Слово на Вознесение Господа нашего Иисуса Христа. Святого Иоанна Златоустого, архиепископа Константинопольского

A brilliant church spectacle opens before me, arousing not vain laughter in people, but frantic sorrow in the devil. He sees in those on high that Root that resurrects the dead in the underworld; he sees that on earth the One who was given over to him to die on the cross, now looks from heaven, - he sees that the earth is filled with angels, - he sees that the air is becoming unusually passable, - he sees that the heavenly Powers are coming out to meet him, - and he hears that some of them say: take your gates, princes, and the King of glory will come in, and others, in turn, meeting and accompanying Christ, exclaim: The Lord is mighty in battle ( Psalm 23:7–8). In what kind of battle? - in the one that He undertook for us against the common enemy. None of the people, neither the prophets nor the righteous, was able to overcome the latter. All were under the tyranny of the then reigning death, until the King of Ages appeared, who, having bound the strong man, took his weapon. And when they nailed the Lord to the cross, the heavenly powers were amazed by this - all creation was in confusion, seeing the new sacrament and contemplating the terrible spectacle that was taking place on earth. The earth shook, the sea began to move, the abyss was agitated, all creation came into fear; the heavenly bodies were horrified, the sun and moon fled, the stars darkened, the day did not stand; after the curtain in the church was torn, the frightened angel flew away from there; darkness filled the earth, the elements retreated from their order, the day changed. Seeing their Lord and Creator hanging on the tree, the creatures could not bear it. Then hell was destroyed, its gates were broken, and its locks were broken. Prophesying about this, David says: break in pieces the gates of brass, and break the ropes of iron (Ps. 106:16). The reigning death was then cast down under the feet of Christ and carried away in triumph like a captive. Resurrecting with an incorruptible and glorious body, He crushed the power of the enemy, frustrated his plans, descended into the kingdom of hell, destroyed the enemy’s throne, pulled off the diadem from the enemy, destroyed his royal rods and said to the captives in hell: “Go, all tribes of nations, to the Father and God; go and get liberation from slavery. I am leading you from slavery to freedom, from darkness to light, from the domain of a tyrant to a state ruled by a King. I, Christ, bring you good news of life. Therefore, no longer fear the tyrant, but despise the fear of death, hunger and sorrow, bonds, prison and troubles. The army of the tyrant, which is defeated, is afraid of this. Of all, I alone am the victorious King, who suffered for you with His flesh.” So He is truly the irresistible and powerful Lord; He is strong in battle; He is the King of glory, who courageously brought out the chained prisoners and those in the tombs. David said regarding Him: You have ascended on high, You have taken captivity captive (Ps. 67:9). Of course, every Christian holiday is a condemnation of the devil; and the current one in particular. On all other holidays, showing his malice and not being at all successful in his intentions, he (the devil) still rejoiced. For example: when the Virgin miraculously, unspeakably gave birth, he began to slander that She was not a virgin; when the Mother fed every creature, then the devil inspired Herod with the idea of ​​​​beating the babies, hoping to capture the Uncontrollable One among them; For the one who hastens to baptism, (the devil) then prepares a temptation; when the Lord talked with the Jews, then, through the action of the devil, he was subjected to slander on their part, and when he performed miracles, then, through the devil’s slander, the Jews tried to stone Him; the devil preferred a murderer and a robber to Him; together with the Crucified One, he crucified the robbers; the Buried One sealed the coffin; when Christ was resurrected, the devil misinterpreted His resurrection; and when the Lord ascended and walked into heaven, the devil could no longer say anything, but wounded his head to an even greater extent than before. Therefore, today’s holiday is more painful for the devil than any other celebration, since the latter sees that the angelic army is rejoicing everywhere, that some angels accompany the Lord, while others march ahead of Him, others to meet Him, some, in turn, talk with the face of the apostles and say: men of Galilee, why are you standing with your eyes on heaven? This Jesus, who ascended from you into heaven, will come (again) in the same way as you saw Him going into heaven (Acts 1:11). This Jesus, who showed many signs. So, the day of the Lord’s Ascension caused sorrow, as it is said, to the devil, but joy to the faithful... As a result of the Lord’s Ascension, everyone rejoices with us. Therefore, I will pronounce before you the words of David, which he beautifully spoke on the occasion of the Lord’s Ascension: all the nations, clasp your hands, shout with a voice of joy. The Lord ascended with the sound of a trumpet (Ps. 46:2, 6) to where He was—he ascended to where He had never left. He who descended is also the one who ascended above the heavens (Eph. 4:10): not another appeared to the prophets and spoke to the apostles, not another was in the bosom of the Father and was judged by Pilate, not another was nailed to the cross with nails and walked on Cherubim, not another was entwined with Joseph’s shroud and embraced the creation with his hand, not another was laid in the tomb and praised by the Seraphim; but, precisely, the very One who sits with the Father and is conceived without seed in the virgin womb. God arose with a shout, the Lord with a trumpet sound (Ps. 46:6). The Creator of centuries, the One who brought everything from non-existence into being, the Creator of Adam, the One who produced human nature, who resettled Enoch, who pleased Him, into the land of life, preserved Noah among the universe, called the patriarch Abraham from the Chaldean land, through Isaac prefigured the mystery of the cross, gave Jacob the birth of twelve sons, tested the patience of Job, made Moses the leader of the people, filled Samuel with the prophetic gift even in the womb of his mother, chose the shepherd of the sheep - David as king, bestowed wisdom on Solomon, lifted up Elijah in a fiery chariot in a whirlwind, breathed into the prophets the power of foreknowledge of the future, imparted to the apostles the gift of healing - He who said to them: be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world (John 16:38), - He is the Lord of glory, ascended to heaven with a shout (Ps. 46:6) and sat down at the right hand of the Father. By submitting angels, authorities and powers to Him (cf. 1 Cor. 15:28), may He accept our intense prayers and make us conquerors of the temptations of the world! Let the whole army of unclean spirits subdue us, saying to us: Behold, I give you power to tread on the serpent and the scorpion (Luke 10:19)! May the God of all, who has deigned to gather us together for the celebration of a saving festival, keep us unharmed and blameless, healthy and whole in soul, body and spirit filled with truth and good deeds! To Him is due all glory, honor and worship, to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen 81. See Bibliot. Patr. Concionator. Fr. Combefis, vol. IV, p. p. 410–411; Full Collection Created, St. Chrysostom, vol. III, ed. 1897, pp. 854–856. In Curs. Compl. Patrolog. Migne is a word classified as Spuria. You might be interested in: