CHAPTER VII

OF THE SIXTH ARTICLE

“HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN, SITTETH AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY”

QUESTION I

The Excellence of this Article, and the Meaning of the First Part thereof

David the prophet, when, filled with the Spirit of God, he contemplated the blessed and glorious ascension of our Lord into heaven, exhorts all to celebrate that triumph with the greatest joy and gladness: Clap your hands, says he, all ye nations; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. God is gone up with jubilee. Hence the pastor will understand that this mystery must be explained with the greatest assiduity, and that he must take especial care that the faithful not only perceive it with faith and understanding, but as far as possible make it their study, God assisting, to reflect also its image in their lives and deeds.

With regard, then, to the explanation of this sixth article, in which principally is treated of this divine mystery [of the ascension], we must begin with its first part, and unfold its force and meaning. For the faithful are also without hesitation to believe that Jesus Christ, having fully performed and accomplished the work of redemption, ascended as man, body and soul, into heaven; but as God, he was never absent from heaven, filling, as he does, all places with his divinity.

QUESTION II

Christ ascended not only by the Virtue of his Divinity, but also by Force of his Humanity

[The pastor] must also teach, that he ascended by his own virtue, and was not raised aloft by the power of another, as was Elias, who went up in a fiery chariot into heaven, or as was the prophet Habacuc, or Philip, the deacon, who, borne through the air by the divine power, traversed far distant parts of the earth. Neither did he ascend into heaven solely as God, by the supreme power of the Divinity, but also as man; for although the ascension could not have taken place by natural power, yet that virtue, with which the blessed soul of Christ had been endowed, was capable of moving the body as it pleased; and his body, which had now received glory, readily obeyed the command of the actuating soul. And we believe that Christ, as God and man, ascended by his own power into heaven.

QUESTION III

In what Sense Christ, in the Second Part of this Article, is said to sit at the Right Hand of the Father

In the other part of this article are these words: Sitteth at the right hand of the Father. In these words we observe a trope, that is, the changing of a word from its literal and grammatical to a figurative meaning, a thing frequent in the sacred letters, when, accommodating the matter to our understanding, we attribute human affections and members to God, who, Spirit that he is, admits of nothing corporeal being conceived of him. But as, amongst men, he who is placed at the right hand is considered to occupy the more honourable place, so, transferring the same idea to celestial things, to express the glory which Christ, as man, has received before all others, we confess that he is at the right hand of the Father. Here, however, to sit does not imply position and figure of body, but declares the fixed and permanent possession of royal and supreme power and glory, which he hath received from the Father; of which the apostle saith: Raising him up from the dead, and setting him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and he hath put all things under his feet; words which manifestly imply that this glory belongs to our Lord in a manner so particular and exclusive, as to be suitable to no other created being; and hence, in another place, the apostle testifies: To which of the angels said he at any time, sit on my right hand.

QUESTION IV

Why the History of Christ’s Ascension ought to be frequently repeated to the People

But the pastor will explain the sense of this article more diffusely by detailing the history of the ascension, which the evangelist St. Luke has described with admirable order in the Acts of the Apostles. In its exposition he must observe, in the first place, that to the ascension, as to their end, are referred all other mysteries, and that in it is contained their whole perfection and completion. For as with the incarnation of our Lord all the mysteries of our religion commence, so with his ascension into heaven terminates his pilgrimage [on earth]. Moreover, other articles of the creed, which appertain to Christ the Lord, show his great humility, and lowliness: for nothing can be conceived more humble or more lowly than that for us the Son of God assumed the frailty of human nature, suffered, and died; but nothing more magnificent, nothing more admirable, can be said in order to proclaim his sovereign glory and divine majesty than what is contained both in the present and preceding articles, in which we confess that he rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father.

QUESTION V

Why Christ ascended into Heaven, and did not rather constitute his Kingdom on Earth

These truths having been explained, he will next accurately teach for what reason our Lord ascended into heaven. He ascended, firstly, because the most lofty and glorious kingdom of heaven, not the earth, presented a suitable dwelling-place for his body, which, upon its resurrection, was gifted with the glory of immortality. And he ascended, not only to possess the throne of glory, and the kingdom which he had merited by his blood, but also to provide whatever appertained to our salvation. He ascended, that he might really prove thereby, that his kingdom is not of this world; for the kingdoms of this world are earthly and transient, and are based upon great wealth and the power of the flesh; whilst that of Christ is not, as the Jews expected, an earthly, but a spiritual and eternal kingdom, the wealth and riches of which he shows to be also spiritual, by placing his throne in the heavens. And in this his kingdom they are to be deemed most abounding in opulence and affluence of every sort of good things, who most diligently seek the things that are of God. For so St. James beareth witness: Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, which God hath promised to them that love him? But our Lord also ascended into heaven, in order that he might teach us to follow him thither in mind and will; for as, by his death and resurrection, he had left us an example of dying and rising again in spirit, so by his ascension he teaches and instructs us, that though dwelling on earth, we should raise ourselves in thought to heaven, confessing that we are pilgrims and strangers on earth, seeking a country, fellow-citizens with the saints, and the domestics of God; for, as the same apostle says, our conversation is in heaven.

QUESTION VI

What Benefits are conferred on Men through the Ascension of Christ

Now the force and magnitude of the inexplicable blessings, which the beneficence of God has poured out upon us, were long before, according to the interpretation of the apostle, sung by the inspired David in these words: Ascending on high, he hath led captivity captive; he hath given gifts to men; for on the tenth day [after his ascension] he gave the Holy Ghost, with whose power and abundance he filled the multitude of the faithful then present, and then truly fulfilled those splendid promises: It is expedient for you that I go; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you: but if I depart, I will send him to you. He also ascended into heaven, according to the statement of the apostle, that he may appear in the presence of God for us, and discharge for us the office of advocate with the Father. My little children, saith St. John, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins. There is, indeed, nothing from whence the faithful ought to derive greater joy and delight than from the fact, that Jesus Christ is constituted the advocate of our cause and the intercessor for our salvation with the eternal Father, with whom his favour and influence are supreme. Finally [by his ascension], he prepared for us a place, as he had promised, and entered, as our head, in the name of us all, into the possession of heavenly glory. For ascending into heaven, he threw open its gates, which had been closed against us by the sin of Adam, and, as he had foretold to his disciples at his last supper, secured for us a way, by which we might arrive at the happiness of heaven. To demonstrate this by the event, he introduced with himself, into the mansions of eternal bliss, the souls of the just, which he had liberated from prison.

QUESTION VII

The Advantages which Christ brought unto us by his Ascension

This admirable profusion of heavenly gifts was followed by a series of important advantages. For, in the first place, the merit of our faith was greatly augmented; because faith has for its object those things which fall not under the senses, and are remote from the reason and intelligence of men. If, therefore, the Lord had not departed from us, the merit of our faith would be diminished, for Jesus Christ has said: Blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed. Besides, the ascension of Christ into heaven contributes much to confirm our hope; since, believing that Christ, as man, ascended into heaven, and placed our nature at the right hand of God the Father, we are in great hope, that we, his members, may also ascend thither, and be there united with our head, according to these words of our Lord himself: Father, I will, that where I am, they also, whom thou hast given me, may be with me. Another most especially important advantage we have thereby attained, that it snatches away our affections to heaven, and inflames them with the divine spirit; for, most truly has it been said, that where our treasure is, there also is our heart.

QUESTION VIII

It would not have been Advantageous for us had Christ remained on Earth

And, indeed, if Christ the Lord were dwelling on earth, our whole strength would be fixed upon the very sight of his human person, and the enjoyment of his presence, and we should regard only that man, who was to bestow on us such blessings, and would cherish towards him a sort of earthly affection. But, by his ascension into heaven, he has rendered our affection for him spiritual, and has made us venerate and love as God him who, though now absent, is the object of our thoughts. This we learn partly from the example of the Apostles, who, whilst our Lord was personally present with them, seemed to judge of him in some measure humanly; and in part, from these words of our Lord himself: it is expedient for you that I go, for that imperfect love, with which they had cherished Jesus Christ when present, was to be perfected by divine love, and that by the coming of the Holy Ghost; and, therefore, he immediately subjoins: If I go not, the Comforter will not come to you.

QUESTION IX

After the Ascension of Christ, the Church was greatly increased

Besides, he [thus] enlarged his house upon earth, that is, his Church, which was to be governed by the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit; and he left Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, as pastor, and supreme head upon earth, of the universal Church. Some, indeed, also, he gave to the Apostles, and some Prophets, and others Evangelists, and others, Pastors and Teachers; and, thus, sitting at the right hand of the Father, he continually bestows different gifts on different persons, according to the words of St. Paul: To every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

Finally, what we have already taught concerning the mystery of his death and resurrection, the faithful should hold not less true of his ascension. For, although we owe our salvation and redemption to the passion of Christ, who by his merits opened heaven to the just; yet his ascension is not only proposed to us as a model, by which we may learn to look on high, and ascend in spirit into heaven; but also imparts to us a divine virtue, by which we may be enabled to accomplish what it teaches.