Поучение на Вознесение Господа Бога и Спаса нашего Иисуса Христа. Святого Димитрия, митрополита Ростовского

The Lord then, when He spoke to them, ascended into heaven and sat at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19). Should the current holiday of the Ascension of the Lord be called a joyful holiday or a mournful one? – I don’t know, my beloved listeners! Whether I call it a joyful holiday, I see the holy apostles crying and lamenting, which the Church expresses by singing: “Lord! The apostles, seeing You on the clouds, were lifted up with a sob of tears, Life-Giver Christ, filled with sorrow, sobbing with the verb: “Master, do not leave us orphans, whom You have loved for Your mercy,” Thy servants! Would I call the holiday mournful, but I see the same apostles and saints rejoicing, as the current troparion announces, saying: “Thou art exalted in glory, Christ our God, who brought joy as a disciple, through the promise of the Holy Spirit!” Would I call the holiday joyful, but I see the Most Pure and Blessed Virgin Mary, shedding tears more than anyone else about Her separation from her most beloved Son, and saying: “My Son! don’t leave me!” Should I call the holiday deplorable, but I see the same Most Pure Virgin Mother of God, continually rejoicing over the Divine glorification of Her Son and God, just as the Church sings: “The disciples, and the Mother of God who gave birth to You, fulfilled countless joys in Your ascension!” I would call the holiday joyful, but what joy is there for children when their Father leaves them? What joy is it for the bride—the Church—when the Groom—Christ—is separated from her? True, not completely (absent), for He says: I am seven with you all the days, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20), however, the eyes of the flesh will no longer see Him, except the eyes of the mind. Whether I call the holiday deplorable, I see my Lord coming to the Father in joy, and all the heavenly Powers rejoicing beyond words; I still hear how the Church excites all earthly beings to joy and says: “All nations clasp their hands, for Christ has come forth, where he was first!” Truly, perfect joy, complete consolation for those above, and for us below - joy with crying, joy with tears. Holy angels, our comforters, who appeared to the apostles in white robes on the Mount of Olives, comfort (us) those who mourn, rejoice those who cry, say something joyful! Men of Galilee, say the angels, why are you standing with your eyes on heaven? This Jesus, who ascended from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him going into heaven (Acts 1:11). But for us sinners this is not joy, but great sadness: for you remind us of the second, terrible coming of Christ - how He (Christ) will come to judge and execute sinners. Isn't it enough for us to mourn the Lord's departure from us? And you still terrify us with a terrible judgment, and add sorrow to sorrow. So, my listeners, let us ourselves seek some spiritual joy in the Holy Scriptures; and we will find it if we consider those joyful reasons why our Lord ascended from us into heaven. Our Lord ascended to heaven not in order to sadden us, but in order to arrange for us the most beneficial things. His whole life, all his deeds were aimed at our benefit and our salvation; therefore His ascension was for our good. Loving us, He came down from heaven to earth and, having lived among men, out of love for us, laid down His soul for us on the cross. Loving us, He ascended back to heaven for our own good. “You have no reason,” He says to His disciples, “but I go: if I do not go, the Comforter will not come to you: if I go, I will send Him to you (John 16:7). He seems to say this: “Listen wisely, my beloved disciples: each of you must go out to preach the Word of God into the whole world; and in the world of sorrow you will be; you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice: but you will be sad (John 16:20). It is necessary that in that sorrow, in those tears and sobs, someone comforts, strengthens and calms you. So, I will go to the Father and send you the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who comes from the Father, may He always comfort you, in all your sorrows and sorrows. That's why you don't have it, but I'm coming. They will take you, Peter, even if you don’t want to, they will put you in prison and hand you over to four quartets of soldiers who will meet you, and in Rome the tree of the cross is already ready for you. And you, such as you, will be the first to see the sword over your neck for My name’s sake. You, John, will be sent into exile, to distant lands on the island of Patmos. You. Andrew, a cross awaits in Achaia; and you, Bartholomew, will have to be drunk in Armenia. Thomas in India must be pierced with spears, Ethiopia awaits Matthew with torment, each has his own cup of suffering ready. In all those sorrows, you will need some pleasures and consolations. So, I will go to the Father and send you the Comforter of the Holy Spirit, who, being with you, will make you fearless and joyfully going to all torment and death. Therefore, there is no need for you, but I am coming. Many after you, just like you, will endure many different torments and death for My name, being stoned, cut with the sword, burned with fire, given to beasts as food; and others, even without torment, will appear as martyrs for the sake of love for Me, despising the world and all its delights, denying themselves and killing their bodies with passions and lusts: some will go into the desert, others into monastery retreats, for suffering and exploits, and all of them will require Divine help and consolation. So, I will go to the Father and send them the Comforter: for otherwise He (the Comforter) will not come. For this reason, I have no choice but to go. Many who believe in Me and want to live godly will be persecuted (2 Tim. 3:12). Many innocent people will suffer, many righteous people will be attacked and embittered, many My servants will find themselves in the last troubles, in hunger and thirst, in bonds and prisons, in wounds and deaths; it will be necessary to console all those in their persecution, suffering, anger and disasters. So, I will go to the Father and send them a Comforter. If I don’t go, the Comforter will not come: for this reason, I am going. Oh, how blessed is the reason for the Lord’s Ascension from us into heaven! The reason is joyful, encouraging us with good hope, heralding the coming of the Comforter to us. So, come, Lord, and send us the Comforter! Our Lord ascended from us into heaven in order to look down on us from above (like a father on his children, like a shepherd on his sheep, like an eagle on his chicks, like a commander on his warriors) and in order to see everyone, in order to see every need and requirement, in order to give everyone timely help. Like some king, having gathered many of his armies into an army and wanting to see all his regiments, ascends to a high place - a mountain or some building and looks from a height and arranges them - and if he sees them overpowering, he rejoices over them, and if he sees them overpowered, he sends them an ambulance: so our Lord, the King of kings, gathers the Church fighting on earth, in which there are as many ranks, as many regiments. The Lord ascended to the mountain to look from above at the feat of everyone: to weave crowns for good ascetics, to extend a helping hand to those who are exhausted, to raise up the fallen, and to provide a barrier to those who persecute us. The holy First Martyr Stephen labored as a sufferer, being stoned by the Jews; and our Lord, having opened the heavens, looks at him with goodness, so that the sufferer himself cried out in joy: “I see the heavens opened, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55–56). Saul hastens to Damascus to persecute the Church of God, breathing repression and murder; and our Lord, seeing this, puts an obstacle on him, shining with heavenly light, blinding his carnal eyes and frightening him with a voice: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me (Acts 9:4)? Thus, looking down on us from above, the Lord helps His servants! Our Lord ascended from us into heaven in order, like the sun, from the heights of heaven to shine upon us all with His grace. While the sun is in its west, the heavenly realm is covered with night darkness; when the sun rises and begins to rise to a height: then the darkness of the night moves away from the entire heavenly realm, and the rays of the sun illuminate the universe with light. While our mental Sun - Christ, remained, as it were, in the west - on earth, in the non-revelation of Himself to people: hitherto throughout the entire earth there was darkness of ignorance of God; and when He who shone from the west of the grave ascended into heaven, immediately His lightning illuminated the universe, immediately from the east of the sun to the west His name became praiseworthy (Ps. 112:3), immediately the universe was enlightened by the knowledge of God. The sun from heaven shines on the good and the evil: the Lord ascended into heaven in order from the heights of heaven to look down on the righteous and sinners (Matthew 5:45), loving the righteous and having mercy on the sinners. The sun melts the ice from the sky with its rays, warms the earth and makes it fruitful. Our Lord ascended to the heights of heaven, so that from there, with the rays of His grace, he could melt the ice of our frozen souls and make them a fruitful land, so that we might grow spiritual fruits in ourselves, and not find ourselves barren before Him. Our Lord ascended from us into heaven in order to arrange for us the path to heaven and to be a forerunner for us to the mountainous countries. Before the Lord's ascension into heaven, man had no way to heaven. No one has ascended to heaven except he who descended from heaven... He who descended is the one who ascended above all heavens (John 3:13; Eph. 4:10). Before, no one could ascend to heaven, even if he was righteous and holy. Noah was pleasing to God, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were righteous, about whom King Manasseh speaks to God: You did not establish repentance for Your righteous: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who did not sin before You (2 Chron. 36). The beautiful and chaste Joseph was not blameless, nor was Moses, who led Israel through the Red Sea on dry land. Joshua, who stopped the sun, was holy; other saints of God in the Old Testament were also holy (like Daniel, the man of spiritual desires, the three youths who extinguished the Babylonian cave with prayer, and other great prophets); however, not one of them could ascend to heaven before Christ, and no one heard whether there is or will be a way to heaven for man. And when our Lord, having taken on human nature, ascended to heaven, the path to heaven was immediately opened for the entire human race. This way the souls of the holy forefathers and prophets, brought out of hell, flowed in the footsteps of Christ; they entered the apostles, saints, martyrs, confessors; Even now, worthy and righteous people are ascending to them, following the footsteps of Christ. Everyone now knows the path to heaven; Just don’t be lazy about climbing it! Our Lord ascended from us into heaven to open the doors of heaven for us, so that we could enter heaven without restraint. Our forefather Adam closed the door of heaven for the entire human race, and the Cherub with a flaming weapon stood at the door of heaven. Adam closed heaven and the entrance to life, and opened the entrances to death and hell; Our Lord did the opposite: he closed the entrance to death and hell, and opened heaven first for the thief [to whom he said: today you will be with me in heaven (Luke 23:43)], then for everyone, and in His ascension he opened heaven itself. I think you have faith that through the Ascension of the Lord into heaven the doors of heaven were opened: for the angels, when the Lord ascended, preceding the highest ranks, cried: take up your gates, princes, and take up the eternal gates: and the King of glory will come in (Ps. 23:9). But do you doubt that the entrances to death and hell are closed? I will give reliable evidence from the Apocalypse of John. One day our Lord, appearing to His beloved disciple John, said: Do not be afraid, I am the first and the last, both living and dead: and Imam is the key of hell and death (Rev. 1:17–18). Why did Christ the Lord give the keys of eternal life, the kingdom of heaven, to Saint (Apostle) Peter [I will give you, he says, the keys of the kingdom (Matthew 16:19)]; did He (the Imam, says, “the keys of death and hell”) begin to carry the keys with which death and hell are opened or concluded? Or is our Lord so cruel and unmerciful that He would rather destroy a person than save him, would rather open death and hell to people than life and the kingdom? But one cannot say this or even think about Him, since He, our Creator, is gracious and merciful. He wants everyone to be saved, but does not want death for any sinner, for he says: I do not want the sinner to die by desire, but to turn him from the path of evil, and for him to live (Ezek. 18:23)? So, why does the Lord not say: Imam is the key of life and the kingdom of heaven, but Imam is the key of death and hell? Our Lord deigned to do the same thing that householders do: when a master sees his steward often opening the doors of his treasury and draining his treasury, he takes the keys from him and keeps them for himself. People are quick to discover death and hell: they open them to themselves through frequent falls into sin, to which they are very prone; People open the doors of death and hell to each other with anger and memory. Seeing such unkind human disposition, the Lord takes the keys of death and hell for Himself, carries them Himself and says: Imam the keys of death and hell. He seems to be saying this: “You, sinful man, by your cruelty and your unrepentant heart have long since gathered up wrath for the day of wrath, hell is already opening its mouth to devour you; however, I still await your conversion, your repentance, and I do not allow death to suddenly kill you and hell to devour you: I have death closed, I have hell closed, so that it does not snatch you away and devour you. Imam the keys of death and hell. And again: I see you, man, enmity against your neighbor, wishing him harm, not good; You would like to immediately put him to death and hell, you curse him, but you do not have such power over him: that is why the keys were not given to you, and I will not give them to you. I wear them myself, I don’t give them to anyone. Imam is the key of death and hell." We thank You, our Master, for Your discernment that You did not give us those keys like a knife to a little youth. Oh, if only we had those keys - the keys of death and hell! We would have long ago destroyed our neighbors, given them over to death and hell, and we ourselves would have perished, been devoured to death and hell. Our Lord bears the keys of death and hell, and not the keys of life and the kingdom. Why? Let's consider. When the Lord ascended into heaven, the preceding angels cried out to the highest ranks: take up your gates, O princes, and take up the eternal gates: and the King of glory will come in. Why don’t the angels preceding the Lord say to the ranks above: “open” your gates, O princes, but take them, that is, set them aside, break them off completely, take them? Or was it not enough to open the gates to the entry of the Lord, but it was also necessary to completely break them down, set them aside and take them away? What is the reason for this? - Thinking about this, St. Chrysostom says: “The angels, seeing that the heavens will never be closed again, and that the gates of the heavenly city will not be needed, therefore they do not say: “open,” but “take the gates.” Hence it is clear why our Lord does not carry the keys of the kingdom and life, as he carries the keys of death and hell: where there are no gates, there are no need for keys, since the gates of heaven at the Ascension of the Lord are completely taken away, and will never be closed, as it is written in the Apocalypse: its gates cannot be shut in the days: for there will be no night (Rev. 21:25): Therefore, there is no need for keys: he does not carry them The Lord Himself gave them to Peter and the other apostles, as if saying: “Wear them, and without difficulty open what is already open, open what is not closed, unless someone by his own will blocked the heavenly entrance, you can help him with these keys; for those who follow Me, there is a free entrance without a key: since the gates are not closed by them and cannot be closed, for they are taken away.” Oh, how joyful is this reason for the Ascension of the Lord! He ascended into heaven in order to widely open the doors of heaven for us, so that we could enter heaven without hindrance. Open to us, Lord, open the doors of Your mercy! Our Lord ascended from us into heaven to intercede for us before God the Father. So says St. John the Theologian: if anyone sins, the imams intercede with God the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And that cleansing is for our sins (1 John 2:2); and St. Apostle Paul: Christ did not enter into a holy place made with hands, but into heaven itself, now let the face of God appear for us (Heb. 9:24). Christ Jesus died, and even more so also rose again, Who is at the right hand of God, Who also intercedes for us (Rom. 8:34). So, let us not despair of our salvation; Let us be trustworthy, having a good Intercessor to God the Father, Christ our Savior, Who intercedes for us, showing Him His wounds raised for us. Just don’t be lazy and we, with Him, send up our warm prayers to the Father, so that Christ the Lord may intercede with God the Father, showing Him His wounds, and with those lips, as if in prayer, propitiating Him. But for whom does Jesus Christ intercede? about what sinners? - about those who repent, but about those who do not repent, He does not appease His Father. “Nailed on the cross,” our Lord prays to God His Father, saying: Father, let them go: for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34). With that prayer, offered in grave torment, did He beg the Father for His murderers? Did the Father forgive the sins of the evil ones: Annas, Caiaphas, Pilate and others who betrayed Jesus to death? No way. He only begged for those whom, as the All-Seer, he foresaw would repent and turn to Him, but for the unrepentant sinners who crucified Him, he not only did not beg, but even more so, in vengeance he raised up the Father to avenge His blood on the crucifiers, which was done by the hand of the Romans who destroyed Jerusalem. A sinful man, being in negligence and unrepentance and adding sins to sins, crucifies the Lord and with his unrepentance tramples the blood of the Son of God shed for him. So, be afraid, sinner who remains in unrepentance, lest the vengeance of God suddenly overtake you, and you will be consumed from the land of the living, and you will be condemned with the murderers who crucified the Son of God. Our Lord ascended from us into heaven in order to prepare for us a place in heaven where we will live forever and co-reign with Him, our Lord. For this is what He Himself says: I go to prepare a place for you: if I go and prepare a place for you, I will also come and take you to Myself, so that where I am, you also will be (John 14:2, 3). Good and joy-filled wine of the Lord’s departure! The Lord ascended from us into heaven in order to prepare for each of us a place in heaven. For people who love God, their place is between the Seraphim; God-wise - between Cherubim, God-bearing - between God-bearing Thrones, good lords - between Dominions; to warriors fighting for the fatherland - between the Forces; to different authorities - between the Authorities; to all bosses who manage their bureaucracy according to Bose - those have a place between the Beginnings; and for those who console those in adversity and the poor, helping them, their place is with the Archangels; those living in the flesh as angels on earth have a place in heaven with the Angels. And where, Lord, have you prepared a place for us sinners? Will there be even a small place for us in heaven? Thy beloved disciple, John the Theologian, frightens us, saying: let us not enter into all manner of evil, and do abominations and lies: but only those things which are written in the books of the living creatures of the Lamb (Rev. 21:27), and not only frightens us, but also threateningly drives them out, saying: without are sorcerers, and fornicators, and murderers, and idolaters, and every love and commit lies (Rev. 22:15). That’s why we no longer have a place in heaven—they won’t let us go there and will banish us from there. But our Lord, looking at us with a bright and merciful face, says: “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners (Luke 5:32), just repent, and you will be granted honor equal to the saints and righteous. Where is the place for Peter, who rejected Me and then wept bitterly, - where is the place for the harlot wife who wept at My feet, - where is the place for the prodigal son, the publican, the thief: there will be a place for you too. Just weep bitterly for your sins, like Peter, - fall at My feet in repentance, like a harlot, - turn to Me, like the prodigal son, humble yourself, like a tax collector, - crucify with Me, like a prudent thief: repent, and you will be saved. I have a place ready for you in heaven, and you will fit into the womb of My mercy! Our Lord ascended into heaven in order to draw us there to follow Him: When I, He says, am lifted up from the earth, I will draw us to Him (John 12:32). Therefore, first of all, with our minds and hearts, let us philosophize on things above, let us seek those on high, where our life is hidden (Col. 3:1-3) with Him, our God. He is our treasure: let our heart also be there (Matthew 6:21). Having considered those joyful reasons for the Ascension of the Lord into heaven, everyone can rejoice in spirit about their Lord God, who ascended into heaven for the sake of our common good, and call this holiday joyful, and not mournful. May the Lord vouchsafe all of us to be partakers of that festival about which he predicted to David: I will go to the place of the wondrous village, even to the house of God, in the voice of joy and confession, the noise of the celebration (Ps. 42:5). Amen 101. See Works of St. Dimitrov, Metropolitan. Rostovsky. Kyiv. 1895, Part II, pp. 211–225. You might be interested in: