Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature

Pantocrator (Almighty), 6th century, St. Katherine's Monastery, Sinai

 Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.  She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept.  And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.

After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country.  And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.

Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.  And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.  And these signs will follow those who believe:  In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

So, then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.  And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.  Amen.

- Mark 16:9-20

Yesterday we read that when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.  Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.  And they said among themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?"  But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away -- for it was very large.  And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.  But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed.  You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He is risen!  He is not here.  See the place where they laid Him.  But go, tell His disciples -- and Peter -- that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you."  So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed.  And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.  She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept.  And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.  Two early and important manuscripts do not contain the verses in today's reading (Mark 16:9-20) as part of Mark's Gospel.  But nearly all other manuscripts ever discovered have them.   My study bible reminds us that they are canonized Scripture and are therefore considered by the Church to be inspired, authoritative, and genuine.  Let us note Christ's first appearance to a woman, Mary Magdalene.  She is titled Apostle to the Apostles because of this event.  Yet, they did not believe.  It is a testament to the power of her faith, for which she rightly known as a saint.

After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country.  And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.  My study bible points out that the Lord's resurrected body transcends not only physical space and time, but appearance as well -- as He appeared in another form.  He was sometimes recognizable to the disciples, and at other times He is not.  This perhaps refers to the appearance documented in Luke's Gospel which occurred while two disciples were walking on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35).  At that time, they did not recognize Him, but He was suddenly known to them as He took bread, blessed it, and broke it. 

 Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.  And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."  This is called the Great Commission (see also Matthew 28:19).  It is Christ's final commandment given on earth, and to be lived out in the Church until He returns again.  My study bible says of the command to make disciples (in Matthew's Gospel) that it cannot be cone in the strength of human beings, but only in the power of God.  It notes that the power of the Resurrection is not only for Christ Himself, but is given to all believers for Christian life and mission.

"He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.  And these signs will follow those who believe:  In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."   We are to understand that to take up serpents refers to spiritual battle against demons (often encountered in representative images of serpents). (See also Luke 10:19, which gives similar images in the context of "the power of the enemy.")  Therefore, Christ is promising here to deliver believers from the powers of sin, my study bible notes.  Moreover, it adds, this includes certain physical protection as well.  St. Paul was bitten by a serpent and suffered no harm (Acts 28:3-6), and according to tradition, my study bible says, Barsabas Justus (Acts 1:23) was forced by unbelievers to drink poison and survived.  But nonetheless, my study bible also adds, while God's grace can protect believers from both spiritual and physical harm, to test God through deliberately committing harmful acts against oneself is a grave sin (Deuteronomy 6:16, Matthew 4:7). 

So, then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.  And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.  Amen.  The Ascension of Christ (He was received up into heaven) is celebrated forty days after the Resurrection (Acts 1:3).  My study bible notes that this event fulfills the type which was given when Elijah ascended in a fiery chariot (2 Kings 2:11), and it also marks the completion of Christ's glorification and lordship over all creation.  At the Incarnation, it notes, Christ brought divine nature to human nature.  In the mystery of the Ascension, He brings human nature to the divine Kingdom.  (In other appearances to the disciples, for example, He carried the scars of the Crucifixion; see John 20:24-29.)   Christ reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit in His glorified body, my study bible says, thus revealing His glorified human nature -- even human flesh -- to be worshiped by the whole angelic realm.  In the Orthodox Vespers of Ascension it is sung, "The angels were amazed seeing a Man so exalted."  In various icons of the Ascension, the white robes of Christ are tinted red in order 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).

It is quite strange, to modern ears perhaps, to think of Christ's risen flesh as ascended into heaven -- into the divine Kingdom, as my study bible puts it.  But then, we have to think carefully about what heaven is and what it isn't.  It isn't a place up in the clouds in a literal sense, but it is a place whose existence both encompasses this world and is greater than this world.  It is a place, as Ascension would indicate, that encompasses and indeed gave birth to the entire cosmos, as our Lord is the creator of all that exists, of every created thing.  This notion is linked in our text for today, as the disciples are told, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."   In the Greek, it quite literally reads, "to all creation."  So there is nothing that has been created by God which is left out of this gospel, this Resurrection and Ascension.  There is nothing left out of this Kingdom made possible through Christ's Incarnation, and through His death and Resurrection.  It is for all, for everything made that was made (John 1:3).  Therefore, it is within this context that we must think of Christ's risen body ascended into heaven.  To be sure, this is not precisely the same Jesus in the flesh the disciples knew.  As we note, frequently the disciples do not recognize Him.  Jesus, both human and divine, has been glorified.  As my study bible put it, the Lord's resurrected body transcends not only physical space and time, but appearance as well.  And it is thereby that we must consider this intersection of heaven and earth, of the heavenly kingdom and the worldly kingdom, because they exist not in parallel stages like different floors in a building, but rather in dimensions that may at times intersect one another.  Mystical experience is one such intersection, where things that are not necessarily "earthly" are nevertheless perceived by earthly creatures such as human beings, who, through Christ's Incarnation and Ascension, we are assured are created to be able to dwell in and participate in that heavenly Kingdom.  We can't make a dividing line that predicts what is earthly and what is heavenly because they do, in fact, intersect one another, just as all was "intersected" in Christ.  We don't know the power of our prayers, for example, but I would venture to say that most who read this blog have some concrete idea or experience of their own of that power of prayer.  We may not be able to measure with mathematical precision what the power of faith can do, and what our communion is all about, but I would venture a guess that many who will encounter this writing have had such experience of communion and faith.  God comes into our lives in ways which we cannot quantify -- and just the same, we must understand that humanity, in the Person of the risen Christ, broke through into the heavenly realms as well, establishing the place of mankind as belonging there, and worthy of service of the angels to help us do so.  In short, the Ascension teaches us mysteries even more puzzling and unquantifiable than those which we have encountered in the whole of the Gospel, for it is here where we are given to understand that we are not separate from this Kingdom, but meant to be a part of it, and even to grow in likeness of our Creator.  Perhaps we, too, will enter this heavenly Kingdom with scars intact; that is, those which we might have suffered for our faith.  Indeed, in icons of John the Baptist, he is not only depicted with wings (as "messenger" of our Lord's appearance in the world -- which is the meaning of the word for "angel" in Greek), but fully intact himself, head in proper place, but also holding his head on a platter (as in this image, for example).  The things we live and do in this world in our faith are those which will follow us, just as the scars from the Crucifixion followed Christ.  It is said that, "You can't take it with you," in a popular expression referring to wealth.  But as faithful, our wealth will be counted in different ways, and there are indeed ways to be wealthy which have nothing to do with the sheer amount of physical possessions we amass in the material world.  We carry with us the things we do that become a part of ourselves.  And as such, we can also perhaps state the opposite, that we diminish our true selves through selfishness, and through neglect of the wholeness of life Christ preaches as salvation.  For it is in the fullness of the Person-to-person encounter that we find our own salvation, that place where we are healed and made whole by our communion with Christ and participation in His life that He offers us.  Through grace, we also can be led through this life, learning to discard the things we don't need (the "hand" or "foot" or "eye" we give over to false values and ideals; see Matthew 18:8-9).  Because we are also taught that each must take up one's own cross, we know that dwelling in and participation in this Kingdom that intersects our worldly lives will also ask of us sacrifice.  From the Ascension, we learn that such sacrifice for the sake of the Kingdom is in fact substance, and will be carried with us.  If all of this seems to heady or mysterious to even contemplate, let us but consider this:  that the One who died for us also Resurrected for us.  We don't live in a world separated so much from our Lord as it is one that invites and asks us to participate in His life with Him, to be with Him, and with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, even as we, also, are each served by angels.  This is where we dwell.  It is the place into which our faith takes us, even as we live yet in this world.  And that is just as it has been meant to be, for Christ's Incarnation and life has changed it all; His ascent into heaven invites us to follow and dwell with Him.  For where two or three are gathered in His name, there He is also -- and even a cup of water given to one in His name is as giving it to Him, as well.  If this all seems strange to ponder, consider what it means exactly that with grace, we can have a "peace that passes understanding" (John 14:27, Philippians 4:7), or "joy" when there is nominally not a worldly reason for joy (John 15:11, 16:22, 24, 17:13, Galatians 5:22).  Consider how we may know and share love even when our worldly circumstances or upbringing do not supply us with that love (John 15:9, 13:34-35, Galatians 5:22).  If this were not so, if the heavenly and worldly do not intersect, consider why we would even ask for blessing upon the food we eat.  The icon above is one of the few icons to survive the Iconoclastic Controversy.  In it we see depicted not only the dual nature of Christ, but also His suffering.  In his hand He holds the Gospel Book.  It is Christ Pantocrator, "Almighty," the One who is seated at the right hand of God, even as Father and Son and Spirit dwell within us (John 14:23).