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CHAPTER XIX.

THE ASCENSION.

Why the Ascension is so little alluded to in scripture. I. The fact of the Ascension. (1) The time. (2) The place. (3) The attendant circumstances. II. The reasons for the Ascension. (1) The Priesthood of Christ. (2) The entrance into glory after suffering. (3) To display his Divine nature. (4) Connection with the descent of the Holy Ghost. (5) His intercession. (6) Preparing a place for us. (7) Our forerunner and example-His Ascension the picture and pledge of ours. (8) Sitting at the right hand of God— The Pilgrim.

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"Soft cloud, that while the breeze of May

Chants her glad matins in the leafy arch,

Draw'st thy bright veil across the heavenly way,

Meet pavement for an angel's glorious march;

My soul is envious of mine eye,

That it should soar and glide with thee so fast,

The while my grovelling thoughts half-buried lie,
Or lawless roam around this earthly waste.

Chains of my heart, avaunt I say

I will arise, and in the strength of love,

Pursue the bright track ere it fade away,

My Saviour's pathway to his home above."

his

"So then, after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God."-Mark xvi. 19. "And he led them out as far as to Bethany; and he lifted up hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy." Luke xxiv. 50--52.

"And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath-day's journey."-Acts i. 9--12.

IT is a little remarkable, that an event which strikes us so forcibly as the Ascension, should not have occupied a larger space in the sacred records. To us the Ascension is even a more wonderful event than the Resurrection, and we naturally crave a full account of it, to satisfy our curiosity. But the sacred writers never attempt to satisfy mere curiosity, or the demands of imagination. Their silence and reserve are often more wonderful, and more indicative of divine guidance, than their revelations. The Ascension is regarded by them as so closely linked with the Resurrection, so necessarily following it, and so blended with it in significance, that they dwell much more on the latter than on the former. Hence, whilst all the gospels record the Resurrection, but two of them record the Ascension. Mark (xvi. 19) gives a very brief record of it: "So then, after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God." Luke, writing at probably a later date, when the importance of the event was more fully apprehended,

gives us a fuller account of it. In his gospel (xxiv. 50-52) he states: "And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy." In the Acts, he gives another account of it-(i. 9-12): "And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Then returned they unto Jerusalem, from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbathday's journey." It is alluded to by Paul in several of his larger Epistles; (Eph. iv. 8-10; Heb. x. 12;) by Peter twice in his first Epistle; (1 Pet. i. 21; iii. 22 ;) and is implied in the visions of the Apocalypse. Rev. ii. 8, &c.

Hence, it is not from any want of evidence as to the fact that it is not more frequently alluded to; but because it is so closely connected with the Resurrection as to stand or fall with it; and because the great contest was necessarily in regard

to the first, and not the second event. Admit the Resurrection, and the Ascension will follow without any difficulty.

But, notwithstanding this infrequency of allusion, the Ascension is a most important fact in the life of our Lord, and one that deserves our most careful study. It will be well worth our while to obtain a clear notion of the fact itself, with the reasons for its occurrence, and the results that flow from it.

I. The fact of the Ascension.

In looking at the fact, there are three points that claim our attention, and require a brief discussion. They are the time of its occurrence in the life of our Lord, the place of its occurrence, and the attendant circumstances.

1. The time of its occurrence was forty days after the Resurrection. Why this precise number of days was selected is matter of mere conjecture. It was forty days after his birth that he was brought to the temple to be dedicated to the Lord by his parents; and during forty days he was tempted in the wilderness, before entering on his public ministry; and during forty days he was to remain on earth after the Resurrection, before entering into glory. It may be that these successive periods of forty days were designed to point backward to the forty years' sojourn in the wilderness before entering Canaan; and not only to link

these histories together, but also present the same great lesson of a season of painful preparation before entering upon the fulfilment of the promise. There is a minute interlacing of analogies between the history of the Jewish people, the history of Jesus, and the history of the followers of Jesus, that cannot be wholly undesigned. They seem designed to show the oneness of God's plan of redemption, however various be its outward form of dispensation or administration.

2. The place of this transaction is stated to have been the Mount of Olives, near Bethany. The Mount of Olives lies between Jerusalem and Bethany. On the one side is the Holy City, separated from it by the valley of Jehoshaphat; on the other is the village of Mary and Martha, separated from the mountain by a little ridge of hills. It was here probably, in the recess furnished by these hills that project from the Mount of Olives and overhang Bethany, that this glorious event occurred. There is a spot on the summit of the mountain, directly in view of the city, which is traditionally designated as the place, and marked by the Chapel of the Ascension. But it is too far from Bethany to meet the terms of the narrative, and too directly in view of the city to comport with the retired character of the event. Hence, the spot that answers best to the narrative is one that is immediately above Bethany, and yet on a

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