Gospel Commentary: Homecoming King

By Fr. Paul Scalia
Herald Columnist
(From the issue of 5/20/04)

At the Last Supper Our Lord spoke bluntly of His Ascension. "If you loved me," He told the Apostles, "you would rejoice that I am going to the Father" (Jn 14:28). And again: "I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go" (Jn 16:7). These words must have shocked them. How could they rejoice at His departure? How could it possibly be better for them?

Nevertheless, after the Ascension they "returned to Jerusalem with great joy" (Lk 24:52). Apparently, they had learned the lesson He tried to communicate at the Last Supper. They realized that our Lord’s Ascension is a cause not of sorrow but of great rejoicing — and this for two reasons: because of what He brings to heaven, and because of what He sends from heaven.

First, the Son of God returns to heaven with something He did not have before: our human nature. At the Incarnation the Son of God took on our human nature. By His life, death and Resurrection He sanctified it. By His Ascension He takes it into the glory of heaven. In a certain way, therefore, we ascend with Him to heaven. As St. Augustine boldly says, "[W]e also ascend, because we are in him by grace."

To understand what our Lord brings to heaven, it helps to consider the Ascension in terms of the priest at Mass. A priest goes to the altar not to separate himself from the people, but to intercede for them, to bring something to God on their behalf. In his person the priest bears their adoration, thanksgiving, sorrow and needs. He presents a living sacrifice to the Father for them.

Of course, every priest is just an image of Christ, the "great high priest who has passed through the heavens" (Heb 4:14). Our Lord ascended for our sake, to present Himself to the Father as a living sacrifice. Nor does He go before the Father emptied handed. Rather, in His Person He bears our adoration, thanksgiving, sorrow and needs to the Father. As a priest offers sacrifice at the altar, so Christ "lives forever to make intercession" for us (Heb 7:25).

Second, our Lord ascended into heaven to send us the Holy Spirit. He had said as much at the Last Supper: "[I]f I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you" (Jn 16:7). At the Ascension He repeats it: "And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you" (Lk 24:49). From the Ascension to Pentecost, therefore, we prepare for the Holy Spirit, the gift He ascended to give.

We may be tempted to regret that Christ no longer walks among us, to count ourselves unfortunate that we cannot see and speak with Him as His first disciples did. Yet to do so would be to misunderstand the Holy Spirit entirely. By the Holy Spirit God Himself dwells in us. The Holy Spirit establishes in our souls an intimacy with God far greater than those who saw and spoke with Him enjoyed. He is more present to us than if He were seated immediately next to us. Jesus is Emmanuel, "God with us" (Mt 1:23). The Holy Spirit is God within us.

Like the Apostles, we should greet the Ascension with great joy. In the Ascension we see the King’s triumphant homecoming. He descended from heaven to earth — and even to the dead — to free us from the power of sin and death. Having conquered, He now returns victorious to His Father, bearing in Himself the spoils of victory — our redeemed humanity. Seated at the right hand of the Father, He sends the Holy Spirit to extend His Kingdom throughout the world — to every soul, in every time, in every place.

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