Ascension Thursday
Ascension & Atonement
The Ascension of Jesus has theological affinity with Yom Kippur, the annual Jewish Day of Atonement. Both observances revolve around the notions of the cleansing of sin, God’s forgiveness, and reconciliation with God. This Jewish ritual involved sacrifices, the scapegoat ceremony, and the cleansing of the Holy of Holies, all aimed at atoning for the sins of the Israelites and purifying the sanctuary. The high priest offered a bull as a sin offering for himself and his household, and then a ram as a burnt offering. Two goats were also used: one for sin, and another for the scapegoat. The high priest would symbolically transfer the sins of the people to one of the goats (the scapegoat), and then release it into the wilderness. The blood of the sin offering bull and goat was used to sprinkle the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies, cleansing it and purifying the sanctuary from the sins of the people
A Deeper Understanding of Yom Kippur and the Ascension
On Sinai, God gave Moses a vision of the heavenly tabernacle and, then, commands him to build an earthly counterpart—a portable sanctuary—in which God’s presence will reside, in the Holy of Holies of the tabernacle, between the outstretched wings of the cherubim, over the mercy seat. And God also gave Moses a Law by which to purify his people so that the God Most High may dwell among them: not regulations only, but rituals of sacrifice to atone for sins committed, in order to restore holiness (Lev 16: 2-24). At the heart of this Law, as the greatest act of purification for the restoration of holiness lies the Day of Atonement. Though sacrifices for the people’s sin were offered daily, sin also leaves a residue, a taint, that contaminated the Ark of the Covenant with its mercy seat, the Holy of Holies, the Holy Place, the altar and its utensils, the tabernacle and its court, the people, the entire encampment, and ultimately even the land promised to Abraham.
Such residual defilement had to be addressed once each and every year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. On that day, the High Priest took the blood of a goat behind the veil of the Holy of Holies, into the very presence of God, and sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat to make atonement for it, to purify it. The High Priest then worked his way outward purifying the entire tabernacle complex, along with the people and the land with the blood of the goat that had been sacrificed so that God could dwell among them for another year. Unless the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies with the blood of the goat, there was no purification and God could not dwell among His people. The alternatives were exile or death, and there was little difference between the two.
It is important to remember that this ritual purified Israel only, not the nations of the world. At that time, God dwelt in the midst of Israel alone and not among the nations of the world. At any rate, not yet, though not yet, God promised through the prophets that one day, by means of the seed of Abraham, the whole earth would one day be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. Christ the Great High Priest ascended into heaven to enter the Holy of Holies — into the very presence of God the Father Almighty — to purify forever those who are His own and to sanctify the whole world, so that God, in the person of the Holy Spirit, might be set loose in the world to dwell, at last, among His people.
There is the good news of the Ascension: the world purified so that God, in the Person of the Holy Spirit, may dwell with His holy people — all peoples and nations — wherever they may be found, and so that all God’s holy people may enter into His presence without fear. The descent of the Holy Spirit is the first fruits of God dwelling with the people that the Spirit makes holy and that had initially been made possible by the final Day of Atonement. It is a foretaste of the new Jerusalem in which God will be all and in all. The concept of Jesus’ Ascension, linked with His sacrifice on the Cross, along with having been raised from the dead, the Ascension marks Christ’s return to heaven after His death and resurrection and, so, this solemnity is understood to be the culmination of the Lord’s atonement.
Excerpted from http://www.firstblessings.blog. “Ascension and the Day of Atonement” 9 May 2024.
Nature and dignity 