"...Do you see this -common for us- feast and jubilation that our Lord Jesus Christ gifted to the faithful with His Resurrection and Ascension? It had sprung from within sorrow.

Do you see this life – or, rather, immortality? It appeared upon us out of a death.

Do you see the heavenly heights to which the Lord ascended during His Ascension, and the hyper-glorified glory that He was glorified with in the flesh? He achieved this, after having been humbled and dishonored.

As the apostle says of Him: 'He humbled Himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death, in fact death upon a cross, which is why God hyper-exalted Him and bestowed on him a name that is superior to every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bend - of the celestial and the terrestrial and the subterranean - and so that every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' (Philippians 2:8-11).

So, if God had hyper-exalted His anointed One (Christ) because he had been humbled, dishonored, tested, and had suffered a disgraceful crucifix and death for our sake, how will He save, glorify and exalt us, if we do not choose humiliation, if we do not show love for our fellow man, if we do not regain our souls through patience during trials, if we do not follow the One who had savedly guided us to the narrow gate and path that leads to eternal life?  'For Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow in his footsteps.' (1 Peter 2:21).

The hypostatic Wisdom of the most high Father (=the pre-eternal Logos) Who, out of philanthropy had joined Himself to us and socialized with us, has now in practice revealed a feast far superior even to that wondrous event, for now we are celebrating the passage of our nature (that had also existed in Him) - not from the subterranean to the surface of the earth - but from the earth to the heaven of the heavens and beyond - to the very throne of the Lord of everything.

Today, the Lord not only stood – as He had, after the Resurrection, in the midst of His disciples; He also departed from them... As they stood watching Him, He ascended heavenward and entered the true Holy of Holies, 'seating Himself at the right hand of the Father, above every rule and authority and every name and dominion that are known and named, whether in the present or the future age to come.' (Eph. 1:20)

Why then had He stood in their midst and then accompanied them?  'He led them out until Bethany,' it says, but 'after raising His hands, He blessed them.' (Luke 24:50). He did this to display Himself as intact and unharmed, by presenting His feet as healthy and walking steadily - albeit having suffered the piercings of the crucifix nails, and the similarly pierced hands that had been nailed to the Cross, and even that speared side - to evidence that they still bore the scars of those wounds and as verification of that salvific Passion.

I also think that His standing in the midst of the disciples highlights that they were supported in faith towards Him with that manifestation and blessing of His. For He did not stand simply in their midst, but also in the midst of each one’s heart, because it was from that hour that the Apostles of the Lord became firm and immovable.

So, He stood in their midst and said to them, 'Peace be with you ' - that sweet and significant and usual address of His - the double peace: towards God, which is born of piety, and the peace that people have between one another. Noticing how frightened and troubled they became by that unexpected and paradoxical sight (because they thought they had seen a spirit, a ghost), He again revealed the thoughts in their hearts; so, after stating that it was truly Himself standing before them, He then proposed reassurance through their examining and touching Him.

He also asked them for something to eat - but not because He was in need of food, only as a verification of His bodily resurrection. So He ate a piece of roasted fish, and honey from a piece of honeycomb - which are also symbolic of His mystery, i.e.: 

-The Logos of God had joined Himself hypostatically to our human nature (which - like a fish - is swimming in the damp of voluptuous and passionate living), and purified it by scorching it with the inaccessible fire of His Divinity.

-As for our nature, it resembles a honeycomb - in that it possesses the rational treasure placed in the human body, like the honey that is stored inside a honeycomb.

-He gladly consumed both items, because He renders Himself as nourishment for the salvation of others who partake of nature.

-He does not eat the entire quantity offerred, just a piece of the honeycomb (because not everyone had believed), and

-He also does not take it by Himself: it is offered by the disciples (because they bring to Him only those who believe in Him, isolating them from the unbelievers).

He then reminded them of His words before the Passion - all of which were eventually realized:  He promised He would send the Holy Spirit to them; He told them to remain in Jerusalem until they received power from on high. After those words, the Lord led them out of the house and took them as far as Bethany; after blessing them, as we mentioned, He moved away from them and was lifted up towards heaven with a cloud as a vehicle, and thus ascended gloriously into the heavens, to the right hand of the Father’s majesty - making our own “plain dough substance” capable of co-enthronement.

While the Apostles were fixedly looking skyward, they were also being informed through an angelic presence that this was the way He would be coming again - from heaven - and that 'all the races of the earth will see Him coming on the clouds of heaven.' (Matt. 24:30). Then, after offering worship at the Mount of Olives where the Lord had ascended, the disciples returned to Jerusalem joyfully, praising and blessing God, in anticipation of the Descent of the divine Spirit upon them.

Therefore, just as He had lived and died, rose and ascended, so shall we also live and die and shall all be resurrected. But not all of us will achieve the ascension: only those for whom Christ was life and death was gain: that is, those who before death had crucified sin through repentance; they will firstly be  taken up in clouds after the common resurrection, to meet the Lord in the air. (1 Thess. 4:17).

Let us too “enter our upper room” - praying in our minds in order to cleanse ourselves and receive the descent of the Paraclete Spirit and worship the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and unto the ages of ages. May it be done.”

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 Translation A.N.