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projected spur of Olivet. Mr. Stanley says of

this spot:

"On the wild uplands which immediately overhang the village, he withdrew from the eyes of his disciples, in a seclusion which, perhaps, could nowhere else be found so near the stir of a mighty city—the long ridge of Olivet screening those hills, and those hills the village beneath them, from all sound or sight of the city behind, the view opening only on the wide waste of desert rocks and ever-descending valleys, into the depths of the distant Jordan and its mysterious lake. At this point the last interview took place. He led them out as far as Bethany,' and 'they returned,' probably by the direct road, over the summit of Mount Olivet. The appropriateness of the real scene presents a singular contrast to the inappropriateness of that fixed by a later fancy, 'seeking for a sign' on the broad top of the mountain, out of sight of Bethany and in full sight of Jerusalem, and thus in equal contradiction to the letter and the spirit of the gospel narrative."*

3. The facts of the scene are few and simple. He may have been with the disciples in one of those nightly meetings, in an upper chamber, which had before been seasons of so much joy to their hearts; and having given them his lessons of

* Sinai and Palestine, pp. 189, 190.

wisdom and love, perhaps until the morning began to break on the hills, he led them forth for the last time over Olivet, until they came to that quiet and secluded spot above the village of Bethany, where he had probably spent many an hour in prayer. There, as the rich glow of the coming day was gilding the mountains, and the earth was waking in the gladness of the morning, he held his parting interview with them, and uttered his last words of benediction. Whilst these words were yet on his lips, and the blessing unfinished, he began slowly and majestically to ascend from the ground, still uttering the accents of benediction; and as he went up, a bright cloud-the Shekinah, the symbol of present Deity, that for so many years hung between the cherubim and above the ark-descended from heaven to meet him, and, enfolding him in its encircling brightness, carried him up until he was lost in the far-off blue of the empyrean and disappeared from their sight. As they gazed wistfully upwards, two bright forms appeared sudddenly to them, and gently chiding them for this longing, tearful, and perhaps doubtful gaze, assured them that this same Jesus should return from heaven in the same way in which he had gone up thither. Cheered by this assurance, they returned to Jerusalem rejoicing.

II. The reasons for the Ascension.

Such being the recorded facts of the Ascension,

the question now meets us, Why was this scene in our Lord's history necessary? That it was necessary is proved, not only by the fact that it actually took place, but also by the predictions of it made by our Lord himself, and also by the Old Testament prophets. In the memorable discourse on the way to Emmaus, he said: "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory?" The sublime ascription of the 68th Psalm, "Thou hast ascended on high; thou hast led captivity captive; thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them," is expressly referred to the Ascension by Paul, in Eph. iv. 9, 10. After quoting this verse from the Psalm, he says: "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." Here Paul not only makes the Ascension matter of ancient prophecy, but states that it was necessary in order that Christ "might fill all things." The Epistle to the Hebrews presents similar views, in yet more elaborate detail. Heb. iv. 14; vi. 20; ix. 12, 24; x. 12. When our Lord met Mary Magdalene he refused to allow her to touch him, with the view she then had of his return to life, because he was

not yet ascended to his Father. He told her to go to the disciples and tell them, "I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God." And before his death, in the touching farewell discourses recorded in the closing chapters of John, he says: "If ye loved me, ye would rejoice because I said, I go unto the Father; for my Father is greater than I." John xiv. 28. These passages of scripture are sufficient to prove that there was an absolute necessity for the Ascension, as a part of that wondrous scheme of redemption which Christ came to fulfil on earth. Wherein then consisted this necessity?

1. The main grounds of this necessity are found in the priesthood of Christ, in the fact that he appeared on earth to make atonement for sin, and that this great work would have been incomplete without the Ascension.

In the Mosaic ritual, which Paul assures us was a "pattern of heavenly things," we have this fact set forth very significantly. The high-priest was required, on the great day of atonement, to enter the holy of holies, and present an offering for sin in the very presence of the Shekinah, sprinkling the mercy-seat with the sacrificial blood, for himself, and then for the people; and as he came forth from that awful presence alive, he gave assurance that the atonement was complete, the offering accepted, and man allowed to have entrance to the

presence of God in favour. This was further presented by the Cherubim, which symbolized redeemed man, and dwelt perpetually in the presence of the fiery symbol of Jehovah. This yearly entrance of the high-priest to the most holy place prefigured the entrance of Christ into heaven at his Ascension. For this we have the express assurance of the Epistle to the Hebrews. In the eighth and ninth chapters this point is argued in elaborate detail. After showing (chap. ix. 1–6) the peculiar facts of the tabernacle and the entrance of the priests daily into the holy place, he adds, in regard to the most holy place, that into it "went the high-priest once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the errors of the people: the Holy Ghost this signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest. . . . But Christ being come an high-priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us." Heb. ix. 7, 8, 11, 12, 24.

The reason for the fact here asserted is by no means an abstruse one. Man had sinned, and therefore been banished from the presence and fa

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