Yesterday, 21May 2009, Christian celebrated the Ascension Day. The day when Jesus ascended to heaven in the presence of his apostles following his resurrection and that in heaven he sits at the Father's right hand. In Gospel of John, it refers Jesus returning to the Father in heaven. Christ's ascension occurs in the original Nicene Creed, a touchstone of Christian orthodoxy since 325.
It is affirmed by Christian liturgy and, in the West, by the Apostles' Creed. In terms of belief, the Ascension implies Jesus' humanity being taken into Heaven. The canonical account of Jesus ascending bodily into the clouds contrasts with the gnostic tradition, by which Jesus was said to transcend the physical realm and return to his home in the spirit world. It also contrasts with Docetic beliefs, by which matter is intrinsically evil and Jesus was said to have been pure spirit.
The Ascension edicule
The place of the Ascension is not distinctly mentioned in the Gospel of Mark. Luke 24,50 states that the event took place in Bethany while it appears from Acts that it took place on the Mount Olivet (the "Mount of Olives"), since after the Ascension the apostles are described as returning to Jerusalem from the mount that is called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, within a Sabbath day's journey. Tradition has consecrated this site as the Mount of Ascension.
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