Ascension of Jesus

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Ascension of Jesus Christ
)
Jesus' ascension to Heaven depicted by John Singleton Copley in Ascension (1775)

The Ascension of Jesus (

exalted as Lord and Christ,[1][2] sitting at the right hand of God.[3]

The Gospels and other New Testament writings imply resurrection and exaltation as a single event.[4][5] The ascension is "more assumed than described," and only Luke and Acts contain direct accounts of it,[6] but with different chronologies.[note 1]

In

Protestant churches have abandoned the observance.[10][11]

Biblical accounts

Although the ascension is an important article of faith in Christianity, only Luke and Acts contain direct accounts of it. In the shorter ending of Mark, in Matthew, and in John, it is only implied or alluded to.[6] The Gospels do not picture resurrection and ascension as clearly separated in time.[8] Other New Testament writings also imply resurrection and exaltation as a single event.[8]

Various epistles (Romans 8:34, Ephesians 1:19–20, Colossians 3:1, Philippians 2:9–11, 1 Timothy 3:16, and 1 Peter 3:21–22) refer to an ascension without specifying details, seeming, like Luke–Acts and John, to equate it with the post-resurrection "exaltation" of Jesus to the right hand of God.[12]

The ascension is detailed in both Luke and Acts, a pair of works ascribed to the same author, Luke the Evangelist:[13][7]

Luke and Acts appear to describe the same event but present quite different chronologies, the gospel placing it on the same day as the resurrection and Acts forty days afterwards;

exalted with his ascension to heaven and seated at the right hand of God with his resurrection[5] until the late first century where he argues the exaltation had been separated from the resurrection, and moved to a final ascension into heaven after his appearances on earth.[5] Other scholars note that the biblical authors tended to conflate or compress different events and narrate them as one which was a literary theme seen in other ancient biographies to improve the narrative flow. Such scholars caution against a strictly chronological reading.[18][19]

John's Gospel has three references to ascension in Jesus' own words: "No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man" (John 3:13); "What if you [the disciples] were to see the Son of Man ascending where he was before?" (John 6:62); and to Mary Magdalene after his resurrection, "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father..." (John 20:17).[7] In the first and second Jesus is claiming to be the apocalyptic "one like a Son of Man" of Daniel 7;[20] the last has mystified commentators – why should Mary be prohibited from touching the risen but not yet ascended Christ, while Thomas is later invited to do so?[21]

The longer ending of Mark describes an ascension, but is a later addition to the original version of that gospel.[22]

Views on the Ascension

Ascension of Christ by Adriaen van Overbeke, c. 1510–1520

Background

Ascension stories were fairly common around the time of Jesus and the evangelists,[23] signifying the deification of a noteworthy person (usually a Roman Emperor), and in Judaism as an indication of divine approval.[24] Another function of heavenly ascent was as a mode of divine revelation reflected in Greco-Roman, early Jewish, and early Christian literary sources, in which particular individuals with prophetic or revelatory gifts are said to have experienced a heavenly journey during which they learned cosmic and divine secrets.[24]

Figures familiar to Jews would have included

2 Kings); Moses, who was deified on entering heaven; and the children of Job, who according to the Testament of Job ascended heaven following their resurrection from the dead.[25][26]

Non-Jewish readers would have been familiar with the case of the emperor Augustus, whose ascent was witnessed by Senators; Romulus the founder of Rome, who, like Jesus, was taken to heaven in a cloud; the Greek hero Heracles (Hercules); and others.[12]

Theology

In

taking the seat at the right hand of God in Heaven, as stated in the Apostles' Creed: "He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty."[3] Psalm 110 (Psalms 110:1) played an essential role in this interpretation of Jesus' death and the resurrection appearances: "The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool." It provided an interpretative frame for Jesus' followers to make sense of his death and the resurrection appearances.[30][3]

This understanding is summarized by the theologian Justus Knecht who wrote: "Our Lord went up Body and Soul into heaven in the sight of His apostles, by His own power, to take possession of His glory, and to be our Advocate and Mediator in heaven with the Father. He ascended as Man, as Head of the redeemed, and has prepared a dwelling in heaven for all those who follow in His steps (Sixth article of the Creed)."[31]

Cosmology

The

lapis-lazuli (Exodus 24:9–10), as was God's throne (Ezekiel 1:26).[36] According to Dunn, "the typical mind-set and worldview of the time conditioned what was actually seen and how the recording of such seeings was conceptualized,"[32] and "departure into heaven could only be conceived in terms of 'being taken up ', a literal ascension."[32]

In modern times, a literal reading of the ascension-stories has become problematic, due to the differences between the pre-scientific cosmology of the times of Jesus, and the scientific worldview that leaves no place for a Heaven above earth.[37][38] Theologian James Dunn describes the Ascension as at best a puzzle and at worst an embarrassment for an age that no longer conceives of a physical Heaven located above the Earth.[37] Similarly, in the words of McGill University's Douglas Farrow, in modern times the ascension is seen less as the climax of the mystery of Christ than as "something of an embarrassment in the age of the telescope and the space probe,"[38] an "idea [that] conjures up an outdated cosmology."[39]

Yet, according to Dunn, a sole focus on this disparity is beside the real importance of Jesus' ascension, namely the resurrection and subsequent exaltation of Jesus.[28] Farrow notes that, already in the third century, the ascension-story was read by Origen in a mystical way, as an "ascension of the mind rather than of the body," representing one of two basic ascension theologies.[40] The real problem is the fact that Jesus is both present and absent,[41] an ambiguity which points to a "something more" to which the Eucharist gives entry.[42][note 2]

Islam

The same doctrine takes on another meaning for Muslims: most Islamic scholars hold that Jesus, the penultimate prophet of Islam, was not crucified or resurrected but his body directly ascended.[45][46][47]

Nonreligious views

Russian skeptic Kirill Eskov in his "Nature"-praised work The Gospel of Afranius argues that it was politically prudent for the local Roman administration to strengthen Jesus's influence by spreading rumors about his miracles via active measures, with this story originating as a well-crafted deliberate lie.

Liturgy: Feast of the Ascension

Orthodox Feast of the Ascension

The Feast of the Ascension is a major

Methodist, and most Reformed churches. Most other Protestant churches do not celebrate it as they do not adhere to the traditional Christian calendar of feasts.[10][11]

One of the Ascension hymns is Christ fuhr gen Himmel.

In Christian art

The Ascension of Jesus has been a frequent subject in Christian art.[48] By the 6th century, the iconography of the Ascension had been established and by the 9th century, ascension scenes were being depicted on domes of churches.[49][50] The Rabbula Gospels (c. 586) include some of the earliest images of the ascension.[50] Many ascension scenes have two parts, an upper (Heavenly) part and a lower (earthly) part. The ascending Christ may be carrying a resurrection cross-banner or make a sign of benediction with his right hand.[51] The blessing gesture by Christ with his right hand is directed towards the earthly group below him and signifies that he is blessing the entire Church.[9] In the left hand, he may be holding a Gospel or a scroll, signifying teaching and preaching.[9]

The

Virgin Mary is placed at the center of the scene in the earthly part of the depiction, with her hands raised towards Heaven, often accompanied by various Apostles.[52] The upwards-looking depiction of the earthly group matches the Eastern liturgy on the Feast of the Ascension: "Come, let us rise and turn our eyes and thoughts high ..."[9]

Olivet and the Chapel of the Ascension

The Ascension edicule
Close-up of the Rock of the Ascension inside the Ascension edicule

The traditional site of the ascension is

venerated on the present site, uphill from the cave.[53]

Around the year 390 a wealthy

better source needed] The site was ultimately acquired by two emissaries of Saladin in the year 1198 and has remained in the possession of the Islamic Waqf of Jerusalem ever since. The Russian Orthodox Church also maintains a convent
of the ascension on the top of the Mount of Olives.

Gallery

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ In Luke, the ascension seems to be on the same day as the resurrection. In Acts, Jesus' ascension is situated on the fortieth day counting from the resurrection in the presence of eleven of his apostles,[7] thereby putting a limit on the number of resurrection appearances,[4] and effectively excluding Paul's conversion experience from the bona fide resurrection appearances.[8]
  2. ^ According to Farrow, this ambiguity of absence and presence poses central christological and theological questions concerning the identity of the church and its relation to past (death and resurrection) and future (second coming) events,[43] and to the present world, in which it is situated, but from which it is also different, through "its mysterious union with one whose life, though lived for the world, involves a genuine break with it."[44]

Citations

  1. ^ a b Novakovic 2014, p. 135.
  2. ^ a b Hurtado 2005, p. 508, 591.
  3. ^ a b c d e Cross & Livingstone 2005, p. 114.
  4. ^ a b Dunn 2009, p. 146.
  5. ^ a b c Zwiep 2016, p. 145.
  6. ^ a b Holwerda 1979, p. 310-311.
  7. ^ a b c Holwerda 1979, p. 310.
  8. ^ a b c d Dunn 2009, p. 140.
  9. ^ a b c d Ouspensky & Lossky 1999, p. 197.
  10. ^ a b c Quast 2011, p. 45.
  11. ^ a b Stokl-Ben-Ezra 2007, p. 286.
  12. ^ a b McDonald 2004, p. 21.
  13. ^ Thompson 2010, p. 319.
  14. ^ Müller 2016, p. 113-114.
  15. ^ Seim 2009, p. 24.
  16. ^ Müller 2016, p. 113.
  17. ^ Dunn 2009, pp. 140, 146.
  18. ^ Köstenberger 2004, p. 85.
  19. ^ Quast 1991, p. 134.
  20. ^ Cresswell 2013, unpaginated.
  21. ^ McDonald 2004, p. 22.
  22. ^ a b Aune 2003a, p. 65.
  23. ^ Munoa 2000, p. 109.
  24. ^ Zwiep 2016, p. 16.
  25. ^ Dunn 1985, p. 53.
  26. ^ a b Dunn 2009, p. 149.
  27. ^ Novakovic 2014, p. 152.
  28. ^ Dunn 2009, p. 218.
  29. ^ Knecht 1910, p. 729.
  30. ^ a b c Dunn 2009, p. 148.
  31. ^ Wright 2002, p. 53.
  32. ^ Najman 2014, p. 93.
  33. ^ Pennington 2007, p. 41-42.
  34. ^ Wright 2002, p. 54,56.
  35. ^ a b Seim 2009, p. 23.
  36. ^ a b Farrow 2011, p. 16.
  37. ^ Farrow 2004, p. 9.
  38. ^ Farrow 2011, p. 17.
  39. ^ Farrow 2004, p. 3, 8.
  40. ^ Farrow 2004, p. 3.
  41. ^ Farrow 2004, p. 8-9.
  42. ^ Farrow 2004, p. 11.
  43. S2CID 169663918
    . Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  44. (PDF) from the original on 17 June 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  45. ^ Lanier, Gregory R. (May 2016). "'It Was Made to Appear Like that to Them:' Islam's Denial of Jesus' Crucifixion". Reformed Faith & Practice: The Journal of Reformed Theological Seminary. 1 (1). Orlando, Florida: Reformed Theological Seminary: 39-55. Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  46. ^ Becchio & Schadé 2006, unpaginated.
  47. ^ Baggley 2000, p. 137-138.
  48. ^ a b Jensen 2008, p. 51-53.
  49. ^ Earls 1987, p. 26-27.
  50. ^ a b Nes 2005, p. 87.
  51. ^ Murphy-O'Connor 2008, p. 142.
  52. ^ "The Christ Church Angelus". archive.constantcontact.com. Retrieved 2020-05-26.

Works cited

Further reading