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

The day of the Lord's Ascension has arrived. King David once exclaimed about the Lord’s ascension: take up your gates, O princes, and take up the eternal gates: and the King of glory will come in (Ps. 23:7). Let us now also sing what is related to the current holiday. Today our Lord Christ ascends to the Father’s throne; Today the One Who became incarnate sits with the Father, although the Lord had not been separated from Him before, and even now, not for the first time, He just began to sit with Him. The Lord always rests in the bosom of the Father. He alone embraces the Father and he alone is embraced by the Father. For I am, He says, in the Father, and the Father in Me (John 14:11). And the Word was in the Father and on earth. Descending from heaven, the Lord did not make His Father’s bosom empty, and, ascending to heaven, He did not deprive the earth of His presence, but even when He spoke to people, He remained with the Father, and, sitting with the Father, He is not separated from people. “I am with you,” He says, “always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). Today the Lord Christ ascends from among people to heaven, leaving not like Enoch, and ascending to heaven not according to the example of Elijah, caught in a chariot of fire, but ascends in order to send the power of the Holy Spirit to his disciples. David, many generations earlier contemplating the joy of this ascension, foretold the following: God will rise with a shout (Ps. 46:6), - He who created Adam from the dust, justified Abel and converted Enoch (Gen. 5:24). God appeared with a cry, the One who guided Noah and chose Abraham. God appeared with an exclamation, the One who accepted Isaac - the unslain sacrifice and filled Jacob with blessings. God came forth with an exclamation, the One who guided the wandering Joseph and allowed Job’s patience. God appeared with a cry, the One who glorified Moses and bestowed the high priesthood on Aaron. God came forth with a shout, the One who strengthened Joshua and gave prophetic power to Samuel. God came forth with a shout, the One who made David strong and Solomon wise. God came forth with a cry, the One who inspired the prophets and imparted the gifts of healing to the apostles. God has come forth with an exclamation, He who is on high without a mother and below without a father. Arose God in an exclamation, the eternal generation of the Father and the unsown growth of the Virgin Mother. God appears in exclaimation - the Giver of life and the Distributor of wonderful gifts. Arose God in an exclamation, the One who, by His death, put death to death and gave life to the human race. God has risen with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen 83. Bibliot. Patr. Concionator., vol. IV, p. p. 406–407. Full Collection Created, St. Chrysostom, ed. 1897, vol. III, pp. 861–862. In Curs. Compl. Patrolog. Migne is a word classified as Spuria. You might be interested in: