As It Is Written . . .
The Essential Ascension
Jesus rose from the dead, not in order to return to the earth, but in order to enter "into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us" (Heb. 9:24). His priesthood is heavenly; indeed, "if he were on earth, he would not be a priest" (8:4). His priestly service, commenced on Calvary, was perfected when, "not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood he entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption" (9:12).
The Lord's Ascension, then, is essential to the work of the Atonement. According to a theme developed chiefly in the Epistle to the Hebrews, God united us to himself—made us at-one with himself—not only by the Son's assumption of our humanity in the Incarnation, but also by this Son's bearing our humanity home to the Father. In Christ's Ascension, God eradicates every vestige of our alienation from him.
This theme elicits four considerations:
First, the Lord's ascent on high is the counterpart to his descent into hell. Just as, in dying, "he went and preached to the spirits in prison" (1 Peter 3:19), so, in his ascent into heaven, "he became the cause (aitios) of eternal salvation to all who obey him" (Heb. 5:9). He met angelic spirits in both places: in hell the fallen spirits, and in heaven "an innumerable company of angels" (12:22). The structure of Cosmology itself demanded this; an ontological postulate of his Lordship required that "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth" (Phil. 2:10).
The Hallowing of Heaven
Second, Jesus entered into heaven in order to cleanse and consecrate "the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands" (Heb. 9:11), "the true tabernacle the Lord pitched and not man" (8:2). This hallowing of heaven, which corresponded to the harrowing of hell, was an essential part of the Atonement. Just as the earthly sanctuary was cleansed and consecrated with the blood of sacrificial offerings, so it was necessary that the heavenly sanctuary should be purified "with better sacrifices than these" (9:23).
It is a foundational teaching of Holy Scripture that man has no communion with God, even in heaven, except in and through the blood of the Lamb. His blood is the instrument of the expiation and purification of all things, including "heaven itself" (9:24). For even "the heavens are not pure in his sight" (Job 15:15).
Because Christ's cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary—clearly affirmed in the Epistle to the Hebrews—is not, I think, a theme much developed in later theology, a word of explanation may be in order. We may start by reflecting that sin—alienation from God—did not begin on earth, but in heaven. Sin was found in heaven before it was found on earth. Indeed, earth was contaminated from heaven, when the rebellious demons instructed and encouraged men to rebel against God. Prior to Christ's cleansing of it, the heavenly tabernacle was still infected with the vestiges of that demonic rebellion.
A particularly distressing aspect of that contamination was the ability of Satan to stand before the Almighty as man's Accuser. But no more, because "now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ have come, because the Accuser of our brethren, who indicted them day and night before our God, has been cast down" (Rev. 12:10).
Advocate & Access
Patrick Henry Reardon is pastor emeritus of All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Chicago, Illinois, and the author of numerous books, including, most recently, Out of Step with God: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Numbers (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2019).
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