Credo 26: He ascended into heaven …

‘No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the son of man’ (John 3: 13. RSV). The son of man must be understood here to mean Jesus the Christ. Rufinus, an early Christian writer, commenting on the Apostles’ Creed, says, that when Jesus ascended to heaven He did not go to a place where God the Word had not previously been. For, He, Jesus, the Word Incarnate, had existed from all time with the Father, who is in heaven. What was new, is that, the Word made flesh is now seated in heaven, as had never happened before. It was the culmination of prophecy. King David uttered these words centuries earlier: ‘ The LORD says to my lord: ” Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool” ‘ (Ps 110:1). This ascension was a glorious ascension. The first man Adam, under the counsel of the evil one, dragged human beings captive down to hell; but, this Jesus, when he ascended to heaven restored human beings to heaven. All the heavenly host were astonished. The angels looked with awe as the Great I AM clothed in flesh made his way on high. How much more should we, who are the ones to have been redeemed, jump for joy!