The Descension and Ascension of Christ in the Liturgy (The Feast of the Ascension)
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Catholic Christianity is an upward moving religion, an ascending religion, and we are a people being raised; lifted-up – ascending into Christ Jesus. For this reason, the liturgy itself is not only a participation in the transformation of our base nature into an ascending supernature, but in its very form, the liturgy physically transports us up; lifts our transformed natures into the Kingdom of God, our Father’s house. If you doubt this essential mission of the Catholic religion, consider the Gospels where the ascending imagery is almost always associated with some sort of transformation, while the descending imagery is almost always associated with the base human nature is now ready to encounter Jesus Christ.
The preferred Greek word in the Gospels for descending is katabainō, versus kathēmai, which merely means to sit down. For instance, Matthew 14:29, says “Jesus said, “Come.” So, Peter got out (that is katabainō) of the boat and walked on water and came to Jesus.” In Mark 15:30, they taunted Jesus to come down – katabainō on their terms, “. . . save yourself, and come katabainō from the cross!” Jesus would descend from the Cross to encounter us, but never on our terms, and that is precisely how ascension from descension works; it is only by the grace and mercy of God that we come to the Fathe; that we ascend to the Father through Christ Jesus. In the Gospels, the Temple in Jerusalem is always the highest natural point of ascension and Jesus is always ascending towards His passion, but first He must descend to preach, teach, and heal. In Luke 2:51, we see this from the very beginning. After the Finding in the Temple, the text says, “And He descending – katabainō – with them came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them [i.e., Joseph and Mary]; and his mother kept all these things in her heart.” Yes, the first encounter of our Lord was with His parents. Before He encounters the rest of us, He too must have His ministerial transformation, which John the Waymaker witnesses, saying, “I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on Him.”[1] Later in John, Jesus adds this same language to another sacrament, the Holy Eucharist, saying, “I am the living bread which katabainō from heaven, if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.”[2]
Descending is the beginning of Christian encounter. It is the point from which we find ourselves so fallen and low in our natural self, that in Christ Jesus we find hope in rising up and out of our miserable state and into the estate of Our Father, which is our true inheritance. The preferred Greek for this instance is the opposite of katabainō; it is anabainō, meaning ‘ascend’, rather than egeirō, meaning ‘to arouse’ as in, “God is able from these stones to raise up (that is, arouse) children to Abraham,” not ascend children to Abraham. Here God is not promising any transformation of the rocks, but merely that rocks will still be rocks, but now aroused. Some instances of katabainō also include the Sacrament of Baptism. According to Matthew 3:16, “When Jesus was baptized, He anabainō – ascending immediately from the water, and behind, the heavens were opened and He saw the Spirit of God katabainō like a dove, and come on Him.” For Mark, the appointing of the twelve apostles was also a transformative ascension event; saying, “Jesus ascended the mountain, and called to Him those whom He desired; and they came to Him,” meaning they too ascended to Christ to associate with Christ, which is a type of Sacrament of Holy Orders, where the ordination, also called consecration (literally meaning, ‘being associated with the divine’). Also prefacing the descension to encounter His parents, Luke 2:42 says, “And when He was twelve years old, they ascended – anabainō according to custom. So, there is always a relationship between ascension and descension; anabainō and katabainō. Such is the case also with the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist in John, where Jesus says, “If this shocks you, then what if you were the see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before,”[3] which was a prophetic connection of the descension of the Holy Eucharist with His Ascension after the Resurrection.
And this is the very thing we hear from the First Reading from Acts 1:1-11 for the Feast of the Ascension in this Year C. Versus 6-9 reads, “When they had gathered together they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.” The very thing that Jesus prophesied in John 6 – “If this shocks you, then what if you were the see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before,” happened.
Indeed, one thing we might miss about the anabainō of our Lord is how shocking the actual ascension must have been. Jesus was correct. The ascension event had to be far more shocking than Him teaching that eating His flesh and blood would give us eternal life. Consider this from the Apostle’s perspective, first there was about the three-year ministry where they followed Jesus everywhere, then an emotional wrenching night that led to His crucifixion, then three days later His shocking resurrection and return, and now forty days later, He is lifted up into the sky, and a cloud took Him from their sight. That had to be shocking, if not just a little bit overdramatic even for God who is the author of all drama, but rather than let them meander in their shock, the text for today concludes, “While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” Only if our eyes could see truly what happens at the moment of consecration at the liturgy of the Mass, we too might stand there shocked as the sky above the priest celebrant breaks open and comes Jesus descending again to encounter us under the guise of bread and wine.
It is true. The very reason why we have a Feast of the Ascension is because He descended to us first. That is the story of salvation history; God encountering us so that we might come to Him, and finally, in Christ Jesus do we now have access to complete the journey all the way. In fact, the Christian life begins with this pattern of descension and ascension in Baptism, where we are immersed and raised up, immersed and raised up, and immersed and raised up a third time in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Katabainō and Anabainō. Katabainō and Anabainō. Katabainō and Anabainō. In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. It is a beautiful thing that we witness at every elevation of the Holy Eucharist during the liturgy of the Mass. The Body of Christ ascends before us and descends into our bodies. Katabainō and Anabainō.
The Second Reading at the Divine Symphony for the Feast of the Ascension from Ephesians 1:17-23, the optional Second Reading from Hebrews 9:24-28; 10:19-23, and the Gospel Reading from Luke 24:46-53 all concern why our Lord Jesus Christ ascended. For us. For our sake. For our salvation. For our intercession. For our judgment. For our ascension. And the reason why we can trust Him with all these things is not just because He is God and He is true, but because He dwelt among us, and He lives in us to this very day.
The liturgy of the Mass captures all of this drama; from the Baptism to the dismal and everything in between. From our ascending processions up to the sanctuary, up to communion. From our standing and sitting and kneeling, Katabainō and Anabainō. From the great descension of Christ Jesus, the Holy Eucharist into our bodies, so that we might leave the Temple Mount of the New Jerusalem and descend into the world to be a type of Him; that is, a eucharistic people in the world to encounter those far from Him who is the true Temple who has ascended for our sake. We cannot miss the singular point of the Feast of the Ascension; that this whole thing is not about Him, but about all of us who are being called to come to Him; to ascend to where He is through the grace of God and the Sacraments of His Church.
This is just one way how the readings at Mass this Sunday connect to the liturgy and how the liturgy is forming us on how to live our lives in the world. Be in the world what you have received through the liturgy.
[1] 1:32.
[2] Jn. 6:51.
[3][3] Jn. 6:61-62.
