Sermon 263
SERMO 263
On the fortieth day of the Lord's Ascension
The glorification and victory of Christ was completed by the resurrection and ascension.
The glorification of our Lord Jesus Christ was completed by rising and ascending. We celebrated His resurrection on the day of Easter: today we celebrate the ascension. Both days are festive for us. For He rose to show us an example of resurrection; and He ascended to protect us from above. Therefore, we have our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ first hanging on the wood, now sitting in heaven. He gave our price when He hung on the wood; He gathered what He bought, when He sits in heaven. For when He shall have gathered all those whom He certainly gathered throughout the times, at the end of time He will come, and, as it is written: God will come manifest; not as He first came hidden, but as it is said: manifest. For it behooved Him to come hidden, to be judged; but He will come manifest, to judge. For if He had come manifest first, who would dare to judge the manifest one? Indeed, as the apostle Paul says: For if they had known, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory. But if He had not been killed, death would not have died: the devil was defeated by his own trophy. For the devil rejoiced when by seducing the first man he cast him down into death. By seducing, he killed the first man: by killing the last man, he lost the first from the snare.
The trap of the devil is the cross of the Lord.
Thus, the true victory of our Lord Jesus Christ occurred when He rose and ascended into heaven; and what you heard when the Apocalypse was read was fulfilled: The lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered. He was called the lion, He was called the lamb; the lion because of strength, the lamb because of innocence; the lion because He is invincible, the lamb because He is gentle. And this lamb, whose death defeated the lion seeking whom to devour, was named. For the devil is called a lion for his fierceness, not for his virtue. The Apostle Peter says: We ought to be vigilant against temptations, because your adversary the devil prowls around looking for someone to devour. But he said how he prowls: Like a roaring lion he prowls around looking for someone to devour. Who would not be ensnared by the teeth of this lion, if not for the lion of the tribe of Judah? A lion against the lion, a lamb against the wolf. The devil exulted when Christ died, but in this very death of Christ, the devil was defeated; as if he had taken the bait in a trap. He rejoiced at death, thinking he was the ruler of death; what he rejoiced in became his downfall. The cross of the Lord was the devil's trap; the bait by which he was caught was the death of the Lord. Behold, our Lord Jesus Christ has risen. Where is the death that hung on the tree? Where is the mockery of the Jews? Where is the arrogance and pride of those who shook their heads before the cross and said: If He is the Son of God, let Him come down from the cross? Behold, He did more than they demanded in mockery; for it is greater to rise from the tomb than to come down from the tree.
It is great to believe with the eyes of the heart.
But now, what great glory there is, that he ascended into heaven, that he sits at the right hand of the Father? But we do not see this with our eyes, because we did not see him hanging on the cross, nor did we behold him rising from the tomb. We hold all this by faith, we gaze upon it with the eyes of the heart. We are praised because we have not seen and have believed. For the Jews also saw Christ. It is not a great thing to see Christ with the eyes of the flesh, but it is a great thing to believe in Christ with the eyes of the heart. If Christ were now presented to us and stood before us and remained silent, how would we know who he was? And then, being silent, what good would he do us? Is it not better for him to speak in the Gospel while absent than to be present and remain silent? And yet he is not absent if he is held in the heart. Believe in him, and you see him: he is not before your eyes, and he possesses your heart. For if he were absent from us, what we have just heard would be a lie, "behold I am with you always, even to the end of the age."