THE first thing we must ask is this: How is it
that at the Lord's Birth, when the Angels appeared, it is not said that they
were arrayed in white garments, while it is said that they were arrayed in
white at his Ascension? For it is written, 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.
Now, white garments signify joy and festivity. Surely then, if at the Lord's
Birth the Angels did not appear in white apparel, while at his Ascension they
did, it shows how greatly they rejoiced when God-made-Man penetrated the
highest heavens. The humiliation of the Divinity is manifested in the Birth of
the Lord, whereas the exaltation of the Humanity is shown in the Ascension.
White apparel is more in keeping with exaltation than with humiliation.
IT is fitting, then, that at the Ascension the
Angels were seen in white garments, for while in his Birth God appeared in his
lowliness, in his Ascension he showed forth the sublimity of his Manhood. We
must dwell on this point, beloved brethren, during this festival, for to-day is
blotted out the handwriting of the day of our condemnation, and the sentence of
our corruption is changed. No longer is it said of our human nature, Dust thou
art, and unto dust shalt thou return; for to-day it returns to heaven. So,
foreshadowing the resurrection of the body, blessed Job is a figure of the Lord
when he is called a bird. He saw too that the Jews would not understand the
mystery of the Lord's Ascension, and so he pronounced sentence on them, saying,
He knew not the path of the bird.
THE Lord is rightly termed a bird, he who in a
body of flesh soared up into the sky, and whoever does not believe that he
ascended into heaven does not know the path of the bird. This festival was
foretold by the Psalmist: Thou hast set thy glory above the heavens ; and
again, God is gone up with a merry noise, and the Lord with the sound of the
trump; and, Thou art gone up on high, thou hast led captivity captive and
received gifts for men. And indeed, when Christ ascended up on high, he led
captivity captive, for our corruption was swallowed up by the power of his incorruption.
He did indeed give gifts to men, for by sending the Holy Spirit from above, to
one was given the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge, to another
faith, to another the gift of healing, to another diverse kinds of tongues, to
another the interpretation of tongues.
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