In ascensionem domini nostri Iesu Christi et in principium Actorum

A discourse by our father among the saints, John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, on the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wealth and treasure and springs of eternal life are the economies of the Savior, which we thirst to speak of and hasten to proclaim, but we are unable to express worthily. Yet, constrained by desire and held by force, confessing our weakness, we take refuge, as in a calm harbor, in that prophetic utterance: "Who will proclaim the mighty deeds of the Lord, who will make known all his dispensations?" For if that great prophet himself, to whom God revealed the hidden and secret things of his own wisdom, who was deemed worthy to be called father of Christ—the blessed David, great among prophets, glorious among kings, the friend of God, who had a heart honored by him, so that God himself said, "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart"—if this one, so great and so eminent, looking upon the magnitude of divine knowledge, said, "Your knowledge has been made wonderful to me, it has been strengthened, I cannot approach it"; if the prophet is weak, beholding the magnitude of his power; just as Paul, the theological and heavenly trumpet, cries out, "O depth of wealth and wisdom and knowledge of God, how inscrutable are his judgments and untraceable his ways!"—if the tongues of prophets and apostles, pouring forth such streams from which the whole earth has been filled to know the Lord, as much water covers the seas—

If such great and mighty rivers, forming a sea of piety, have confessed their defeat, in order to show the power of the one proclaimed, where will the drop of a very brief discourse appear, when such a sea of wisdom lies before us? But we must not, looking at the magnitude of theology, become numb, but, looking at the intention of God, dare to undertake divine teaching. For God judges not by the worth of what is said, but by the desire of those who proclaim and the love of those who hear. And just as affectionate fathers, when they see their children lisping and faltering in speech, do not look at the inarticulateness of the speech, but at the natural affection, and to them the lispings of children are sweeter than any grand rhetoric or philosophical speculation; so also God does not look at our tongues lisping about theology, but at the desire and disposition, that we proclaim with faith and hymn with love. For nothing can be spoken clearly by a human tongue, but whatever we say about God, we speak lisping. Why? Because Paul cries out: We know in part, and we prophesy in part. Yet even if we lisp, he has entrusted to us the proclamation of peace. For this reason Isaiah cries out: And the lisping tongues will learn to speak peace. So then, let us gently and little by little lisp to our common Father and Master, who deigned to say to his own disciples: "Little children"; for if he calls them children, he tolerates the lisping of children.

And since he has already ascended into the heavens, and his much-hymned ascension has been proclaimed, grace is not closed off by time, nor is theology bounded by days. But since we wished to go up to the Mount of Olives and were hindered, as Christ knows—having intended to do so, but prevented by the instability of the air and the density of the crowd—I say these things in order to remove any suspicion from those who might vainly wish to bring charges; because, seeing the multitude of things already said, we quickly drew our discourse to a close, lest we overwhelm your memory with the abundance of words, and today we pay the debt. For the law permitted one who did not celebrate Passover in the first month to pay the debt in the second month. You must know that the Word of God is not bounded by times or days, but on every day receives proclamation of the cross, the passion, the resurrection, the ascension, and the second coming. Having gently prefaced a few things from the divine readings that were read today, and having drawn from the evangelical springs, let us thus come to the promise. On that day, at evening, on the first day of the week, with the doors closed where the disciples were gathered, Jesus came. After the Savior accomplished the resurrection for us, he appears rarely, appearing to the disciples on other days or on the Lord’s day. For just as on each Sabbath he would come to the synagogue to fulfill the law,

Thus, after he accomplished the resurrection and brought the pledge to the world, he was eager to appear on the day of the Lord, on the first day of the week, in order to establish the foundation of the holy Lord’s day. For the end of the Sabbath was at hand, and the beginning of the Lord’s day, that is, of the resurrection, was taking its start, as you recall from what was said earlier. How the blessed Matthew, describing the Sabbath and introducing the beginning of the holy Lord’s days, said: “Late on the Sabbath”? For it was the end, and late on the first Sabbath: “At the dawning, toward the first day of the week.” He appeared, then, having risen on the first day of the week, on that very day of the holy feast of the resurrection. With the doors closed, where the disciples were gathered because of fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst. Where fear is at its height, there appears the one who dissolves fear; where the storm is at its peak, the calm shines forth; where he sees the ship of piety being tossed by the storm, he brings the art of the helmsman, dissolving the storm and guiding the ship into calm, bringing the remedy to the intense passion of fear. He stood in their midst. And what does he say? “Peace to you.” Let your mind not be in turmoil, let your reasoning not be disturbed, let you not be warred upon by the thoughts of fear: “Peace to you.” Peace annihilates war, dissolves fear, banishes enmity: “Peace to you.” Peace was often given by God to men, but not through the face of authority, but through angels, through prophets; only the Savior, appearing in person, gave peace. Peace was given to Daniel, but through an angel. An angel appeared to Daniel and said:

Peace to you, man of desires, be strong and act like a man, the Lord is with you." An angel also appeared to Gideon and said, "Peace to you." Angels, then, gave peace, but the Master of the angels had not yet done so; but through them he sent it, while he stored up in himself the evangelical peace. The prophets, having often received peace from the angels, were thirsting to receive peace from the very face of authority itself. Hence Isaiah cried out, "Lord our God, give us peace; not through others, but through yourself give us peace." Then, in response to the petition, the answer: "My peace I give to you." And having said this, he showed them his hands and his side. For just as a general returning from war, shining with victorious wounds, is not ashamed of the wounds—they are more splendid than crowns—so also the Savior, having taken on wounds for the truth and for the common race, does not hide his sufferings, but reveals them, in order to show his own courage. He showed his hands, in which was the mark of the nails; he also showed his side: hands with which he fashioned us, a side from which gushed forth for us the source of the mysteries. He showed his hands to confirm the resurrection, to convince those who doubted that the one who suffered had truly risen, that the body which had died and been buried had truly been raised. 4. The disciples, then, rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Peace was given, fear was dissolved, grace blossomed. He said to them again, "Peace to you." Why again? Where he wishes to establish the gifts of grace, he doubles the blessings; just as in the case of Abraham: "Blessing, I will bless you, and multiplying, I will multiply you.

Thus he gives peace upon peace to those near and to those far. "As the Father sent me, I also send you." Pay attention, I beg you. See how he seizes the economy in human form. He did not say, "As the Father begot me," for where there is a sending, the human form is indicated. We frequently note this, because it interprets the economy. Where, he says, the nature is bare, he proclaims Father and Son. "As he sent me." How did he send you? Pay attention, I beg you. You were sent, Lord, from heaven; the apostles were not from heaven; how, then, do you send as the Father sent you? "I do not mean," he says, "the manner of the sending, the 'As he sent me,' but the power. I was sent to suffer for the world; I send you so that by your sufferings you may crown the world." And since mortal nature was not sufficient to attain to the likeness of the Lord, he says: "And having said this, he breathed on them." What nature lacked, grace supplied; and having said this, he breathed on them and says to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit." Pay attention. Why did the Savior breathe on the apostles on that very day of the resurrection? For was he not capable of giving the Holy Spirit without the breath? But because, when fashioning the first man, he breathed into his face, and the man became a living soul, but he lost the grace of the breath through transgression, and having lost the life-giving power, he dissolved into dust, and in the tomb he brought his creation to an end.

Renewing the formation, then, and restoring the ancient gift, he breathed into the faces of the apostles, giving back to the formation that ancient and life-giving power. At the same time, what had been foretold by the prophet was also fulfilled. For the blessed prophet Nahum, foreseeing that the Savior, rising from the dead, would breathe upon the holy apostles and fill them with divine grace, testifies to the people, saying: "Celebrate, Judah, your feasts; pay your vows to God; they will no longer come to ruin. It is finished, it is removed. For the one who breathes upon your face and delivers you from affliction has risen from the earth." He said two things: since he both removed the fear and breathed, giving the Spirit. He said: "The one who breathes upon your face and delivers you from affliction." Then he says: "Peace to you," and having said this, he breathed and says to them: "Receive the Holy Spirit." Since he saw human nature faltering before labors and shrinking from struggles because of weakness, he supplies the deficiency with the power of the Spirit, so that it, weary from our weakness, might be comforted; and like some iron, he tempered it with divine grace, so that what it does not have from nature, it might receive from grace, and approach the struggles strengthened by the power of the Spirit. "Receive the Holy Spirit; as the Father sent me, I also send you." But you, having gone out as Master, saw sinners and had mercy; you forgave our sins. The grace is higher; we fall into the abyss of sins.

Those who sin are many, and there is need of much philanthropy. We do not have the authority; how can we be sent in your stead? For this reason, so that the saying might be fulfilled, "As the Father sent me, so I send you," he says: "If you forgive the sins of some, they are forgiven; if you detain some, they are detained." The authority he has, he gives. For just as it is impossible for a ruler to be entrusted with a nation without receiving authority over pardon, death, and punishment, so also the Savior, about to establish them as rulers of the inhabited world, gives them authority both over punishment and over pardon: "If you forgive the sins of some, they are forgiven; if you detain some, they are detained." For it is one of the impossible things either to bear witness nobly, or to preach zealously, or to accomplish any of the great and difficult deeds, unless the power of the Holy Spirit strengthens the resolve of the witness; otherwise, they cannot be witnesses. By "witness" I mean now not only one who is perfected through sufferings, but also one who bears witness by the word of grace. For every herald of truth is a witness of God. Hence, concerning John the Baptist, the Gospel says: "And John bore witness to the truth, saying, 'This is he.'" Witnessing is not suffering, but crying out. It is impossible for witnesses of the divine word to come to be without being strengthened by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Savior says as he is taken up: "But you remain in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high, and you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses." For without receiving the power of the Spirit, it is impossible to become a witness.

Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them. There was a very great economy of Christ in Thomas being left behind, so that his doubt might more effectively demonstrate the resurrection. For if Thomas had not been left behind, and because of his absence had doubted, and the Savior had not brought assurance to his doubt, the miracle of the resurrection would still have scandalized many; but his doubt became the remedy of all the faithful. So when Thomas came, the other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord." They were exalting in what they had seen; but he, as if held by some contradiction, and not by disbelief—only so much as doubt—and thirsting to be assured, did not say, "This is impossible." Pay close attention. He did not deny the resurrection; he did not say, "You speak of impossibilities, you report unfeasible things." Rather, he sought assurance, saying, "Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." He did not say, "I will not believe at all," but, "Unless I am assured, I will not believe." And after eight days. See how it falls on the next Lord's Day; for from Lord's Day to Lord's Day there are eight days. And after eight days from the resurrection, Jesus came again, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace to you." Since there he said "Peace to you" a second time, here he said it once, so that from the Holy Trinity, the complete gift of peace might be wrought: "Peace to you." Then he says to Thomas, "Bring your finger here." Pay attention, I ask.

The Savior does not wait to hear from the disciples about Thomas’s doubt. He is not first taught and then teaches. But in order to persuade him that he was present even when not appearing, and to become an examiner of the doubt, he says to Thomas: “Bring your finger here, as you said, and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side. And do not be unbelieving, but believing.” He shows that the one who seeks assurance is not faithful, but the one who serves by faith is faithful. To investigate Christ’s side and the marks of the nails is like saying, “How was he born?” Or rather, it is not similar. For he sought to see the marks of the nails, visible in the flesh and falling under sense perception; he desired to see something that had happened, which he already knew. But you, meddling with an invisible nature, an incomprehensible essence, an ineffable birth, the ineffable begetter, the incomprehensible begotten—do you not transgress worse? Are you not worse than an unbeliever? If the blessed Thomas, having investigated the side, heard, “Do not be unbelieving,” you, investigating the bodiless nature, the incomprehensible power, do not be unbelieving, but believing. Nevertheless, we give thanks to God’s forbearance, because Thomas’s finger became a pen of piety, overturning the heretical nets and stopping the mouths of those who dare to say that he put on a body in appearance and died in appearance. Thomas’s finger thus dissolved the heretics’ doubt, just as that finger which the magicians of Egypt could not withstand, saying, “This is the finger of God.” It was fitting then for the holy Thomas, after the assurance, to speak the words of David.

In the day of my distress I sought God, and since I searched with my hands, to say what follows: With my hands, by night, before him, and I was not deceived. Do not be faithless, but faithful. That one, both from the type having seen the sufferer, and from foreknowledge, says God: My Lord and my God. Let the heretics hear. If he truly declines and is not of equal honor with the Father, why does he not reject the honor that exceeds him? He heard then from someone, Good Teacher, and says: Why do you call me good? No one is good, except the one God. Yet the good, a name also dwells among us. He declined to be called good according to your suspicion; should he not much more have declined to be called God and Lord? Good Teacher, and he says: Why do you call me good? Here, My Lord and my God, and he did not say: Why do you call me Lord and God? But there, since the voice was unworthy of him—for he did not say, Good Lord, but, Good Teacher—he rejected the cheap and accepted the glorious. There he reproached, but also from the opposite he reproached, because he spoke too late. He reproached him, not because he said, My Lord, but because he says it too late. Since then you saw and believed, blessed are those who did not see and believed. One was accused, and we all were blessed; for this blessing passes over to all of us and those after us, because not receiving the miracles by sight, but accepting them by faith, we become partakers of this great and glorious blessing.

But from the history, which we have run through in summary, let us move on, if you have not grown weary at the multitude of things said, to another prophetic voice: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord." For from the Mount of Olives the Savior was taken up. "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord," and to the house of the God of Jacob. And God has honored our city as well by the homonymy of the mountain; for there the Savior was taken up from the mountain called the Mount of Olives, and here the olive tree, so called, has been planted homonymously, and by proximity and homonymy it confirms the ancient history. For the Savior led the disciples up to the Mount of Olives. And the Mount of Olives was opposite Jerusalem. Pay attention, then, to that and to this. "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord"; let us ascend together in desire and in word; and let us see what the salvific ascension has procured for us. I wish, therefore, to trace out this book of the Acts in detail from its prologue, so that I may draw the divine streams together with you, and we may search out the treasures in common, as merchants of truth, and as those eager to be rich in piety. "Acts," it says, "of the Apostles." And this title reveals the whole power of the matters, and it is the prologue, the promise of the entire work. For the acts of all the apostles are not contained in the book; but if one were to investigate accurately, the first parts of the book display the miracles and teaching of Peter, and a little of the other apostles; and after this, the entire work is poured out into Paul. Peter is mentioned and Paul, and how are these the acts of all the apostles?

But since, according to the blessed Paul, when one member is glorified, all the members are glorified together, the historian did not entitle the work "Acts of Peter and Paul," but "Acts of the Apostles"; for the encomium is common, and the proclamation is common. We inquire, then, who compiled this book of the Acts; for many have been divided into many and various opinions, some saying that Clement of Rome compiled them, others saying Barnabas, others that it was Luke the Evangelist. Since, therefore, their thoughts are divided into different notions, let us take the author himself as interpreter, who he is and what he is treating, and whether he indicates the meaning in his own words. He says, then: "I made the first account concerning all things, O Theophilus." By saying "first," he sends our minds to seek which account he calls the first. For if he had compiled only this one, he would not have said "I made the first account." Behold, then, this account is found to be the second; for he has already made the first. And which first he made, he himself says: "I made the first account concerning all things, O Theophilus, of which Jesus began to do and to teach." He did not compile the Acts in the first account, but a Gospel; not of what Peter and Paul did, but of what Jesus began to do and to teach. It is clear, then, that Luke, who compiled the Gospel, also composed the Acts. But pay attention; let us see if it is he himself. "I made the first account concerning all things, O Theophilus, of which Jesus began to do and to teach, up to the day on which, having given instructions to the apostles through the Holy Spirit, whom he had chosen, he was taken up.

instead of saying, "I have recounted the deeds and teachings of the Savior up to the Ascension." Pay attention, I beg you. My first treatise, he says, contains the works of the Lord and the teachings, and my first discourse reached as far as the Ascension. You find, therefore, that neither Matthew at all, nor Mark except in part, nor John completed the Gospel up to the Ascension, but only Luke. For Matthew has this as the end of his Gospel: "The eleven disciples went to the mountain in Galilee, where Jesus had arranged to meet them. He appeared to them, and they worshipped him; and he said, 'Go and disciple all nations. And behold, I am with you until the end of the age.'" And this is the end of the Gospel; but how he was taken up, he did not say. Mark similarly says: "And the women came out of the tomb, and told no one anything; for they were afraid." And after other things, he speaks about the Ascension briefly as follows: "So the Lord, after speaking to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord cooperating and confirming the word through the signs that followed. Amen." This is the end of the Gospel. But there was no extensive mention of the Ascension in Mark. John spoke of the appearance of the Savior on the Lake of Tiberias, when he says to Peter, "Peter, do you love me?" And he completed the discourse. John then stopped, and did not mention the Ascension; but he says:

Now many other signs also did Jesus perform, which if they were written one by one, I think not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written. So neither John at all, nor Matthew at all, nor Mark in any extensive way, made mention of the Ascension. Luke himself, however, ran through the account up to the Ascension. For this reason he says: I composed the first discourse concerning all things, O Theophilus, which Jesus began to do and to teach, up to the day on which, having given instructions to the apostles whom he had chosen, he was taken up. Who then is this Theophilus? In those times he was a governor; and being in office, he received the proclamation and received it while in office—just as the proconsul of Cyprus once, while serving as proconsul, received the proclamation of Paul; so also Theophilus, being governor at that time, received the proclamation through Luke. And he asks the blessed Luke to compile for him also the Acts of the Apostles. You have taught me, he says, the works of the Savior; teach me also the works of the disciples. For this reason he addresses to him the second discourse; for the Gospel according to Luke was written to Theophilus. How is this clear? He himself says: Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative concerning the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things accurately from the beginning in order, to write to you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the accounts concerning which you have been instructed. And "most excellent" is like "most illustrious"; for at that time this title "most excellent" was used for the most illustrious. How is this clear?

Festus the governor says to Paul, "You are mad, Paul." And he says, "I am not mad, most excellent Festus," to the governor. So also here: "Most excellent Theophilus." Having thus spoken the Gospel and addressed Theophilus, he addresses this same discourse to him as well. I made the first discourse concerning all things, O Theophilus, which Jesus began to do and to teach. And you made the discourse up to what point? Up to the day on which, having given instructions to the holy apostles whom he chose through the Holy Spirit, he was taken up. It is by hyperbaton: I composed the Gospel up to the day on which he was taken up, having taken leave of the apostles whom he chose. Pay attention, I ask. To whom he also presented himself alive, after his passion. See the frankness of the evangelist: he does not abandon theology even in the Acts. He did not say, "to whom appearing," but "to whom he presented himself alive." For, he says, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it." To whom he also presented himself alive, after his passion, appearing to them for forty days with many proofs, and speaking about the kingdom of God. For indeed the ascension was yesterday, since forty days are completed from the resurrection to the ascension; for on Pentecost there was not the ascension, but the visitation of the Holy Spirit.

Pay attention, I beg you. He appeared to them over forty days with many proofs, speaking about the kingdom of God. He did not appear to them on each of the forty days. For after the resurrection, he invested the flesh with great credibility, so that the frequency of his appearance might not diminish the magnitude of his power. For it was necessary that after rising, he should henceforth appear in divine forms, not in the customary manner of direct vision. That is why he says: "Over forty days with many proofs." For it was not direct vision, but proofs that it was he; for he appeared with a different voice, a different form, a different shape. He often came to the apostles and was not recognized. He came to Peter and those with him while they were fishing, and says: "Children, do you have any relish?" And they did not recognize him, neither his form nor his voice. And he says: "Cast into the right side of the boat, and you will find." And having cast, they caught many fish. So, not comprehending from sight, they comprehended from the proofs of his power. Therefore also the evangelist John says to Peter: "It is the Lord," not assured by sight, but by the proof of his power. For this reason Luke proclaims: "He appeared to them over forty days with many proofs, and speaking.

He did not appear simply at random, but at the appropriate time. We find, upon careful observation, that he appeared to the holy apostles an eleventh time, and then he was taken up. For since he had eleven disciples—Judas having been cast out and having lost his own place and rank because of the evil betrayal he committed—he appears an eleventh time to the apostles, not to all together, but at different times, sometimes to some, sometimes to others. Just as here, when he appeared to the ten, Thomas was not present; again he appeared when Thomas was present. We are inquiring about the number, how it is consistent if he appeared an eleventh time because of the eleven apostles. He appeared first to Maria at the tomb, and to the other women. For before all others, the women saw him, whom the blessed Esaias also summons: "Women coming from the spectacle, come and report to us." So he appeared to the women. Whoever wishes to reckon accurately, let him see that we do not err in the number. First, to the women, Maria and the other women; then, to Petros; then, to those around Kleopas on the road, when they went to Emmaous, when he was revealed in the breaking of the bread. How is it clear that he appeared to Petros before these two? The two around Kleopas came in from evening to report to the disciples that "We saw the Lord." And they found the apostles saying, "Truly the Lord has risen, and he appeared to Simon." While the two were reporting the vision, the report had already preceded them that Petros had seen the Lord. This Paulos also notes, saying:

For I delivered to you at the beginning, what I also received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that he rose and appeared to Cephas, then to the eleven. First to Peter; then to them. He appeared then to the women; then to Peter; then to those around Cleopas; then to the ten, Thomas being absent; then to the eleven, Thomas being present—behold, the fifth. Then he appears again to five hundred brothers; for Paul also, indicating this, says: "Then he appeared to above five hundred brothers at once, of whom the majority remain until now"—behold, the sixth. Then to the seven on the sea of Tiberias; then he appeared to James according to Paul; then to all the apostles. He does not speak of the eleven; for he said beforehand that he appeared to Cephas; then to the eleven; then to the seventy, that is, to all the apostles. Pay attention, I beg you. You have then first the women; Peter; those around Cleopas; the apparition to the ten, apart from Thomas; the eleven, Thomas being present; that of the five hundred—behold, the sixth; seventh, to the seven; eighth, to James; ninth, to the seventy; tenth, on the mountain of Galilee; eleventh, on the Mount of Olives. At the ascension of the Saviour, who frequently repeated the greeting, it is out of place for us not to repeat the vote for confirmation. You have then first, the women; second, Peter; third, those around Cleopas; fourth, the ten; fifth, the eleven; sixth, the five hundred; seventh, the seven; eighth, James; ninth, the seventy; tenth, on the mountain of Galilee; eleventh, on the Mount of Olives.

He appeared to them for forty days, speaking of the kingdom of God. And eating with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to await the promise of the Father. O the great forbearance of the Savior! O the great goodness! Let it be, Master: before the passion you ate and reclined with the disciples; why after the resurrection do you eat with them? To confirm in them, he says, the miracle of the resurrection. For if, even after this has happened, there are some who still disbelieve the resurrection, if this had not occurred and he had not eaten and drunk with them, who would have convinced their unbridled mouths, which readily dare to say anything about the Savior's economy? From this we learn to honor the divine and mystical table. For often what discourse did not accomplish, the table accomplished. Often countless counselors did not resolve a single enmity, and a single table ended wars. Take the proof from what has gone before. We did not cease being enemies of God, embattled against the divine word, as Paul says: Being enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son. We were enemies; the law was sent and did not reconcile; prophets came and did not persuade; but the enemies of God remained enemies and foes. Many tyrants against the truth, many God-fighters against piety, many words, many teachings, and they did not resolve the war. Christ came; he set his own table; he offered himself as food, and said: Take, eat; and immediately he resolved the war and awarded peace.

In Egypt he scourges the God-fighters, and no one obeys; he strikes the tyrants, and no one is persuaded. Here he offers himself as food, and all will eat. Scourging he did not persuade, and being eaten he persuades. I say "being eaten" with reference to the mystical table. For I, he says, am the bread that came down from heaven and gives life to the world. And while eating with them he spoke about the kingdom of God; and he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to await the promise of the Father, which you heard from me. Granted, we heard from you; for you said: I go up to my Father, and I will ask, and I will send you the Spirit of truth, the Paraclete. You said it; when did the Father promise? He did not say, "to await my promise," but "the promise of the Father, which you heard from me." The Father promised; I reminded you. And where did he promise? If you unfold the whole Gospel, you do not find a voice of the Father promising to give the Holy Spirit to the disciples. And where did he promise? In the prophets, as Paul says: Paul, servant of Jesus Christ, called apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God, which he previously promised through his prophets, in the holy Scriptures concerning his Son. Having previously promised the Gospel, then, he also previously promised to give the Holy Spirit. Where, then, is the promise? I seek with you as one of you; being one of you in faith and in love for Christ. For I have often said to your love that sheep and shepherds are a human division; with respect to Christ, all are sheep.

For both the shepherds and the sheep are shepherded by the one Shepherd above. Where then did he make the promise? God says through the prophet Joel: “In the last days,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will pour out from my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy.” Behold the promise. Where then is the fulfillment? When the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles and distributed to them the division of tongues, and they spoke in tongues. They were suspected as if drunk, and Peter says: “Men of Israel, why do you pay attention to these men as if they were drunk? For it is the third hour, the height of the day.” But this is what was said by the prophet Joel: “In the last days,” says the Lord, “I will pour out from my Spirit upon all flesh.” This is the promise of the Father. But how is it clear that the promise was from the person of the Father? Since I know that the Son also speaks through the prophets, how do we know that it was the Father who said: “I will pour out from my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. And I will give signs in the heaven above and on the earth below: blood and fire and a vapor of smoke.” I have often said that the blood is from the side; for it was a sign to see blood coming from a dead body: blood from the side, fire upon the apostles. Blood and fire and a vapor of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. See how the speaking God the Father interprets the Son, saying: “Before the coming of the day of the Lord.

And he does not say: “My day.” For if you give signs, how do you transfer the meaning to another, saying: “Before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord”? Pay attention. Perhaps someone will say that the prophet speaks in his own person: “Before the coming of the day.” But the prophet could not say: “I will pour out from my Spirit, before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And it will be that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” This, then, God says through the prophets. And Paul adds to it, saying: “But the same Lord of all, enriching all who call upon him. For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” Then, showing that it is spoken concerning Christ, he says: “How then will they call upon him in whom they did not believe? And how will they believe in him of whom they did not hear? And how will they hear without a preacher? And how will they preach unless they are sent?” As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim the good news, those who proclaim peace.

Pay attention, I beg you. He commanded them, it says, not to depart from Jerusalem, but to await the promise of the Father, which you heard from me, that John baptized with water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit, not many days after this. For after forty days, there were ten days until Pentecost, in which the Holy Spirit appeared and baptized the apostles, not with water, but with fire. Here the question that many seek is resolved. For many have asked whether the apostles were baptized with the evangelical baptism before the Savior’s passion. We neither declare nor entrust such a justification to human reasoning, but we follow what is written. We find that the apostles received baptism before Christ’s passion, that of John the Baptist. The Savior does not give another baptism before the passion, so as not to dissolve John’s proclamation and give occasion to the contradicting Jews to say that, to the insult of John the Baptist, he introduced another baptism of his own; but he lets them have the pledge of water, reserving for them the grace of the Spirit. For this reason, as if they had not yet received the Spirit, he says: Receive the Holy Spirit. After the resurrection, he says: Go to Jerusalem and await the promise of the Father, which you heard from me, that John baptized with water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit, not many days after this; no longer with water, for they had received that, but with the Holy Spirit. He does not introduce water upon water, but fills what is lacking with what is lacking.

But you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit, not after many days—that is, after ten. What then is the need of the intervals? What? The ten days in between. He was exercising the faith of the apostles. For when grace was quiet and nothing was manifest, their faith was being exercised, whether they would receive the one who promised as truthful. He promised and said: Not after many days. He did not define the days, but not after many days. He does not permit us to know everything, but shows that he has measures of lordly order. What you hear, learn; what you do not learn, do not pry into. But you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit. So when the Holy Spirit came upon them on the day of Pentecost, it filled the whole house where they were, so that they were baptized in the Spirit, as in water. And he intertwines with the invisible sight the visible one, that of the tongues. They were therefore baptized in the Spirit. And that this very thing—to be baptized—was to receive the Holy Spirit, another account testifies. For when Peter was accused by the disciples, “Why did you go to Greek men and catechize them, and impart baptism and mysteries to them?” he says: I was in the city of Joppa, and a certain centurion Cornelius sent for me; and going, I taught the word; and it happened while I was speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as also upon us in the beginning. And to show that the receiving of the Spirit by those around Cornelius was baptism, Peter immediately says: I remembered the words of the Lord, how he said that John baptized with water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit.

The apostles, then, had been baptized with water before the passion, and had been washed; that washing was for the remission of sins, but not a participation in the Holy Spirit. For John came, it says, preaching in the wilderness, a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And that the apostles had this, how shall we know? Let us demonstrate this. For he did not say that John baptized you with water, but he baptized. It is not yet clear whether he baptized the apostles. How then is this clear? When Peter objected, saying, "Lord, you will never wash my feet," the Savior said, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with me." Peter answered, "Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head." The Savior answered, "He who has been washed has no need to wash either his feet only." Do you see how he confirmed the washing? For where Father and Son and Holy Spirit were not named, it is only a baptism of repentance; but where they were named, it is a baptism of adoption. The Savior did not reject the baptism of repentance, but he completed it, and added that of the Holy Spirit to the one in the Trinity. But the heretics rejected the baptism confirmed by the Trinity, as far as they could. They were not ashamed of the Lord's voice: "He who has been washed has no need to wash either his feet only." But you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit, not after many days.

Then there is the inquisitiveness and meddlesomeness of human nature, since it is characteristic of men to ask: When is the consummation? When does Christ come? After how many years is the end? When does his kingdom appear? The apostles exercise this human passion and begin to inquire of the Savior. So those who had gathered questioned him, saying, "Lord, do you restore the kingdom to Israel in this time?" For he had told them, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory," and they say, "Is it in this time?" They wished to learn whether the expectation was near then, whether salvation was delayed. Then the Savior says, "It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father has set in his own authority." The apostles were not permitted to investigate times, and yet heretics are permitted to investigate the supertemporal essence, the eternal nature? So when a heretic debates such things and says, "How did the Father beget? What is the manner of the divine generation?" you turn back to him the Lord's voice: "It is not for you to know times or seasons. It is not for you to know the generation and essence of God; not only not for you, but not even for angels, not for archangels, not for any created power." But whose is it to know? No one knows the Father except the Son, nor the Son except the Father, nor the depths of God except the Spirit of God. "It is not for you to know times or seasons." Do you not respect the measure of the apostles? Those who were his companions, to whom he appeared, who were enlightened by him, are not permitted to know, but are taught not to exceed measures, and they heard:

It is not for you to know times or seasons; and do you inquire? But Daniel learned both times and seasons and measures. For seventy weeks, he says, were cut short for your people. From the day of the decree of the building of the temple: seven weeks and sixty-two weeks, and one. Behold, it was possible to learn times; but from the times he silences the audacity, so that men may learn that if they are not permitted to learn about times, much more ought they not to inquire about the divine generation? It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father set in his own authority. Therefore the Son did not set them, but ages and times are in the authority of the Father, and the Son has nothing in common? If the Son has nothing in common with times and seasons and ages, Paul lies when he says: In the last of these days he spoke to us in the Son, through whom he also made the ages. If the Son is the maker of the ages, then it is also in the authority of the Son; and this is what Paul says: The Father set them in his own authority. Therefore he calls the Son the authority of the Father, just as also power and wisdom. For Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. It is not for you to know times or seasons, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. You will receive power not to meddle with times and seasons, but to believe in the Lord.

And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Do not measure the order of the words, but the power of the authority. He said this: Proclaim me everywhere. This shows power, if the word has passed into deed. I, using authority and boastfulness, can say to those present, whether few servants or brothers: Go out to the nations, and teach all, convert all, destroy the barbarians, cut off those who oppose my kingdom. The words go forth, but if the deeds do not follow, I am condemned not only as a liar, but also as a boaster and rash. Let the words of the Savior be examined, therefore, not from what he spoke, but from what he accomplished. He said: Make disciples of all the nations. If the word did not proceed to deed, it was boastfulness and not divine authority. He said: Proclaim to the ends of the earth. If there is some extremity that does not share in the proclamation, the prediction has lied. But if the deeds shine before the words, the witnesses are true and the one witnessed is true.

And having said these things, while they were watching, he was taken up. While they were watching: for he could have ascended invisibly, but just as he had the eyes of the disciples as witnesses of the resurrection, so he makes them eyewitnesses also of the ascension. And this Luke, the author of the Gospel, added: And having said these things, he led them out to Bethany, to the Mount of Olives, where he also raised Lazarus. For he was taken up from the place where he performed the life-giving power. For we have already said once that the Savior arranges one thing through another; he chooses a place for the ascension near the resurrection of Lazarus, so that the proximity of the place might bring the disciples to remember: Do not be amazed if he lives and ascends alive, he who granted life to others. So he says that he led them as far as Bethany, and said to them: Sit in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high. Learn the identity of the power: the faithful one is clothed with Christ and is clothed with the Holy Spirit. If this is alien to that, how is a royal garment insulted, when placed on someone who is not a king? And no one puts on a common garment over purple; for the dignity of the kingdom is insulted. So the faithful are clothed with Christ: for all of you who were baptized into Christ, you were clothed with Christ. The Holy Spirit is God, and Christ is God. How then does he say again: Clothe yourselves with the Holy Spirit, unless the Spirit was God, and the Son is also God? I say these things to those from Macedonius, those who are lame concerning the Spirit.

If the Spirit is not God, if it is not divine grace, how do those who have put on Christ as a divine garment put on a common garment? For all of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Remain in Jerusalem until you put on power from on high. What power? You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. A garment is called a tunic. And the Holy Spirit is the garment of the faithful: not as a cloak, but as iron puts on fire—not covering it from outside, but being thoroughly mixed throughout. Thus the faithful put on Christ: not as a garment worn externally, but as one that fills the heart, illuminates the ears, calms the thoughts, and fills the face with grace. For if the grace of Christ did not shine from without, how did those who gazed intently at Stephen's face see his face as the face of an angel? Therefore it says: Sit in this city until you put on power from on high, and you will be my witnesses.

Pay attention, I beg you. And stretching out his hand, he blessed them. Do you see what the historian signified? He introduces the Savior blessing, but not yet imparting the end of the blessings. He did not say "he blessed and completed," but "stretching out his hands, he blessed them." And while he was blessing them, he was taken up; for from the moment he begins to bless, he never ceases blessing. Stretching out his hands. The Savior does two things: he extends his hands, giving a pattern to the priests so that by the extension of their hands they may bless the people. For since the invisible right hand blesses everyone, the invisible borrows the visible; the priest extends his hands like a reed lending to the Master, so that through him he may write the blessing. And that he wishes the hands of the priests to be extended, listen to him: God says to Moses, "Tell Aaron, your brother: When you go out from the altar, extend your hands over the people, and pronounce my name, and I will bless." Here he has cast down the arrogance of the proud. For sometimes many, not examining their own affairs but meddling in the lives of others, divide their attention: "Shall I bow my head to this one? Shall I go to this one so that he may bless me? Then you have condemned me, but not the name. For do I promise to bless, that you flee? I pronounce the name of God, and he himself blesses. So if a rescript is sent to you from the emperor, do you scrutinize the life of the one who brought it, or the gift of the one who sent it? Do not inquire what is the worth of the one sent by the emperor; is he a rustic or a citizen, a senator or a dignitary?

It does not differ regarding the rank of the one sent; rather, it receives the honor of the one who sent. Therefore, the Savior, showing the marks, extends his hands at the same time and blesses, displaying the marks until the final ascension, so that at once he may both complete the blessing and show the passion: that this same thing which suffered and was crucified and nailed is what is taken up. Pay attention. And the marks remained like visible scars, gleaming with brightness; and these scars are not obliterated until the final coming. For just as he fully convinced the disciples that he died and rose again, so too must the Jews who crucified him be fully convinced that the one they insulted is himself reigning, and the saying of the prophet is fulfilled: "They will see the one whom they pierced"; and then all the tribes of the earth will see, though not all of the Jews. For the glory of the one who suffered crowns the believers as much as it shames the unbelievers. Have you not seen in imperial images, in what posture the ranks of the bodyguards stand, and in what humiliation the enemies are subjected? How around the upper zone the companions of the kingdom stand with great boldness, as those emboldened by their share in glory; while those captured by the law of war lie bound under the feet in the same image: some beside him, others beneath him?

Thus, when the Lord of all appears in the second coming in the flesh and displays the marks of the nails and those wounds shining with immortality, he will present to himself the saints as fellow partakers of the kingdom, shining with royal girdles, standing by the throne of the kingdom. And all who opposed the cross—Jews, Greeks, and heretics who raged against the divinity—some he will present as bound, others he will crucify. Have you not seen multitudes of barbarians, some bound, others slain? This also happens in the case of Christ: all who oppose will be bound, as it is written: to bind their kings in fetters and their nobles in iron handcuffs, to execute written judgment upon them. Then, when these things happen thus, what will be? This is glory for all his holy ones. That they will be bound is agreed; but that they will also be slain—where? By "slaying" I mean not that which involves blood, but the punishment in judgment.

Again the Scripture mentions, saying: "A certain noble man went to a far country to take a kingdom for himself." From earth to heaven. It did not say "to take from someone," but "for himself." "A certain noble man went to a far country to take a kingdom for himself and to return." He comes with the kingdom; he came having taken the kingdom for himself. His citizens—the Jews—hating him, sent ambassadors saying: "We do not want this man to reign over us." Where did they send ambassadors? When Pilate cried out: "Shall I crucify your king?" They said: "We have no king except Caesar," renouncing him. After much time had passed, that noble man, returning, holding the kingdom, first called his own servants to whom he had entrusted the talents and says: "How much did you trade? Whom did you benefit? Whom did you teach? Whom did you enlighten?" One says to him: "Lord, your mina made ten minas; I multiplied the proclamation tenfold," he says. And the king says to him: "Well, good and faithful servant; be having authority over ten cities." Then the king appoints rulers, giving tablets of office. Then he says to the second: "And you, what did you do?" He says: "Lord, your mina made five minas." He says to him: "Be you also over five cities." He did not say to him: "Why did you not also make tenfold?" But he seeks the interest of each according to his ability. For each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. He says to another: "And you, what did you do?" That one says: "Lord, see your talent—

I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping what you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter, and I bound the talent in a napkin—behold, yours. And the Master says: Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents. Then the others say: Lord, he has ten talents. What then does he answer? Amen, amen, I say to you: to the one who has, it will be given; but from the one who does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him. Having shaped the discourse, he crowns his own and slays the enemies. David spoke this image of those who worship and those who fall, saying: All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord—those who have believed—and all the families of the nations will worship before him, because the kingdom is the Lord’s. Having set forth the order of those who worship, he also introduces those who fall down: all who descend to the earth will fall prostrate before him. He then showed the impressions of the nails to the disciples; for from this point our discourse came into this sequence: that the impressions remain until the Parousia, so that his own, seeing them then, may take pride that they believed rightly in the crucified one, and the enemies who oppose the crucified one will be put to shame—concerning whom Paul says: For many go about whom I often call the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction.

As he blessed them, he parted from them and was borne up into the sky. These things are in the Gospel, and the same author says in the Acts: While they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. Henceforth the nature of created things no longer serves him as human flesh, but as God. A cloud carries the Master, so that the saying of the prophet David might be fulfilled: “He who makes the clouds his chariot.” A cloud took him from their sight; and they were gazing intently into the sky as he went. He no longer speaks while being taken up, but while going; for he was taken up in the form of his flesh, but he went in his authority. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while he went, behold, two men in white clothing stood near. The angels appeared in the form of men; these things happened on the Mount of Olives. The church received the same name as that mountain; and there too you were not without two men in white clothing. For there you had, instead of two men in white, the holy Alcimus and Philemon, the holy martyrs, always shining in the white garment of martyrdom. The angels said to those men: “Men of Galilee.” Blessed are those who are worthy of this address. The enemies of piety always call us Galileans when they insult us. The angels honor us: “Men of Galilee.” Those who do not know our name think they are insulting us. We are called Galileans, the unveiled. For Christ performed his first sign at Cana of Galilee, and there he revealed his glory. “Men of Galilee.

From this the prophet prefers Galilee over the whole earth; for Isaiah says: The earth grieved, Lebanon was ashamed, Assaron became a marsh, Galilee and Carmel will be manifest. Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into the sky? The phrase "you stand" is not a reproach from the angels. For what was more credible than seeing the Savior being taken up? But since he said, "You will be my witnesses," the angels say: Why do you stand idle? Remember his commands. Why do you stand gazing into the sky? Is he coming back to you again today? Why do you stand gazing? This is Jesus, the one taken up from you. Since "taken up" was unworthy of God, they do not say: This is the only-begotten son who was taken up. For God is not taken up, he who is in heaven and on earth and everywhere. This is Jesus; that is, this is the Lord's flesh. For where it indicates something corporeal, it uses the demonstrative pronoun and the name Jesus. This is the visible Jesus, the one manifested from Mary. This is Jesus, just as Peter also says: Therefore let every house of Israel know for certain that God made him Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. He does not say, this son, or the only-begotten, but Jesus. For the passion concerns the visible, but the divinity is impassible even if it was present with the suffering one. For I do not say that it was separated when his body suffered, but that the impassible one was entirely in the suffering one, the immortal nature in the mortal.

Why do you stand gazing into the sky? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into the sky, will come in the same manner as you saw him going into the sky. For Elijah was taken up before this; but he was taken up into the aerial height, not into the sky, so that the taking up might not be of equal honor, it says, as if into the sky, but here, into the sky. He will come in the same manner as you saw him going into the sky. There: Elijah was being taken up as if into the sky; there, through the "as if," the scripture secured the height. And Elijah was being taken up as if into the sky, but this is different. And in this, God gave full assurance to the prophets that Elijah was not taken up into the sky. Indeed, they say to Elisha, that he went up into the height, but did not reach the sky: "Take fifty men, and send them to all the mountains and hills, lest the Spirit took him and placed him on one of the mountains and we do not know where he is." Fifty were sent to search; but no one was fully assured where to search. For this reason: "He was being taken up as if into the sky." The Jews imagine and say: "Elijah was taken up into the sky, and he himself comes from the sky." The Savior shows the truth both from the history and from his own teaching he manifests the piety. And he proclaims the truth, saying to Nicodemus: "No one has gone up into the sky, except the one who came down from the sky, the son of man." Enoch was translated above, not taken up; he was translated from place to place, not from earth to sky. Elijah was taken up as if into the sky.

No one has ascended into heaven except the one who is from heaven, who is in heaven. And Paul, closing every ambiguity, says concerning Christ: "What is 'he ascended' except that he first descended into the lower parts of the earth?" The one who descended is the same as the one who ascended above the heavens. Not only into heaven, he says, but above. For this reason the angels say: "Why do you stand gazing into the sky? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into the sky, will come in the same manner as you saw him going into the sky." Thirdly into the sky, so that it may be a brother of that: "What God has purified, do not defile." That he was being taken up was evident; but how he will come—whence was it clear to the angels? From what the Holy Spirit spoke in the prophet, from what the Savior promised. For when Caiaphas raged and said: "I adjure you by the living God: if you are the Christ, the son of the living God," he says to him: "You have said it, and from now on you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming on the clouds of heaven." Since, then, he was taken up on a cloud and comes on a cloud, he says: "In the same manner as you saw him going into the sky, so he will come." And you see the wonderful thing, brothers: just as a king proceeding forth for a display of royalty or of an army, or of others performing a royal festival, uses not only one vehicle, but also more follow, even if they carry no one; so when Christ is about to appear in the kingdom of his glory, there is not one cloud bearing him, but many accompany him.

For he will come upon the clouds. When he was taken up, a single cloud sufficed, for a cloud received him; when he comes, he is to come with many clouds. If he comes alone, what need is there of many clouds? Pay attention, I ask. Here follows a king’s carriage, bearing nothing, but only for the honor of the king; but then many clouds will accompany the Savior, so that the saints may be snatched from the earth after the resurrection and be taken up in the clouds, that they may become participants also in the assumption, and having met the king, come with him, not walking but seated, not serving as bodyguards but themselves borne upon clouds. Whence this? Paul says: that the Lord himself, at a command, at the voice of an archangel, and at the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we the living will be snatched up in clouds to meet the Lord. The clouds are for the apostles, for one sufficed for him for the bodily appearance. For we will be snatched up in clouds to meet the Lord, as dignitaries meeting a king; to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we will always be with the Lord. So those remaining on the earth, humbled, unworthy of glory, liable to punishment for their disbelief, begin to see the king and those who meet him. And the saints are found as if visiting; for he who has met and returned is found as coming together with the king; and this happens when the prophetic saying is fulfilled: "My Lord God will come, and all the saints with him.

Thus they come to meet the Lord in clouds and will be snatched up. This Jesus, then, who was taken up from you, will come in this way. See how much the Scripture has said, so that through all things it might secure us: while they were watching, he was lifted up; he separated from them, and was borne upward, and a cloud received him; and as they were gazing into the sky while he was proceeding. He was taken up, lifted up, borne upward, entered. For Jesus did not enter into handmade sanctuaries, but into heaven itself, to be manifested to God. Not only did he enter, but he also passed through. For Paul says, having a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus. He went up, ascended, was taken up, proceeded, passed through. Pay attention. He ascended as one having authority, so that the saying of the prophet might be fulfilled: God ascended with a shout. Here the prophet brings a bare utterance: God ascended with a shout. Lift up your gates, O rulers, and be lifted up, eternal gates, and the King of glory will enter. He will enter. For Jesus did not enter into handmade sanctuaries, but into heaven itself; the King of glory will enter. Two things then happened: just as the earth was astonished seeing the Savior clothed in a body, and as is our custom when we see a stranger, we say, "Who is this?"—for no one asks about an acquaintance—so the earth, seeing the Savior having divine power and commanding the winds and the sea, says, "Who is this, that the sea and the winds obey him?" Just as the earth, being astonished, cried out, "Who is this?" so the heaven, being astonished at seeing the divinity in flesh, says:

Who is this King of Glory? And see the marvel. The Savior came, and upon coming he brought the Holy Spirit; upon ascending he brought up a holy body, to give the world a pledge of salvation, of the Holy Spirit. Again to the same world, a dowry of salvation, the holy body—let the Christian say. And when I say this, I mean you and every individual Christian. I am a Christian; I belong to God. How so? I have the Holy Spirit from heaven. Do you want another proof? I received the Spirit from heaven, that of God; I have my dowry. His body is above, his Spirit is below with us. Do you doubt that we belong to God? One race came to be, of God and of men. For just as marriage alliance joins separated parts, and someone who does not know where a person is from, when one is joined and one, joins two whole races—one as a cousin, another as an uncle—so, when Christ took on flesh, through the flesh the whole Church became kin to Christ: Paul is kin to Christ, Peter, every believer, all of us, every pious person. For this reason Paul says, "Therefore, being a race of God." But I know the sense in which it is said; it is not my purpose to recount the whole theory, but that Paul confirms the race. And elsewhere again: "We are the body of Christ, and members from a part of his flesh." That is to say: Because of the flesh he assumed, we are his kin. So we have the pledge above and the Holy Spirit with us. And see the marvel. I do not say that the Spirit came down from heaven and is no longer in heaven; and that the body exchanged heaven, and the Spirit the earth.

But the Spirit is with us and everywhere, and above: "Where shall I go from your Spirit?" And why are you surprised that the Spirit is both with us and above, and the body of Christ is both above and with us? Heaven received the holy body, and earth received the Holy Spirit. Christ came and brought the Holy Spirit; he ascended and brought up our body. And one could see the image of Adam, buried in tombs, no longer appearing among angels, but seated above the angels with God, so that he might seat us with him. Oh, the strange economy! Oh, the great king! All these things belong to the great, the truly great and wondrous one. And as the prophet said: "Lord, our Lord, how wondrous is your name in all the earth, because your magnificence has been raised above the heavens!" Was the divinity raised? No! For God is not taken up, he who is in heaven and on earth. But it is my flesh, the form of the servant, not the image of God. It lies verbatim: "While they were watching, he was taken up." He who is great in all things, great is God, great is the Lord: "Great is the Lord and exceedingly praiseworthy." If God is great and the Lord is great, the king is great: "A great king over all the earth." The mountains of Zion, the sides of the north, the city of the great king. Great prophet, great priest, great light, great in all things. And Scripture always calls him great with an addition, as when Paul says: "Of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ," and as David says: "Great is the Lord and exceedingly praiseworthy." Great king, great prophet.

When Jesus performed his miracles, they said that a great prophet had arisen, and that God had visited his people. For he is great not only according to his divinity, but also according to his flesh; just as he is great God, great Lord, and great King according to his divinity, so again he is great priest, great prophet. Whence this? Paul says: "Therefore, having a great high priest, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession." If he is great high priest and great prophet, truly God visited his people and raised up a great prophet in Israel. If he is great prophet, great priest, great light: Galilee of the nations, the people sitting in darkness, saw a great light. But also his day is great, as the prophet says: "Before the coming of the great day of the Lord." Hearing everywhere "great" and the great works of the Lord, how did it come upon you, heretic, to divide and diminish the great? We have, then, a pledge of our life in heaven; for we were taken up together with Christ. Again, then, we are snatched up in clouds, if we are worthy to meet upon clouds. A defendant does not meet the judge, but appears standing before him; he does not meet him, being without freedom of speech. Let us pray, then, that we may obtain even a small rank among those who meet. For just as those who meet a king, even if not all are of equal honor, yet they are honored, so it will be then. For not all have lived alike. For each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. Let one word never be hindered by another. For we speak freely with truth, nourishing the people with the love of Christ, watering souls.

divided in souls, but not divided in their understandings. The enemy of peace has one who judges him. And since, brothers, we persuade men, but we are revealed to God, the witness is the overseer of thoughts, who will demand an account from everyone who speaks falsehood, as we have never been enemies of peace, nor have we wished, nor do we wish, to become such. For if we lose peace, we are enemies of those who hear: "Peace to you." But that we desire peace, and hasten toward it, and long for it, the one who knows is witness; concerning the rest I will be silent. For he who awaits God as the arbiter does not insult the higher tribunal with his defense. And God is able to give peace, to establish peace, among those who proclaim, among those who are proclaimed to, among those who teach, among those who learn, so that through all, beginning from peace, and continuing in peace, and completing in peace, we may send up glory to the God of peace, to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.