And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God

 

 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 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 the 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 women speak about Christ's empty tomb, and their encounter with angels,  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 these 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 had 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 the, 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."   My study Bible says that Peace to you is  Christ's resurrectional greeting which is proclaimed by the priest or the bishop frequently in worship services.  If we look at the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, it is remarkable how often peace is invoked in greetings, prayers, and petitions.

 

 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 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 which is 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."  Christ once again affirms that in Him all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning the Messiah:  that is that He both would suffer and also rise from the dead the third day in glory (see also verses 26-27).  Our faith is complete when we hold both His suffering and His glory in our understanding.  Remission of sins, my study Bible says, refers to the putting away of sins in baptism, which is preached by St. Peter at Pentecost (see 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."   My study Bible explains that are endued with is literally "have put on" (it is the same verb used in Ephesians 6:11), which indicates the complete protection of spiritual armor.  The word translated as a command to tarry means literally to "sit down."  My study Bible says it is an instruction not only to stay in place, but also to take rest and 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 the 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.  My study Bible reminds us that the Ascension of Christ is celebrated forty days after the Resurrection (Acts 1:3).  This event fulfills the type given when Elijah ascended in a fiery chariot (2 Kings 2:11), and it marks the completion of Christ's glorification and lordship over all creation.  My study Bible explains that at the Incarnation, Christ brought His divine nature to human nature; and in the mystery of the Ascension, He brings human nature to the divine Kingdom.  He reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit in His glorified body, which reveals His glorified human nature -- even human flesh -- to be worshiped by the whole angelic realm.  At the Vespers of Ascension in the Orthodox Church, a hymn proclaims, "The angels were amazed seeing a Man so exalted."  In some icons and other depictions of the Ascension, Christ's white robes 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 Psalms 24:7-10).  

Interestingly, just as my study Bible proclaims that our faith isn't complete until we embrace both the suffering and the glory of Christ, so it seems a parallel to the understanding that Christ is both divine and human -- and that in His Ascension and glorification, His human flesh is fully included.  The story of Christ and of our faith is not complete if we leave any part of it out; all of it is necessary, all is important.  That His human nature also ascends into the divine Kingdom, even glorified human flesh, as Christ ascends to reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, so it is powerfully clear that glorified human nature is destined for something far beyond what we understand in the day-to-day experience of earthly life.  It has indeed frequently been proffered that this truth resulted in the envy of the angels who rebelled against God for this destiny of humankind which is imaged in the Ascension of Christ.  But the story of Christ's Ascension, including His human nature, is every bit as essential to the fullness of our faith as any other part of Christ's life and Incarnation, and the fullness of His identity as the Son.  Because without this salvific "end" (which is really a new cosmic beginning), we would not have the understanding of the glorification of human nature, even human flesh, of One who has suffered the greatest indignities and injustice of this world.  It resoundingly tells us that there is nothing that can separate us from God, not even the most degrading circumstances, because our Lord also suffered under such circumstances.  As we no longer live under the conditions of our ancient ancestors, it might be hard for us to appreciate just how astonishingly revolutionary such a sentiment would be in that world in which greatness and the ruthless use of power went hand in hand, and humility was not at all considered to be a virtue.  It is, indeed, still astonishing to consider that it is Christ's very suffering and degradation that teach us that every human life is only fit to be judged by Christ, is infinitely redeemable in the light of the Ascension, and is unquestionably good as created by God and glorified in the ascended body of Christ.  This transfiguring grace, at which we can only begin to grasp when we consider these events, is most powerfully present in the Ascension.  But its promises for the eventual cosmic future of human beings open an infinite door of potentials.  What it says about the present, the here and now, is that no matter how deep the problems of our world appear, no matter the crisis, or the depth of our own moments of despair, there is nothing that God cannot touch, transform, and redeem.  It is not surprising, therefore, that Jesus' final words to the disciples teach "that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations."  We simply have to have the capacity for faith to encounter, and to learn, and to put into action what we find when our minds are open to God's work in us and for us.  It is astonishingly true, and unpredictably will continue to be so, that with God all things are possible, and nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37, 18:27).  Let us note that there is more to this story, and more to come:  Jesus says, "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."  At Pentecost, an even greater and deeper grace comes into the world, once more assuring us that "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20).  Let us share in the "great joy" of the apostles, and do as they did.