Photo: eparhia-saratov.ru The feast of the Ascension of the Lord is a joy for us. It is the joy that from henceforth and for eternity well have become inseparable from Christ. The feast of the Ascension speaks to us not of separation, but of meeting, and the possibility of returning home. The Savior ascended into heaven not in order to leave us, but in order to prepare a place for us.
When God came to the world, the apostles thought that this event applies only to the Jews. But as it turns out, this applies to all people living on earth. Christ’s sacrifice is universal and has the same meaning as gravity. Regardless of whether a person knows the formula of the law of gravity or not, he is still subject to that law. Likewise, Christ’s sacrifice has the same significance for all people. Having taken on human nature, Christ ascended to heaven and was seated at the right hand of the Father. Now the Savior, like a spiritual magnet, draws fallen human nature to Himself, giving every person the possibility of attaining deification. It is important that those whom the Lord wants to draw to Himself have something that is like unto Him.
When the apostles gazed at Christ ascending to Heaven, their souls desired to follow after their Teacher as soon as possible. But God willed otherwise. The Lord send His disciples into the world so that they would witness to God, Who came to earth in order to save every human being. This witness was the beginning of the universal preaching of the Good News, and its result was the appearance of the Church of Christ in the world.
From that time on and to this day, every Christian fulfils the same mission as did the holy apostles. We all bear witness to our faith in God. So that this witness would bear fruit and lead people to salvation, we need to live as the apostles lived—looking heart and soul to Heaven, where our Savior ascended, and live for the glory of God on earth, hoping in our speedy meeting with Christ in His heavenly, paradisal abodes.
