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brevity. The sacred writer is content to mention the event in the simplest language and with a complete absence of detail.
It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that our belief in the Ascension rests upon such a slender foundation as a twofold mention by St. Luke (who was probably not a personal disciple of Christ, and therefore not an eye-witness) and an anonymous paragraph appended to the Gospel of St. Mark. The Ascension of Christ occupies an important place in the apostolic testimony. It is quite true it is not emphasised as is the fact of the Eesurrection. But it is presupposed and taken for granted. The Eesurrection, as the Apostles thought of it, involved the Ascension. The one, so to speak, was necessitated by the other. Christ to them was not risen simply, but also exalted and glorified.
The Ascension of Jesus occupies much the same place in the apostolic testimony as does the doctrine of the Incarnation. It cannot be said that the doctrine of the Incarnation is anywhere formally stated and logically proved. It is taken for granted. It is the background of all the apostolic thinking. The story of our Lord's sinless life, His death and resurrection, seemed to the Apostles to involve the doctrine of the Incarnation, and so it is presupposed, it is treated as an axiom, and the references to it are incidental merely. And it is much the same with the Ascension. It is never formally stated and proved. It is taken for granted. It is regarded as axiomatic. It is a corollary of the Eesurrection. Hence the references to it in the Epistles are casual and incidental only.
And yet no one can read the Epistles without seeing that the Ascension coloured all the Apostles' thought of Jesus. When they speak of Him, tliey speak of Him as One who has passed out of the region of the seen and natural into the region of the unseen and the supernatural. They think of Him not as risen simply, but as ascended also. It was from heaven Christ appeared to Paul on the way to Damascus. Paul speaks of Christ as seated on the right hand of God. It is from heaven, according to Paul, that Christ will come to judge the quick and the dead. Peter speaks of Christ as having gone into heaven and being on the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers being made subject to Him. John, when unveiling the
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splendours of the new Jerusalem, says that in the city, in the midst of it, he saw one like unto the Son of Man whose eyes were as a flame of fire and His voice as the voice of many waters, and His countenance as the sun shining in his strength, and He said, " I am the First and the Last and the Living One, and I was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades." The picture of Jesus which the Apostles give us is that of One who lived a sinless life, died an atoning death, rose on the third day, and who then ascended far above all the heavens that He might fill all things.
The text falls into three natural divisions : — I. The Parting Words of Jesus — " After he had spoken unto
them." II. His Ascension — " He was received up into heaven." III. His Session in Heaven — " He sat down at the right hand of God."
I.
The Pakting Wokds of Jesus,
1. As the fact of Christ's resurrection is so important we may expect to find it well established. It is so. He made many appearances. There are at least ten or eleven. There is one noteworthy fact about these manifestations. He appeared only to His friends.
^ To see Jesus you must be in sympathy with Jesus. The stained-glass window gives no sign of its beauty as you look at it from without. It is from within the building that you are able to enjoy the fulness and richness of the colour. It is not until you enter into the Christian temper that you can receive the Christian revelations. To the unspiritual, manifestations of the Spirit are but foolishness.
2. Now in the appearances of Jesus He spoke to His disciples. " After he had spoken unto them " He ascended. He might have appeared without speaking. He might have shown them His hands, His feet, His side, and so proved His identity ; and He might have done this without uttering a syllable. He spoke to them. What did He say ? He knew He was soon to
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depart unto the Father. If the " tongues of dying men enforce attention," we may conclude that the words of the risen Christ must be of paramount importance. Let us listen to the great resurrection words.
(1) Mary ! — "Now when he was risen he appeared ^rs^ to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils " (Mark xvi. 9). She had been to the sepulchre and found it empty. She was sorrowfully departing when she met her Lord. " Supposing him to be the gardener, she saith unto him, Tell me where thou hast laid him and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary ! She saith unto him, Eabboni." The first resurrection word was a personal word ; it was a woman's name addressed to the woman herself.