The throne on the king’s right hand was traditionally the seat of one appointed to exercise the king’s own authority. Ruling with his Father in heaven, Jesus is Lord over the Church and all creation, with authority to equip his Church, advance his kingdom, bring sinners into saving fellowship with God the Father, and finally establish justice and peace upon the earth.
Jesus ascended into heaven so that, through him, his Father might send us the gift of the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, Christians together are united to Christ, the living Head of his Body, the Church.
Jesus was taken up out of human sight and returned in his humanity to the glory he had shared with the Father before his incarnation. There he intercedes for, and receives into heavenly life, all who come to him in faith. Though absent in body, Jesus is always with me by his Spirit and hears me when I pray.
Following his resurrection, Jesus spent forty days visiting and teaching his followers. He appeared to his disciples, spoke to them, invited them to touch him and see his scars, and ate with them.
Today I'm reading a Homily from the Book of Homilies. This one's long title is: An Homily or Sermon Concerning the Nativity and Birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Merry (or happy, depending where you live) Christmas!!
It means that Jesus was not simply resuscitated; God restored him physically from death to life in his resurrected body, never to die again. His tomb was empty; Jesus had risen bodily from the dead. The risen Jesus was seen by his apostles and hundreds of other witnesses.
That Jesus descended to the dead means that he truly died and entered the place of the departed.
The Creed emphasizes Jesus’ death to counter suspicions that Jesus did not truly die on the Cross, to celebrate the fact that he died there to secure our salvation, and to prepare our minds to grasp the glory of his bodily resurrection.
The Creed makes the point to emphasize that Jesus died a real, bodily death such as all people face because of our sins.
