Be glorified, glorify the Christian Church, for the glory of the Lord has shone upon you: rejoice now and be glad! And Thou, O Pure Mother of God, rejoice in the resurrection of Thee born of Thee.

Ascension of the Lord

The feast of the Jewish Pentecost was approaching, and Christ's disciples returned from Galilee to Jerusalem. On the fortieth day after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, they gathered in one house. Jesus Christ appeared to them and conversed with them, saying: "Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead on the third day; and to be preached in his name repentance and forgiveness of sins in all nations, beginning with Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of this. Go into all the world and preach the Gospel (the doctrine of Christ) to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: in my name they shall cast out demons; they will speak new tongues; they will take serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, they will not harm them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."

Then the Savior told His disciples that He would soon send the Holy Spirit upon them; and until that time he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem. He said, "I will send the promise of my Father upon you; but you remain in the city of Jerusalem until you are endowed with power from on high; for John baptized with water, and in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

Talking with the disciples, the Savior led them out of the city in the direction of Bethany, to the Mount of Olives.

The disciples, rejoicing at the words of the Saviour, surrounded Him and began to ask: "Is it not at this time, O Lord, that Thou dost restore the kingdom to Israel?"

The Saviour said to them, "It is not your business to know the times or seasons which the Father has set in His own power. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will preach about Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth."

Having said this, Jesus Christ, lifting up His hands, blessed His disciples; and when He was blessing, He began to depart from them and ascend into heaven, and soon a cloud took Him out of their sight.

Thus our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ascended into heaven with His humanity and sat down at the right hand of God His Father, i.e. His human soul and body received (the same) glory inseparable from His divinity, and He always was and will always be His divinity in heaven and everywhere.

The disciples bowed down to the Ascended Lord and continued to stand for a long time and look at heaven after Him. Then two angels in white robes appeared before them and said, "Men of Galilee! Why do you stand and look up at the sky? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come again (to earth) in the same way (i.e., in human flesh) as you saw him go into heaven."

After this, the disciples of Jesus Christ returned to Jerusalem with great joy and remained there all together, waiting for the descent of the Holy Spirit. All of them with one accord continued in prayer, always being in the temple of God, glorifying and thanking God. With them were some women and Mary, the Most Holy Mother of the Lord Jesus Christ, with Her relatives. During these days, the Apostles, having prayed, chose by lot from among the other disciples of Christ the twelfth Apostle Matthias, in place of the lost Judas the traitor.

Having ascended to heaven, Jesus Christ, according to His own promise, is always invisibly on earth among those who believe in Him and will again come to earth in a visible way to judge the living and the dead, who will then be resurrected. After this will come the life of the age to come, that is, another, eternal life, which for true believers and pious people will be completely blessed, and for unbelievers and sinners very painful.

NOTE: See in the Gospel of Mark, ch. 16, 15-19; Luke 24:46-53; see in the Acts of Sts. Apostles; chs. 1, 2, 4-26.

The Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ is celebrated by the Holy Spirit. The Orthodox Church, as one of the great feasts, on the 40th day from the first day of Pascha.