Homily on the Ascension - St John Chrysostom

2. What then is the present feast? It is venerable and great, O beloved, surpassing the human mind and worthy of the largesse of God who made it. For on this day has taken place the reconciliation between God and the human race; today, the ancient enmity and the lengthy war have been abolished; today, a wondrous peace has returned, one that was inconceivable before. For who could have hoped that God would reconcile himself with man? Not because the Master was ill-disposed toward man, but because the servant was negligent; not because the Lord was cruel, but because the slave was heedless.

Do you want to know how we provoked this lover of mankind, our gracious Master? And indeed it is right for you to learn about the cause of our former enmity with him, so that when you see us, the enemies and adversaries, restored to a state of honor, you may admire the benefactor’s love for man; and so that you do not think that the change that came about was a result of our own achievements, but rather, by learning of the abundance of his grace, you should never cease to thank him for the greatness of his gifts.

Do you wish to learn, then, how we provoked the Master, who is a friend to man, who is gracious and good, and who arranges all things for the sake of our salvation? Once, he decided to completely destroy the human race and his anger at us was so great that he would have destroyed us along with our wives and children and the wild beasts and livestock and the whole earth. 

If you like, I will also let you hear the very decree, For, he says, I will blot out man whom I made from the face of the earth, as well as the wild animals and the cattle, for I am grieved that I made man (Gen 6:7).

Now, that you may understand that it was not our nature that he came to hate, but rather he was repulsed by our wickedness:....

Nevertheless, we who proved ourselves unworthy of the earth have today been raised up to heaven; we who were not even worthy of authority below have ascended to the kingdom on high, surpassed the heavens, and assumed the royal throne; and that nature which the Cherubim were assigned to keep out of Paradise is today seated upon the Cherubim. But how did this great and wondrous event take place? How were we, who gave such offense, who proved ourselves unworthy of the earth, and who were stripped of the authority here below, raised to such great heights? How was the war brought to an end? How was the anger annulled? How?

Indeed, this is the amazing thing, that peace was brought about not by those who were unjustly angry at God, but that the same one who was justly angry with us is the one who advocated for us. For as it is said, We are ambassadors for Christ, God making consolation through us (2 Cor 5:20). What could this mean? That he who is insulted is the same one who advocates? Yes, for he is God and thus advocates for us like a loving father.

See then what happens: the mediator is the Son of him who makes consolation, not a human, nor an angel, nor an archangel, nor any servant. And what does the mediator do? The work of the mediator. Just as when two people turn their backs on each other and do not wish to be reconciled, someone else must come to intervene and break down the enmity between them, so this is what Christ did. 

God was angry with us, we had turned away from God, the Master who loves mankind, and by putting himself in between, Christ reconciled both natures.

And how did he come between them? He took on himself the punishment that we deserved from the Father and endured the disgrace and insults that we inflicted on God. Do you desire to learn how he assumed both that punishment from on high and these insults here below? It is said, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (Gal 3:13). See then how he received the punishment inflicted from above? Consider how he also endured the insults inflicted here below. The insults of those who insult you, he says, have fallen on me (Ps 68:10). See how he dissolved the enmity, how he did not cease to do, suffer, and painstakingly perform all things until he had brought the adversary and enemy back to God himself and made him a friend?

So this present day is the source of these blessings. ….

To what sort of nature did God say, Sit at my right hand? To the very same one which had heard, Dust you are and to dust you shall return (Gen 3:19). Was it not enough for it to surpass the heavens? Was it not enough for it to stand amidst angels? Was this honor not indescribable as it was? But it surpassed the angels, exceeded the archangels, outstripped the Cherubim, ascended higher than the Seraphim, overtook the principalities, and did not cease until it assumed the Master’s throne. Do you not see how great is the interval between heaven and earth? But let us begin from what is below. Do you not perceive the distance between Hades and the earth, and how increasingly greater are the intervals separating earth from heaven, and heaven from the upper heaven, and the upper heaven from the angels, and the angels from the archangels, and the archangels from the powers on high, and those powers from the royal throne itself? Christ led up our nature across all this distance and height. 

Look where it lay below and to what height it mounted! It was impossible for man to go any further down than the depths to which he descended, and impossible to go any higher than the heights to which Christ had lifted him. And this Paul indicated when he said, He who descended is the one who also ascended (Eph 4:10). And again, he descended to the nether regions of the earth and ascended far above all the heavens (Eph 4:9-10). Come to know just who it was that ascended, or rather what kind of nature, or in what state it was before this. For I will dwell on the baseness of our kind with pleasure so that I might come to a superior knowledge of the honor bestowed by the Master’s love for us…..

So let us arise, beloved, and look forward to his return….. Let us too strive for this end, and let those who are conscious of their virtue remain in reverence, constantly increasing this noble possession and adding to the boldness they already possess. 

But as for us who do not have such boldness and are aware of our many sins, let us change, so that by attaining their boldness we may all together receive in unison the King of angels with all the glory due unto him and enjoy the blessing of that blissful merriment. May we all attain this by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father be glory, honor, and power, together with the Holy Spirit, now and forever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.