  My study bible tells us that Christ eats not because He in His resurrected body needs food, but to prove to the disciples that He is truly risen in the flesh.  The spiritual significance assigned to the fish is active virtue -- and the honeycomb is the sweetness of divine wisdom.

Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."  And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.  Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.  And you are witnesses of these things."  Remission of sins refers to the putting away of sins in baptism, my study bible says.  St. Peter will preach this at Pentecost in Acts 2:38.

"Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."  If we look at the language in the original Greek, we notice that to be "endued" with power is translated from a word for to "put on" as in putting on clothing.  This same verb is used in Ephesians 6:11, and so the indication here is of the complete protection of spiritual armor.  To tarry or to remain is translated from a word that literally means to "sit down."  It is an instruction not only to stay, my study bible says, but also to take rest, and to prepare attentively before a great and difficult task (compare to Mark 14:32).  The Promise of My Father is the Holy Spirit (see Acts 1:4). 

And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.  Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven.  And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God.  Amen.  The Ascension of Christ is celebrated forty days after the Resurrection (Acts 1:3).  My study bible gives us a traditional understanding that this event fulfills the type given by Elijah ascending in a fiery chariot (2 Kings 2:11).  It marks the completion of the glorification of Christ and His lordship over all creation.  A note tells us that at the Incarnation, Christ brought His divine nature to human nature.  In the mystery of the Ascension, Christ brings human nature to the divine Kingdom.  He reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit in His glorified body, revealing thereby His glorified human nature -- even human flesh -- to be worshiped by the whole angelic realm.  In some icons of the Ascension, the white robes of Christ are tinted red to indicate the shedding of His blood for the redemption of the world, and the ascent of that life-giving blood into heaven (Isaiah 63:1-3; see also Psalm 24:7-10).

Christ manifests Himself again in the flesh.  For forty days from Resurrection to Ascension He makes appearances to His disciples (Acts 1:3).  Luke gives us the proofs of His reality, and ultimately we zero in on the image of the fish and the honeycomb which He eats with them.  My study bible tells us that by tradition, these things are seen symbolically, the fish as a sign of active virtue -- and the honeycomb teaches us the sweetness of divine wisdom.  But these images can be teased out even further.  The fish we know as Christian symbol.  The word for fish in the biblical Greek (ΙΧΘΥΣ) can be seen as an acronym, in Greek forming the phrase "Jesus Christ Son of God Savior."  But fish are also abundant, and we recall that Jesus taught His apostles (brothers Peter and Andrew, and John and James being by trade fishermen) that He would make them fishers of men.  In today's reading, He affirms that "repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations."  In the fish we are also reminded that Christ's work is ongoing, the abundance of fish in the sea giving us a sense of the infinite numbers of those who form the communion of saints, the fullness of the Church in its timeless horizon.  The honeycomb is formed by bees who work in a kind of marvel of formation, always diligent and active.  In a way, bees themselves suggest angels who work tirelessly for the Church and its members, and who bring the sweetness of wisdom and grace to human beings.  Honey fills a number of uses for us, from antibacterial properties to sweetening to energy, another symbol of God's active mercy at work in the world.  The Promise, the Holy Spirit, will bring the energies of grace to all.  Finally, a honeycomb is made of hexagons, their six-sided shape giving us a number that symbolizes truth -- also a link to wisdom.  These things give us a taste (so to speak) of the fullness of the active and manifesting Church, the Body of Christ.  He is always with us -- and His fullness is with us.  He's made manifest clearly to His disciples, and His presence is fully with us in all the active work we do in faith, in the way we live our lives, in each gesture made in faith to feed the world the food of Christ Himself.  Once again, we are face to face with the spiritual realities of His manifestation through all the things of this world:  nothing is lost or left out.  Each moment of our lives, each little thing that makes up our lives, can be given as sacrament and returned to us filled with the goodness of this abundant gift.  The smallest gesture is a place for grace, each moment possesses His fullness -- and we remember the infinite help present in a prayer or a wish of "peace to you."