Lift up your heads, O gates; lift them high, O everlasting doors.” Psalm 24:7

“Ascension of Christ”, Narodni galerie v Praze, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

“Lift up your heads, O gates; lift them high, O everlasting doors.” Psalm 24:7

So begins the beautiful dialogue the early Christians seized upon to describe the mystery of Jesus Christ’s ascension into heaven.

In our day, the Feast of the Ascension can be easily overlooked. It always occurs 40 days after Easter, always on a Thursday. It seems to stand alone.

Yet it marks Christ’s royal enthronement. And as such, it is an essential part of the holy season that begins with Easter Sunday and ends 50 days later with Pentecost.

Initially, Christ’s ascension was linked to his resurrection on Easter day, as seen in the Gospel of Luke. Not until the fourth century did Ascension become its own separate feast, based on the 40-day period mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. In a sense, the historical eclipsed the theological.

But even in the earliest days, we find Psalm 24:7-10 being quoted in expositions on the Ascension. Its verses paint a word picture of Christ’s return to heaven.

First, there is the urgent command: “Lift up your heads, O gates; lift them high, O everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.” Psalm 24:7

Then the question: “Who is he, this King of glory?” Psalm 24:8

Then the exultant response: “The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory.” Psalm 24:10

Yes, Christ is risen, but not only to resurrection life. He also reigns in heaven, where he bears witness to our suffering.

St. Stephen, at the time of his martyrdom, cried out: “Look, I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

In our creeds and in the Gloria in excelsis, we speak of a savior who is attentive and ever ready to intercede on our behalf: “Lord God, Lamb of God … you are seated at the right hand of the Father; receive our prayer.”

From his exalted place, he joins in the trinitarian outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

This rich imagery invites us to sit in prayer with the idea of Christ glorified and ascended into heaven, however you may understand “heaven.” It also calls us to open the gates of our hearts, so the King of Glory can enter in and fill us with his life-giving and life-sustaining love.

Fr. Dion

The Rev. M. Dion Thompson, Senior Associate at St. Anne’s