The Divine Lamp

Why has He ascended , if not because He first descended into the lower parts of the earth?-Eph 4:9

Point 1.  The abasement of Jesus was the foundation of His elevation; His ignominies were the steps and the preparation for His glory.  When He is ready to ascend ot heaven, the angels exclaim: “Lift ye eternal gates,” which hitherto have been closed to men; be ye lifted up and “the King of glory shall enter in; but who is this King of glory?  The Lord, who is strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle, the Lord of hosts” (Ps 24:8).  It is because He is mighty in battle, and the Lord of hosts, that He is recognized as King of glory; for it is by combating that He has won victory; it is by His humility that He has merited to be exalted, by the opprobrium of the Cross that He has entered into His glory.  Only those who have shared in His humiliations are permitted to share in His triumphs, and His elevation repeats to us eloquently the words which He pronounced more than once: “He that humbles himself, shall be exalted” (Matt 23:12).

Point 2.  St Paul mentions four states of absement to which Jesus humbled Himself, and four other states of elevation and greatness; the first are expressed in four words: “He emptied Himself; he humbled Himself; He became obedient even to the death of the Cross” (see Phil 2:2); “He descended into the lowest parts of the earth” (see Eph 4:9).   These four profound and inconceivable abasements have all been recompensed by the Father, as the same apostle teaches us: Because He humbled Himself, “God has exalted Him and given Him a name, which is above all names;” because “He obeyed even to the death of the Cross,” God has ordained that “every knee should bend before Him, in heaven, on earth and under the earth” (Phil 2:10); and because He descended, God His Father glorified Him and placed Him at His right hand on the throne of His majesty (Phil 2:11).  Happy humiliations, which have been so worthily exalted and so justly recompensed!  Let us humble ourselves with Jesus, let us become obedient with Him, let us descend with Him, if we to have a share in His elevation and His glory!  If we do not ide with Him, we may not hope to rise again, to live , to triumph with Him.  The Holy Spirit says: “Acceptable me (are tried) in the furnace of humiliation” (Eccli 2:5).

Point 3.   “He who descended is the same who ascended above all the heavens” (Eph 4:10).  As the depth of the foundation is proportioned to the height to be given the edifice, so humiliations of the Man-God were the measure of His elevation and greatness.  He descended to the lowest parts of the earth, and therefore He is exalted to the summit of the holy mountains above all the heavens: thus the sovereign equity of God will give to each one according to his merits, with just proportion.   The Holy Spirit says: “The mighty shall be mightly tormented” (Wis 6:7).  “By what things a man sins, by the same also he is tormented” (Wis 11:17); he will be punished “according to his works” (Rev 18:6); his torment and his suffering shall be in proportion to his pride and his sinful pleasures.  Abraham said to the wicked rich man: “Remember that you did receive good things in your life-time, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted, and you are tormented” (Lk 16:25).  Le the just man rejoice, because, if he suffers for a time,  joy will soon be restored to him.  “Let him who will be great among you, become the least” (Lk 22:26), for he who humbles himself and makes himself little, shall be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt 18:1).  “The servant is not greater than his Lord” (Jn 13:16).  If Jesus ascended to His glory by the steps of the most profound humiliations, would we, or could we without temerity, and without a guilty presumption, hope to reach it by any other way?  O Lord, may I humble myself with You, that I may follow You in Your abasements, and merit to follow You in Your glory!-Excerpted from MEDITATIONS ON THE MYSTERIES OF FAITH AND THE EPISTLES AND GOSPELS, By a Monk of Sept-Fonts.  Public domain book.