Mark 16:19

It is the Son, too, who ascends to the heights of heaven, and also descends to the inner parts of the earth. "He sits at the Father's right hand"—not the Father at his own. He is seen by Stephen at his martyrdom by stoning, still sitting at the right hand of God, where he will continue to sit, until the Father shall make his enemies his footstool. He will come again on the clouds of heaven, just as he appeared when he ascended into heaven.

That, however, which we have reserved for a concluding argument, will now stand as a plea for all, and for the apostle himself, who in very deed would have to be charged with extreme indiscretion, if he had so abruptly, as some will have it, and as they say, blindfold, and so indiscriminately, and so unconditionally, excluded from the kingdom of God, and indeed from the court of heaven itself, all flesh and blood whatsoever; since Jesus is still sitting there at the right hand of the Father, man, yet God-the last Adam, yet the primary Word-flesh and blood, yet purer than ours-who "shall descend in like manner as He ascended into heaven" the same both in substance and form, as the angels affirmed, so as even to be recognised by those who pierced Him.

He dies, but he makes alive and by death destroys death. He is buried, yet he rises again. He goes down to Hades, yet he leads souls up, ascends to heaven, and will come to judge the living and the dead, and to probe discussions like these.

And so while at Easter it was the Lord's resurrection which was the cause of our joy, our present rejoicing is due to his ascension into heaven. With all due solemnity we are commemorating that day on which our poor human nature was carried up in Christ above all the hosts of heaven, above all the ranks of angels, beyond those heavenly powers to the very throne of God the Father. It is upon this ordered structure of divine acts that we have been firmly established, so that the grace of God may show itself still more marvelous when, in spite of the withdrawal from our sight of everything that is rightly felt to command our reverence, faith does not fail, hope is not shaken, charity does not grow cold.… It was in order that we might be capable of such blessedness that on the fortieth day after his resurrection, after he had made careful provision for everything concerning the preaching of the gospel and the mysteries of the new covenant, our Lord Jesus Christ was taken up to heaven before the eyes of his disciples, and so his bodily presence among them came to an end. From that time onward he was to remain at the Father's right hand until the completion of the period ordained by God for the church's children to increase and multiply, after which, in the same body with which he ascended, he will come again to judge the living and the dead. And so our redeemer's visible presence has passed into the sacraments. Our faith is nobler and stronger because empirical sight has been replaced by a reliable teaching whose authority is accepted by believing hearts, enlightened from on high.

"He sitteth at the Father's right hand " -not the Father at His own.

And indeed the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God. In the Old Testament we learned that Elijah was caught up into heaven. But the aerial heaven is one thing, the ethereal heaven another. For the aerial heaven is nearest to the earth; whence we also speak of the birds of heaven, because we see them flying in the air. Elijah therefore was lifted up into the aerial heaven, so that he might suddenly be led to a certain secret region of the earth, where he might live in great rest of flesh and spirit, until he returns at the end of the world and pays the debt of death. For he postponed death, he did not escape it. But our Redeemer, because he did not postpone it, overcame it, and by rising again consumed it, and by ascending declared the glory of his resurrection. It should also be noted that Elijah is recorded to have ascended in a chariot, so that it might be openly demonstrated that a mere man needed the help of another. For those aids were made and shown through angels, because he could not ascend even into the aerial heaven by himself, whom the weakness of his own nature weighed down. But our Redeemer is not recorded to have been lifted up by a chariot or by angels, because he who had made all things was certainly borne above all things by his own power. For he was returning to where he was, and he was going back from where he remained, because when he ascended into heaven through his humanity, through his divinity he equally contained both earth and heaven. Just as Joseph, sold by his brothers, prefigured the selling of our Redeemer, so Enoch, translated, and Elijah, raised up to the aerial heaven, designated the Lord's Ascension. […]

We must consider what it means that Mark says: He sits at the right hand of God; while Stephen says: I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God. What does it mean that Mark testifies he is sitting, while Stephen testifies that he saw him standing? But you know, brothers, that sitting belongs to one who judges, while standing belongs to one who fights or helps. Therefore, because our Redeemer, having been taken up into heaven, both now judges all things and at the end comes as judge of all, Mark describes him as sitting after his assumption, because after the glory of his Ascension he will be seen as judge at the end. But Stephen, placed in the labor of struggle, saw him standing whom he had as helper, because in order that Stephen might overcome on earth the unbelief of his persecutors, his grace fought for him from heaven.

(ubi sup.) Are we then without faith because we cannot do these signs? Nay, but these things were necessary in the beginning of the Church, for the faith of believers was to be nourished by miracles, that it might increase. Thus we also, when we plant groves, pour water upon them, until we see that they have grown strong in the earth; but when once they have firmly fixed their roots, we leave off irrigating them. These signs and miracles have other things which we ought to consider more minutely. For Holy Church does every day in spirit what then the Apostles did in body; for when her Priests by the grace of exorcism lay their hands on believers, and forbid the evil spirits to dwell in their minds, what do they, but cast out devils? And the faithful who have left earthly words, and whose tongues sound forth the Holy Mysteries, speak a new language; they who by their good warnings take away evil from the hearts of others, take up serpents; and when they are hearing words of pestilent persuasion, without being at all drawn aside to evil doing, they drink a deadly thing, but it will never hurt them; whenever they see their neighbours growing weak in good works, and by their good example strengthen their life, they lay their hands on the sick, that they may recover. And all these miracles are greater in proportion as they are spiritual, and by them souls and not bodies are raised. (ubi sup.) We have seen in the Old Testament that Elias was taken up into heaven. But the ethereal heaven is one thing, the aerial is another. The aerial heaven is nearer the earth, Elias then was raised into the aerial heaven, that he might be carried off suddenly into some secret region of the earth, there to live in great calmness of body and spirit, until he return at the end of the world, and pay the debt of death. […]

But we must also know from this that words are confirmed by deeds as then in the Apostles works confirmed their words, for signs followed. Grant then, O Christ, that the good words which we speak may be confirmed by works and deeds, so that at the last, Thou working with us in word and in deed, we may be perfect, for Thine as is fitting is the glory both of word and deed. Amen.

And indeed the Lord Jesus, after having spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sits at the right hand of God. We must consider what it is that Mark says: He sits at the right hand of God, and Stephen says, I see …

(ubi sup.) Observe that in proportion as Mark began his history later, so he makes it reach in writing to more distant times, for he began from the commencement of the preaching of the Gospel by John, and he reaches in his narrative those times in which the Apostles sowed the same word of the Gospel throughout the world.

The Lord Jesus, who had descended from heaven to give liberty to our weak nature, Himself also ascended above the heavens; wherefore it is said, So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven.

After forty days He ascended into the heavens, where, exalted above every creature, He sits at the right hand of the Father. This expression is understood not with respect to position, which does not pertain to God the Father, but with respect to the excellence …

Whatever God does concerning us, gives to us, or accepts from us, it is by his Son. Now he is glorified with the glory he had before the world. Christ welcomed in this lower world; his being believed on in the world, and received up into glory, are put together, 1 Tim. iii.

So then, after the Lord,....

He was received up into heaven - In a cloud from the Mount of Olives. See Act 1:9. The right hand of God - We are not to suppose that God has hands, or that Jesus sits in any particular direction from God. This phrase is taken from the manner of speaking among men, and means that he was exalted to honor and power in the heavens. It was esteemed the place of the highest honor to be seated at the right hand of a prince.

These words form the conclusion of Mark's Gospel. Short as the passage is, it is a singularly suitable conclusion to the history of our Lord Jesus Christ's earthly ministry. It tells us where our Lord went, when He left this world, and ascended up on high. It tells us what His disciples experienced after their Master left them, and what all true Christians may expect until He appears again.

So then after the Lord--an epithet applied to Jesus by this Evangelist only in Mr 16:19, 20, when He comes to His glorious Ascension and its subsequent fruits. It is most frequent in Luke. had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven--See on Lu 24:50, 51. and sat on the right hand of God--This great truth is here only related as a fact in the Gospel history.

These words form the conclusion of Mark's Gospel. Short as the passage is, it is a singularly suitable conclusion to the history of our Lord Jesus Christ's earthly ministry. It tells us where our Lord went, when He left this world, and ascended up on high. It tells us what His disciples experienced after their Master left them, and what all true Christians may expect until He appears again. Let us mark, in these verses, the place to which our Lord went when He had finished His work on earth, and the place where He is at this present time . We are told that "He was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God." He returned to that glory which He had with the Father before He came into the world He received, as our victorious Mediator and Redeemer, the highest position of dignity and power in heaven which our minds can conceive. There He sits, not idle, but carrying on the same blessed work for which He died on the cross. There He lives, ever making intercession for all who come unto God by Him, and so able to save them to the uttermost. (Heb. 7:25.) There is strong consolation here for all true Christians. They live in an EVIL world. They are often anxious and troubled about many things, and are severely cast down by their own weakness and infirmities. They live in a DYING world. They feel their bodies gradually failing and giving way. They have before them the dreadful prospect of soon launching forth into a world unknown. What then shall comfort them? They must lean back on the thought of their Savior in heaven, never slumbering, and never sleeping, and always ready to help. They must remember that though they sleep, Jesus wakes — though they faint, Jesus is never weary — though they are weak, Jesus is Almighty — and though they die, Jesus lives for evermore. Blessed indeed is this thought! Our Savior, though unseen, is an actually living person.

After the Lord had spoken - These things, and conversed with them for forty days, he was taken up into heaven, there to appear in the presence of God for us.