ASCENSION OF THE LORD – YEAR C
Commentary of Fr. Fernando Armellini
Happy Easter to all.
The words of the Risen Christ that we will hear in today's Gospel text were addressed to the disciples on the evening of Easter day. Let us try to reconstruct that moment. The Cenacle presents the Eleven and the two disciples who returned from Emmaus after seeing the Risen One at the breaking of the bread. Let us keep in mind the technical expression used by the early Church to indicate the Eucharistic celebration. When the community gathers to break bread, the eyes of the believers are opened, and they see the Risen One, not with material eyes, but with the eyes of the believer.
They talk about the experiences that they have had, and Peter shares with them the encounter he had with the Risen One. And Luke says that as they talk about these things, Jesus "stood among them." The verb used is 'ἔστη – este.' Not that he appears and then disappears. NO. He is in the midst of this community gathered in his name on the Lord’s Day. And now, the evangelist narrates a strange reaction of these disciples. He says they were "startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost" (24:37).
Luke tries to make it clear that the Risen One is not a ghost and does so to diversify the experience of the Risen One with the shadows of the departed that is spoken of in Greek and Latin literature. Recall the descent of Odysseus into hell when he encounters Achilles and says to him: 'You are the strongest of us all, therefore dominate in the world of the dead.' Achilles answers him: 'Do not try to sweeten my situation because I would rather be a slave on earth than dominate over the ghosts, over appearances of men, overshadows.' Also, when Aeneas descends to see the world of the dead together with Cybil to find his father, Entice, he encounters ghosts.
Luke intends to clarify that the Risen One is not a ghost. He is a real, concrete person. Not with a material, tangible, visible body, but the body of the Risen One. How do we narrate this experience with the language of words? This is the admirable effort that Luke made. To describe this experience is very complicated.
For example, let us think about how difficult it is for us to narrate the spiritual experiences of our world. If we ask a mother, how do you feel about the child you carry in your womb? She is surprised... 'How do I explain to you what I'm experiencing?' Or if we see someone contemplating the smile of the Gioconda... and we ask him, what do you see? He keeps his mouth shut. Or listening to a violin solo with the best melody in the world, with the soft melody of the Benedictus from Beethoven's Missa Solemnis; what do you experience when you hear that Benedictus? I could start talking about rays of light that descend from the heart... but then I stop because I'm not saying anything. How does one talk about an experience of the divine world if we don't try to express the emotion that comes to us when listening to a piece of music or contemplating a work of art?
Now we understand the admirable effort that all the evangelists have made to translate into images the experience of the encounter with the Risen One. And now the Risen One asks the disciples, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?" Whence derives this troubling, these interrogatives that they put on. It is very understandable for the disciple's confusion because the Passover has disproved all his convictions. Then, they are confronted with an unexpected reality. They were convinced that the Messiah was on the side of the righteous and, therefore, the Messiah should be the victor, but, instead, he has been a failure. They had always believed because they had learned it in the catechism: 'that God protects the just,' 'that He does not deliver him into the hands of his enemies.' It is repeated in many psalms. But the disciples stand before the crucified righteous one, whom God has not defended.
Now, the revelation of what happened on the 'third day.' How the events ended. In the eyes of the people, Jesus ended up as a defeated man, convinced that he had been laid in a tomb, in that total darkness and silence where everything was over. But on the 'third day' –how did things end in the light of God? Everything has been turned upside down. Jesus was not the defeated but the victorious king, who sat down at the Father's right hand.
The 'Lord' revealed by Jesus was not the Most High in whom they had always believed but was the 'lowliest' – the one who stooped down to be a slave, the one who stooped to wash the feet of the master. The master of God's heart is the man. It was not the strong God who threatened and took vengeance on those who transgressed his commands, but the God who loved even those who hated him. The crucified one had spoken of a God who is love and only love. So, it is unsurprising that the disciples are astonished and disoriented on that 'third day,' not the day after tomorrow, but when they realize and have understood what God thinks about what has happened.
Everything has been turned upside down in their minds and hearts. Very difficult for them to understand. Now, the Risen One helps these troubled and bewildered disciples to read the events of the Passover in the light of Scripture. Let us listen to how our reading begins:
"This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."
Also, in our lives, sometimes, we encounter events about which we do not understand the meaning: wars, violence, and oppression of the weak and defenseless. We see just and righteous people who suffer injustice, and we ask ourselves, will the day come when God will set things right? The day when he will clearly show who is right and wrong, who is righteous and wicked?
To these questions that deal directly with what has happened to him, at the Passover supper, the Risen One answers: "This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day." The 'third day.' What does this expression mean? It is not a prophecy indicating that he will rise precisely in three days. After his death. NO. The prophecy is not chronological; it is theological. It means that in the end, God pronounces an unappealable final judgment on the success or failure of a life.
Resurrecting Jesus, the Lord has shown everyone that Jesus was right. He is the righteous one, the victor, and the victor because he made his life a gift of love. And all those who, like him, put their lives in the service of their brothers and sisters may be considered failures by the people. Still, on the 'third day,' when God pronounces his judgment, as with Jesus, they will be received by the heavenly Father in the fullness of the resurrected life. Jesus says that the whole Bible has been written to prepare people for the understanding of this design of God on humankind.
It is not enough to have understood this design of God; then, it is necessary to accept it. To adapt one's own life to the way Jesus of Nazareth has lived it. In other words, it is necessary to abandon the old way and accept the proposal of the new man. Then, those who have accepted it must not only incarnate it but also announce it to everyone. This is the mission that the Risen One entrusts to the disciples: to announce to all the conversion for the forgiveness of sins.
Let us note that they are not to announce the conversion and forgiveness of sins. NO. They must announce conversion, that is, the change of orientation of life so that sin disappears. This is forgiveness. Forgiveness of sin does not mean a clean slate because sin does not need a washing machine; it is the wrong direction of life. The one who directs one's life in the pursuit of self-interest, in the accumulation of goods, thinks of himself, wants to be served by others, to dominate overall. This person is not human. He is destroying his life. He must change direction.
What does God do with this person who is on the wrong path? He wants to forgive him. Forgiveness is the result of the Lord's work of salvation. That action changes the direction. When this happens, sin is forgiven. Only after God has decided to forgive me, that is, to lead me to the right path, the path that Jesus indicates, do I repent – after He has forgiven me, not because He forgives me because I am repentant... NO. But because He has made me understand that I was going out of the way, I repent and change my life.
This conversion must be announced to all, beginning with Jerusalem. This is surprising because those who lived in Jerusalem, the holy city, thought they did not need to be converted. They thought they were already united to God; they were practicing religion. But the Risen One says that it is precisely from this institution where the conversion must begin. They must understand the new face of God and the new face of religion, i.e., what kind of sacrifices are pleasing to God, who is the new temple of the Lord – which is Christ, and the whole community of disciples united with him.
Of this plan of God for man, for humankind, the disciples, who are united to him, are called to witness. To be a witness, it is necessary to have had this experience of the gift of life and to realize that it is beautiful to live in this way. Witnessing does not mean arguing, fighting, NO. Only to demonstrate that living life as Jesus has proposed is beautiful. This testimony of life is only possible if one allows oneself to be guided by the Spirit, by this gift of new life that Jesus brought into the world, the gift of the Father. If the disciple shows the world that it is possible to love as Jesus has loved, they will be moved by the divine life present in them, this capacity to love even one's enemy. This will be irrefutable proof that a divine force has come into the world that transforms humanity from within.
And now we hear the greeting that Jesus gives to his community. This greeting is his blessing. Let us listen:
"When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God."
The text we have heard is the conclusion of the Gospel according to Luke, and I believe that listening to it may raise some questions. Why didn't the Risen One rise to heaven from the upper room? Why does he lead his disciples out of the city of Jerusalem? Remember that it is a deep night, and why does he lead them to Bethany? You understand that taking this text as a chronicle does not make much sense. But if we understand the language of the Scripture, we can understand the message.
First, the evangelist uses the verb to say what Jesus did and why he led his disciples out of Jerusalem. ‘It is not a bland verb because it is the same verb that employs the book of Exodus to say what God has done for his people: He led them out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, to bring his people into the vast space where they can live in the land of freedom. Why does the Risen One lead his community out of Jerusalem? Jerusalem is the land where one is not free, the land where a religious institution teaches to worship and serve a God that does not exist. It is not the God we see reflected in the face of Jesus of Nazareth.
In the temple of Jerusalem, a God is worshiped who offers his love to those who pay for it, to those who offer sacrifices and incense; the God who bestows his blessings to the good and the righteous, not to the wicked. Easter has canceled this face of God because God has revealed himself in Jesus of Nazareth as love and only gratuitous love. He grants his favors and his love to absolutely everyone. The Risen One leads his community out of this religious institution.
The place where he leads them is Bethany. What does this Bethany imply? We know it well. It is the place of friendship and family where Jesus is welcome, a family with only brothers and sisters, no 'parents,' no 'masters,' and no 'subjects.' This house of the family of Bethany is the image of the Christian community, the place from where flows the perfume of the spikenard, a symbol of love. We can verify and ask ourselves: those who approach today the new community of Christians, which should be like that of Bethany where the perfume of love is poured out; those who approach these communities today, Buddhists, Muslims, pagans, atheists, anyone, do they immediately realize that from this house comes out a perfume of quality—the perfume of love lived by Jesus of Nazareth, love that embraces even the enemy? Is this the perfume of those who approach Jesus today?
What does the Risen One do? He opens his hands. We know that the hands are the symbol of what we do. With our hands, we can give life or death, caress or strike, offer bread to the hungry, or steal. This is the last scene. Jesus raises his hands and shows them. They are the hands that have always been blessed; the last gesture will be a blessing. To bless in Hebrew, לברך' barak,' means to will life and only life. This gesture of Jesus that Luke narrates to us is taken from the Old Testament; it is a priestly gesture. In the book of Leviticus, chapter 9 says that Aaron raised his hands over the people and blessed them.
Also, the book of Ben Sirach has a magnificent blessing when it makes mention of the high priest Simon, son of Onias, an honorable, just, righteous man, and the description of his blessing is touching; he raised his hands over all the faithful of Israel, and then he gave with his lips the blessing of the Lord, glorying to be able to pronounce this name. And when he lifted his hands, they all fell to receive the blessing of the Most High. It is the same scene that Luke uses from the Old Testament to narrate the last gesture of Jesus: to leave us his blessing. And we also remember how Luke's Gospel begins: with a blessing Zechariah cannot pronounce because he was struck dumb. Instead, now, a blessing given by the Risen One remains forever with humankind.
"And as he blessed them—a second time mentioned—he parted from them and was taken up to heaven." The evangelist is not writing a chronicle; he employs the language of his time when God was imagined in heaven... There were seven heavens, and beyond the seventh heaven was the throne of the Most High. It is to say that he who has lived by love is received into the Father's house. Luke did not invent this elevation to heaven. It is a narrative genre known in biblical literature. Let us remember Elijah carried in a chariot of fire. It is also present in Greco-Roman literature; these elevations are also mentioned, for example, Romulus, Empedocles, Alexander, and Heracles. These are images that Luke uses, not to describe a material fact but to formulate the truth in a plastic way: Jesus has been welcomed in the arms of the Father.
The truth that he wants to communicate is that the surrendered life is not destroyed; it enters the world of God, where no drop of love is lost. There is a separation from this corruptible world to enter the world of God and incorruptibility. The disciples prostrate themselves; they recognize this judgment of God on what has come to pass. in the life of Jesus. The joy of these disciples is noticeable. When a person disappears, we do not rejoice; why are these disciples in the fullness of joy? Because they understood after the Passover that leaving this corruptible world is not a cause for sorrow but joy.
He who has seen the fate that awaits him, who has lived for love, naturally loves this world and this life but lives in expectation of those things which, as Paul has written to the Corinthians, "no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor human mind conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Cor 2:9). Therefore, let us no longer think of the dead as disastrous. Disastrous and evil is the wrong life. Disastrous would also be an endless old age. Beautiful and desirable is death as the natural conclusion of a life lived by love. Let us try to have a death as believers, not as pagans.
No wonder that these disciples returned to Jerusalem. Indeed, they did return to the earthly Jerusalem. Still, they have departed from the Jerusalem that enslaves, from a specific image of God, and from a certain way of relating to God, which is the Jewish religious practice. "And they spent their time in the temple blessing God." They did not return to the temple to continue offering sacrifices and burnt offerings. They cannot always remain in the temple of God, of the Lord.
This is the new temple, Jesus of Nazareth, with all his community. This is the new Temple from which the sacrifices that are pleasing to God, the works of love, are elevated to God. They returned to Jerusalem, but now they no longer belong to the Jewish institution but have entered the new world, that which is born of the Passover.
A good Easter to all and a good week.
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