Christ's Ascension
For Morning Prayer on Ascension, the reading is from Ephesians 4, which says: “But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”. (vv. 7-12)
St. Paul frames our understanding of the ascension of Christ in two ways. Firstly, the context is regarding what Christ has achieved. He has made captivity captive and gives gifts for the edifying of the body of Christ. Secondly, he tells us that Christ’s ascension is tied to descent: “Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended…” The ascension of Christ should not be seen as Christ “getting out of Dodge” or going back to the right hand of God, where he belongs. The ascent of Christ is part of his work of salvation. In the ascension, Christ declares his victory over sin and death, for he entered into death and it did not overcome him. In fact, he took captive that which had made man captive (death). And in his ascent, he sends the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete (the advocate). And it is through the Spirit that he strengthens the Church, which is his Body, and he perfects each member. The Ascension is both a nail in the coffin of sin and death, and also a strengthening of the Church.
Sounds good, right? “But wait, there is more.” Let us back up a moment to help us more fully understand what Christ has done. How do we understand descent? The Incarnation, most certainly. But in the Creeds we confess that he died, was buried, and descended into hell. How are we to understand Christ going to hell?
The Church Fathers are helpful here in connecting this to 1 Peter 3:19, which speaks of Christ, after his death, going and preaching “to the spirits that were in prison,” (or rather in Greek “a watch-tower”). They believed that there was a place of waiting that existed for the Patriarchs, since they believed, but Christ had not yet come, so after their death, they waited for Christ to come and set them free. The purpose of this view is to emphasize that believers who had died before Christ were partakers of the same grace with ourselves: for we celebrate the power of Christ’s death, in that his work penetrated even to the dead. With this came also the proclamation of the defeat of sin, death, and the Devil.
Thomas Aquinas expounds on this as he lists four reasons why Christ descended into hell:
“(1) To shoulder the full punishment of sin, and so expiate all of its guilt. The punishment of sin for humanity, however, was not only the death of the body, but also involved the soul, because sin also belonged to the soul. And thus before the coming of Christ, the soul after death descended into hell.… The others [who were dead] were there as slaves, but Christ was there as a free man.
(2) So that he would completely rescue all good people … There were many people, such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David, and other just and virtuous men, who departed with charity and faith in the One who was to come. And therefore just as Christ visited his own friends in this world and rescued them through his own death, so he wanted to visit his own who were in hell, and to rescue them by descending to them.
(3) That he might completely triumph over the devil…. Christ triumphed over the devil on the cross, and he conquered him, whence he says, “Now is the judgment of the world, now is the judgment of the prince of this world,” that is, the devil, “and he will be tossed out,” from the world [John 12:31]…. Christ thus went down there and plundered all his goods; he bound the devil and stripped from him his own spoils: “Undoing the principalities and powers, he disgraced [them] with ease”(Col. [2:15]).
(4) That he might free the saints who were in hell. Just as Christ wished to suffer death that he might free from death those living, so he wished to descend into hell that he might free from hell the saints who were there: … In Hosea: “[From the hand of death I will free them, from death I will redeem them.] I will be your death, [O death! I will be your sting, O hell!]” [13:14]. Although Christ completely destroyed death, nonetheless he did not altogether destroy hell. Rather, Christ stung hell, because he did not free everyone from hell, but only… These souls were there on account of the original sin of Adam, from which they could not be freed by nature but only by Christ… Therefore it is said [in Hosea above]: “I will be your sting.” (Aquinas, On the Apostle’s Creed)
Here we read that Christ’s ascent is predicated on his descent. He ascends to the Father to intercede for us and sends the Spirit to strengthen us because of the work that he has accomplished. Though we still wait for the fullness of Christ’s work to be made manifest in the New Heavens and New Earth, the ascension proclaims to us Christ’s victory, his continued aid, and that his salvation extends even unto the depths, and certainly, to the darkest parts of our sin and struggle.
God’s Peace,
Fr. Aaron