Ascension of Christ
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Moses veiled his face to hide the glory of the law which was reflected
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upon it, and the glory of Christ’s ascension was veiled from human
sight. The brightness of the heavenly escort, and the opening of the
glorious gates of God to welcome him, were not to be discerned by
mortal eyes.
Had the track of Christ to Heaven been revealed to the disciples in
all its inexpressible glory, they could not have endured the sight. Had
they beheld the myriads of angels, and heard the bursts of triumph
from the battlements of Heaven, as the everlasting doors were lifted up,
the contrast between that glory and their own lives in a world of trial,
would have been so great that they would hardly have been able to
again take up the burden of their earthly lives, prepared to execute with
courage and faithfulness the commission given them by the Saviour.
Even the Comforter, the Holy Ghost which was sent to them, would
not have been properly appreciated, nor would it have strengthened
their hearts sufficiently to bear reproach, contumely, imprisonment,
and death if need be.
Their senses were not to become so infatuated with the glories of
Heaven that they would lose sight of the character of Christ on earth,
which they were to copy in themselves. They were to keep distinctly
before their minds the beauty and majesty of his life, the perfect
harmony of all his attributes, and the mysterious union of the divine
and human in his nature. It was better that the earthly acquaintance of
the disciples with their Saviour should end in the solemn, quiet, and
sublime manner in which it did. His visible ascent from the world was
in harmony with the meekness and quiet of his life.
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The disciples returned to Jerusalem rejoicing, not that they were
deprived of their Master and Teacher, for this was to them a cause for
personal mourning rather than joy. But Jesus had assured them that he
would send the Comforter, as an equivalent for his visible presence. He
had said, “If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto
the Father.” They rejoiced because Jesus had wrought out salvation
for man; he had answered the claims of the law, and had become a
perfect offering for man; he had ascended to Heaven to carry forward
the work of atonement begun on earth. He was the Advocate of man,
his Intercessor with the Father.
Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem; who worked with his earthly
father at the carpenter’s trade; who sat in weariness by Jacob’s well;