With Opened Bible
Ascension
“As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven.” (Luke 24:51)
Forty days after the Resurrection, Jesus met his disciples on the mountain of Galilee. After blessing them, he rose up in a cloud and disappeared before them. The ascension, a unique and unparalleled event, is the penultimate stage of the Paschal mystery. Jesus passed from earth to heaven, where he sat in glory.
Before proceeding further, let us return to the Old Testament, which recounts certain raptures that should not be understood as the Lord's ascension.
First, there is the rapture of Enoch. The Book of Genesis recounts that God abducted Enoch without experiencing death. (Genesis 5:21-24) Similarly, the Second Book of Kings narrates the fabulous story of the prophet Elijah's abduction in a chariot of fire. (2 Kings 2:11) Later, the Church would proclaim the Assumption of Mary, also a rapture.
These examples of raptures in the Old Testament, while significant, cannot be compared to the Ascension of Jesus. The Ascension stands apart, unique and unparalleled.
Why?
According to the Gospel of St. John, and I quote: "No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man." (John 3:13) Jesus was not taken up (Assumpta in Latin) but ascended (by himself) (ascendere in Latin). The ascension is the prerogative of Christ, who needs no help to return to where he reigned with God since the beginning of the world. This act of ascension, unique to Christ, reveals his divine authority and eternal origin to us. Moreover, before his death, he prayed: "Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began." (John 17:5)
Here begins a new era for the apostles and, later, the Church. The historical, carnal, and sufering Christ gives way to the glorified Christ, whom only faith can accept and proclaim.
