A sermon from June 1, 2014
Sermon on the Ascension of Jesus Christ
01 Wednesday May 2019
Posted in Ascension, Uncategorized
Tag Archives: ascension
The Heart of Christ in Heaven, to Sinners on Earth (Thomas Goodwin) 3
07 Wednesday Mar 2018
Posted in Ascension, Christology, Thomas Goodwin, Uncategorized
Tags
ascension, Christ, christology, Last Supper, Session, The Heart of Christ in Heaven, Thomas Goodwin
ANDREA DEL CASTAGNO
1447
Fresco
Sant’Apollonia, Florence
As Goodwin explains, John 13 gives us a view into the heart of Christ as prepares to leave his disciples. Next Goodwin considers this aspect of Christ’s “long sermon” on leaving, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth it is to your advantage that I go away”. John 16:7 Christ will (1) send the comforter (John 16:7), and (2) prepare a place for them. John 14:3. He goes on ahead to prepare a place for them, to make certain it is done. And like the High Priest, he carries their names over his heart when enters into the holiest place.
Goodwin then draws out the implications of this going and coming, sinking deep into the concept of marriage which runs throughout the Scripture:
“I will come to you again and receive you to myself.” He condescends to the very laws of bridegrooms, for notwithstanding all his greatness, no lover shall put him down in any expression of true love. It is the maker of bridegrooms, hen they have made all ready in their father’s house, then to come themselves and fetch their brides, and not to send for them by others, because it is the time of love.
Love descends better than ascends, and so doth the love Christ, who indeed is love itself, and therefore comes down to us himself.
….”Heaven shall not hold me, nor my Father’s company, if I have not you with me, my heart is so set up you; and if I have any glory, you shall have a part of it.”
….He will not stay a minute longer than needs must, he tarries only till he hath throughout all ages by his intercession prepared every room for each saint, that he may entertain them all at once together, and have the all about him.
4 Goodwin, “The Heart of Christ in Heaven”, 100.
The Heart of Christ in Heaven, to Sinners on Earth (Thomas Goodwin) 2
27 Tuesday Feb 2018
Posted in Ascension, Biblical Counseling, Christology, Thomas Goodwin, Uncategorized
Goodwin begins his analysis with John 13:1:
Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.
Goodwin argues that in what follows, John writes to “set open a window into Christ’s heart and give a light into, and put a gloss and interpretation upon all that follows. The scope where is to show what his affections would be to them in heaven”.
Jesus knows that the cross is coming; that “the Father had given all things into his hands” (John 14:3). What then does Christ think of; what does he do? He washes his disciples feet: Rather than thinking of what he would gain for himself, “he takes more for his own, who were to remain here in this world, a world wherein there is much evil”. The knowledge that he is coming to the end, draws out his compassion towards “his own”: “The elect are Christ’s own, a piece of him .. not as goods…his own children, his own members, his own wife, his own flesh.” (p. 97)
Goodwin explains the purpose of washing their feet as follows:
And what was Christ’s meaning in this, but that, whereas he should be in heaven, he could not make such outward visible demonstrations of his heart, by doing such mean services for them; therefore by doing this in the midst of such thoughts of his glory, he would show what he could be content (as it were) to do for them, when he should be in full possession of it….So you see what his heart was before he went to heaven, even admit the thought of all his glory; and you see what it is after he hath been in heaven, and greatened with all his glory, even content to wash poor sinners’ feet, and to serve them that come to him and wait for him. (p. 98)
And, this washing signifies his willingness to wash away their sin.
The Heart of Christ in Heaven, to Sinners on Earth (Thomas Goodwin) 1
25 Sunday Feb 2018
Posted in Ascension, Thomas Goodwin, Uncategorized
This is a fascination essay (a long essay, a very short book), divided in three parts. The essay asks the question, what is Jesus Christ like now that he is ascended? What is he like in heaven? How does he now relate to me? And, rather than give a careless answer, Goodwin very carefully considers some important aspects of the Scriptural evidence.
This essay demonstrates a level of exegesis which cannot easily be taught. There is a mechanical sort of analysis which looks at text and explicates the grammar and syntax. That is necessary, but when it comes to Scripture, that sort of analysis goes only part way. The necessary questions are why is this being said? What does this do? How does this part relate to the whole (context is king, but the ultimate context of Scripture is the entirety, not merely the surrounding paragraph)? I remember a line a poem (perhaps it was Stratford, it has been years since I read it, “Everything is telling one big story”.)
There is a goal to this essay:
The scope and use whereof will be this, to hearten and encourage believers to come ore boldly unto the throne of grace, unto such a Savior and High Priest, when the shall know how sweetly and tenderly his heart, though he is now in his glory, is inclined toward them [Collected Works, vol. 4, p. 95].
It ends likes this:
In all the miseries and distresses you may be sure to know where to have a have a friend to help and pity you, even in heaven, Christ;
One who nature, office, interest, relation, all, do engage him to your succor; you will find men, even friends to be oftentimes unto you unreasonable, and their bowels [their compassion] in many cases shut up towards you.
Well, say to them all, If you will not pity me, choose, I know that one that will, one in heaven, whose heart is touched with the feeling of all my infirmities, and I will go and bemoan myself to him.
Come boldly says the text, even with open mouth, to lay open your complaints, and you shall find grace and mercy to help in time of need. Men love to see themselves pitied by friends, though they cannot help them; Christ can and will do both.
Vol. 4, p. 150. In between the aim and the strike, Goodwin provides a tremendous, careful theology of Christ’s Ascension.
Part I will be next.
A Marvelous Word
23 Tuesday May 2017
Posted in Ascension, Christology, Uncategorized
We have an high-priest which can be (and is) touched with the feeling of our infirmities. How a sinless man as Christ ever was, can be touched with the feeling of the infirmities of sinners, and many of these infirmities sinful ones; how a glorified man, as Christ now is, exalted to, and possessed of the highest glory and bliss, can be, and is touched with the feeling of all the infirmities of all his people, is what the word plainly reveals to be believed; but it is not to be fully known till we come to heaven. But he is the head, and all his people are his body, his members, of his flesh, and of his bones, Eph. 5:30. A marvellous word! Can the flesh be torn, and the bones be broken, and the head not feel it? Though he be glorified above what we can conceive, he is a living, sensible, and compassionate head; and as nearly and closely united to all his members now, as when they saw with their eyes, and heard with their ears, and with their hands handled the word of life, 1 John 1:1. There is nothing ails a poor believer in Christ, there is no groan riseth from his distressed heart, but it is immediately felt at the tender heart of the Lord Jesus, at the Father’s right-hand. We would groan and sing with the same breath, if we believed this firmly.
Robert Traill, The Works of Robert Traill, vol. 1 (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1810), 12–13.
Edward Taylor, When thy bright beams
13 Friday Jan 2017
Posted in Literature, Philippians, Uncategorized
(Judgment Day, Michelangelo)
When thy bright beams, my Lord, do strike mine eye
Methinks I then could truly chide outright
My hidebound soul that stands so niggardly
That scarce a thought get glorified by’t.
My quaintest metaphors are ragged stuff, 5
Making the sun seem like a mullipuff.
It is my desire thou should’st be glorified:
But when thy glory shines before mine eye,
I pardon crave, lest my desire be pride.
Or bed thy glory in a cloudy sky 10
The sun grows wan; and angels palefac’d shrink,
Before thy shine, which I besmirch with ink.
But shall the bird sing forth thy praise, and shall
The little bee present her thankful hum,
But I who see thy shinning glory fall 15
Before mine eyes, stand blockish, dull, and dumb?
Whether I speak or speechless star, I spy,
I fail thy glory, therefore pardon cry.
But this I find, my rhymes do better suit
Mine own dispraise than tune forth praise to thee. 20
Yet being child, whether consonant or mute
I force my tongue to tattle as you see
That I thy glorious praise may trumpet right
Be thou my song and make Lord me thy pipe.
This shining sky will fly away apace, 25
When thy bright glory splits the same to make
Thy majesty pass, whose fairest face
Too foul a path is for thy feet to take.
What glory then, shall tend thee through the sky
Draining the heaven much of angels dry? 30
What light then flame will in thy judgment seat,
‘Fore which all men and angels shall appear?
How shall thy glorious righteousness them treat,
Rendering to each after his works done here?
Then saints with angels though wilt glorify: 35
And burn lewd men and devils gloriously.
One glimpse, my Lord, of thy bright Judgment Day
And glory piercing through, like fiery darts,
All devils, doth me make for grace to pray.
For filling grace had I ten thousand hearts. 40
I’d through ten hells to see thy Judgment Day
Woulds’t though but guild my soul with thy bright rays.
Notes:
This poem begins with a familiar complaint in Taylor’s poems on the Ascension: The beauty and glory of the scene have such transcendent wonder that no word of the poet can suffice to match what is seen. In the first stanza, he complains of his ability, My hidebound soul that stands so niggardly/That scarce a thought gets glorified by’t”.
The trouble does not lie with his wish, “It is my desire”. But when he sees the glory of Christ, rather than responding with appropriate praise, repents, “I pardon crave”. This is a point which may easily lost: The glory of Christ is such that the one who sees condemns himself, such as when Peter has an inkling who Jesus is he calls out, “Depart from me, for a I am a sinful man, O Lord.” Luke 5:8.
The glory of Christ is so create that the Creation itself shrinks back at his greater beauty, “The sun grows wan”. Even angels, the most glorious of creature, “palefac’d shrink”. If the most glorious elements of creation (the sun, angels) cannot respond to such glory, then how I how hope to do so: (“bed [set] thy glory in a cloudy sky …./ which I besmirch with ink”).
Having spent two stanzas complaining of his weakness to do this work, he notes that humbler creatures, birds and bees, do their work of praising him: then why should I “who see thy shining glory full” not respond but “stand blockish, dull, and dumb”.
And so there is no escape from the paradox: if he praises or stands quiet, he fails to respond adequately to Christ’s glory:
Whether I speak, or speechless stand, I spy [I see]
I fail thy glory: therefore pardon cry.
He then does something interesting: he comments upon his own ability and states that his best poetical gift lies in his expression of his inadequacy to respond to the glory, rather than to praise the glory:
But this I find: my rhymes to better suit
Mine own dispraise than tune forth praise to thee. [the repetition of “praise” well balances the line]
However, having gone this far, he will force himself to praise, “I will force my tongue to tattle” (here it does not have the force of “telling on someone”). And he invokes the help of Christ to praise Christ: “Be thou my song, and make Lord me thy pipe”. The image alludes to the ancient concept that the Spirit’s inspiration of the Scripture was like one playing upon an instrument.
At this point, he begins to praise Christ, but chooses an interesting subject for praise — and one that might seem out-of-place if one does not know the context (The Carmin Christi of Philippians 2): the day of Judgment: The song begins before the Incarnation. The Divine Son willingly becomes Incarnate to bear the weight of the Curse and then Ascends in glory – the God-man having been received by God [when we combine the Trinity and the Incarnation, it becomes constantly paradoxical].
But the exaltation of the Son will be not just the reception of God but the entire Creation’s proclamation of his lordship:
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:9–11 (AV). The bended knee comes about either joyfully or involuntarily as a direct result of Christ’s glory. There is no choice in the matter, the glory of Christ will overwhelm all.
This helps explain Judgment: it is the vindication of Christ. Within Christian theology, it is a sin a to go to Hell and be condemned. Human beings are commanded to repent and be saved. God commands human beings to not go to Hell. Hell was not intended for human beings (it was created for the Devil and his angels). Christ has fully carried the weight of the Curse and will pronounce free grace and forgiveness upon all who will receive it. Thus, it is only continued rebellion against Love which results in damnation.
The great exaltation of Philippians 2 takes place in the vindication of Christ when all Creation (whether joyfully or not) confesses Christ’s lordship.
At this point, Taylor joins the theme of Creation blushing before the glory of Christ and Christ’s return in Judgment. He takes an image from Isaiah concerning the sky rolled upon like a scroll:
Isaiah 34:4 (AV)
4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.
This image is repeated in Revelation and is again explicitly tied to Judgment:
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
Revelation 6:12–17 (AV)
The sky is rolled up because it cannot stand before Christ’s greater glory. Heaven will be “drained” of angels because the armies of heaven will come with Christ in his return (Revelation 19).
The scene moves from the Descent of Christ to the Judgment Seat:
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Revelation 20:11–12 (AV).
In this last stanza, the glory which overwhelmed Taylor with its beauty, the glory which the Creation could not bear, now becomes an instrument of judgment for those who refused to receive the “Lord of Glory”:
One glimpse, my Lord, of thy bright Judgment Day
And glory piercing through, like fiery darts,
All devils,
Thus, the glory of Christ is a “fiery dart” which pierces “all devils”. There is a pun here based upon Paul’s characterization of the Devil’s attack upon the Saints as an assault of “fiery darts”
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Ephesians 6:16 (AV).
Taylor ends with a prayer that the glory of Christ will be sufficient to lead him. He would willingly march through Hell to see Christ’s glory on Judgment Day.
Another note on construction: the poem begins and ends with the “bright rays” of Christ. The first rays are seen on the Ascension. The final rays are the prayed for rays of Judgment.
What the Ascension Means to the Church
09 Monday May 2016
Posted in Ascension, Ecclesiology, Uncategorized, Worship, Worship
Jesus has taken his place at the right hand of the Father. He has vanquished all the powers. In his person he has carried human nature up into the presence of God the Father. Ascension points to the fact that the whole cosmos has been re-organized around Jesus of Nazareth. Mission is a response to this doxological reality. And so is the church’s life of worship.
Ascension means the church is the kind of institution that is simultaneously drawn upward in worship and pushed outward in mission. These are not opposing movements. Unfortunately, too many churches today see it that way. Ascension forbids such a dichotomy. The church does not have to choose whether it will be defined by the depth of its worship life or its faithfulness in mission. Both acts flow from the single reality of ascension. Both have integrity only in that they are connected to one another. Mission is the church’s response to the universal lordship of Jesus. When people respond to the gospel— whether through faith and repentance or by bringing every area of life under the lordship of Christ—worship happens. The more authentically missional a church becomes, the more profound will be its life of worship since mission always ends in worship. It flows from the place of the ascended Christ in his heavenly reign, which means mission’s success increases the amount of praise and worship of God in the world. Together the church’s life of mission and worship enact and bear witness on earth to what is already true in heaven.
Here’s the rest: THE CHURCH UPWARD AND OUTWARD: IMPLICATIONS OF THE ASCENSION
Edward Taylor: View all ye eyes above.3
04 Wednesday May 2016
Posted in Ascension, Edward Taylor, Literature, Uncategorized
View all ye eyes above, this sight which flings
Seraphic fancies in chill raptures high,
A turf of clay, yet bright Glory’s King
From dust to glory angel-like to fly.
A clod immortalized, behold,
Flies through the skies swifter than an angel could.
(The analysis of the first stanza may be found here)
Upon the wings he of the wind rode in
His bright sedan, through all the silver skies
And made the azure cloud his chariot bring
Him to the mountain of celestial joys.
The Prince of the Air durst not an arrow spend
While through his realm his chariot did ascend.
(The analysis of the second stanza may be found here)
He did not in a fiery chariot’s shine
And whirlwind like Elias upward go.
But th’golden ladders jaspers rounds did climb
Unto the heavens high from earth below.
Each step trod on a golden stepping stone
Of diety unto his very throne.
This stanza is interesting on a couple of grounds. First, it seemingly contradicts the previous stanza In stanza two, Taylor describes Christ’s Ascension as an ascent in a “chariot” (the azure clouds his chariot”). This stanza states he did not ascend in a chariot.
The contrast is in part underscored by the emphatic placement of “He” which begins this stanza and line with an accent
HE did NOT in a FI-ery CHAR-iots-SHINE
There are three things to say about this conflict: two explanations for why the conflict is not as sharp as it may appear. And a third point: the source for Taylor’s shift in imagery.
Why the Conflict is not as Sharp as it may Seem
First, Taylor’s poetry constantly bursts the bounds of language: He is trying to describe things for which there are no good human analog, and thus odd inversions of language may be necessary. Taylor has a Scriptural basis for this: for example Hell is described as both a place of fire and darkness (Matt. 8:12; 2 Peter 2:17; Matt. 25:41). In attempting to describe the glory of the Ascension Taylor simply runs out of language.
Second, the contrast is not as sharp as it may seem. Having said that Jesus ascended in a chariot of the “azure clouds” (itself, an impossible image), Taylor dispels the image which comes to mind by saying, It was not a chariot like Elijah.
Elijah’s chariot is found in 2 Kings 2. Elijah, the aging prophet, takes along his disciple, Elisha. Elisha fears that Elijah will be taken away and thus watches Elijah closely:
11 And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.2 Kings 2:11 (ESV)
Unlike Elijah, Jesus did not need some assistance to enter heaven: Jesus walks into the Kingdom as King:
Each step trod on a golden stepping stone
Of diety unto his very throne.
Third, the Basis for Taylor’s Shifting Imagery
The rhythm here is stately: EACH STEP TROD on a GOLD-en STEPing STONE
The three accented words at the beginning of the line require one to slow to speak the words. The addition of 6, rather than 5, accents also makes the line slow. Jesus was not hurried, he entered into his kingdom at a slow stately pace.
Another reason for the difference between the second and third stanza comes from two separate passages which describe the event. In Acts 1, Christ’s Ascension looks like one being charioted by the clouds (to be poetic):
9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.Acts 1:9 (ESV)
This visible description is to be read along with the descriptions of the Psalms and Hebrews:
Psalm 24:7–10 (ESV)
7 Lift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle!
9 Lift up your heads, O gates!
And lift them up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory! Selah
And:
Hebrews 1:6–9 (ESV)
6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let all God’s angels worship him.”
7 Of the angels he says,
“He makes his angels winds,
and his ministers a flame of fire.”
8 But of the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
Thus, when viewed from a human perspective, Jesus is being brought up into the clouds. But when viewed from the the heavenly perspective, he is the King marching into his Kingdom.
Edward Taylor: View All Ye Eyes Above.2
19 Saturday Mar 2016
Posted in Ascension, Edward Taylor, Literature, Philippians, Psalms, Puritan, Uncategorized
Tags
ascension, Edward Taylor, poem, Poetry, prosody, Spurgeon, Treasury of David, View All Ye Eyes Above
The analysis of the previous stanza made be found here
Upon the wings he of the wind rode in
His bright sedan, through all the silver skies
And made the azure cloud his chariot bring
Him to the mountain of celestial joys.
The Prince of the Air durst not an arrow spend
While through his realm his chariot did ascend.
The entire poem concerns the Ascension of Jesus following the Resurrection. Jesus having been resurrected ascends to heaven as King of All.
The image is of Christ ascending through the air up to heaven in great power. Satan can see the ascent of Christ but cannot attack:
Romans 6:9 (AV)
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Biblical Allusions:
Upon the wings:
The allusion here is to metaphorical references to God coming in Judgment or great power.
Psalm 18:9–12 (AV)
9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet. 10 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. 12 At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.
The allusion is also to God unassailed power over all his creation:
Psalm 104:1–5 (AV)
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty. 2 Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: 3 Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind: 4 Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire: 5 Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.
The mountain of celestial joys:
The place of God’s peculiar residing is sometimes referred to as “heaven” and sometimes as on a mountain. The allusion here seems in particular to be Psalm 24:
Psalm 24 (AV)
Psalm 24
A Psalm of David.
1 The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. 2 For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6 This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.
7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. 10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.
This psalm is particular appropriate to Taylor’s poem because it concerns the Ascension of Christ, beginning in verse 7: The King of Glory coming through the everlasting doors.
Then follows the apostrophe: the prophet foresees the ascension of Christ and his saints into the kingdom of heaven. He sees his Lord marching at the head of the redeemed world, and conducting them into regions of honour and joy. Suitably to such a view, and in a most beautiful strain of poetry, he addresses himself to the heavenly portals. “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory,” with all the heirs of his grace and righteousness, shall make their triumphant entry; “shall enter in,” and go out no more.—James Hervey.
C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 1-26, vol. 1 (London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 382–383.
The Prince of the Air: Satan
Ephesians 2:1–3 (AV)
1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Mechanics
A-B-A-B-C-C
The first line is the most interesting metrically
– ‘ – ‘ ‘ – – ‘ ‘ –
Up on the wings he of the wind rode in
Two observations: the accent on “he” coming after the accented “wings” brings a jolt and lays the attention fully upon the main character in the scene. Second, the unaccented “in” hurries the attention along to “His bright sedan”. The same effect is rendered in the third line which ends with “bring”.
In the fourth line, the rhythm slows. There is a long pause after of “mountain” created by normal mid-line pause followed by two unaccented syllables. The effect is to slow the scene as the King arrives at the mountain — with the emphasis falling last of all upon “joys”.
Satan then comes along in the couplet as an impotent enemy gazing in rage at his loss:
Colossians 2:15 (AV)
15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
Edward Taylor: View all ye eyes above.1
20 Tuesday Jan 2015
Posted in Ascension, Edward Taylor, Literature, Philippians
Tags
ascension, Carmen Christi, Edward Taylor, Philippians, Philippians 2, poem, Poetry, Puritan Poetry
View all ye eyes above, this sight which flings
Seraphic fancies in chill raptures high,
A turf of clay, yet bright Glory’s King
From dust to glory angel-like to fly.
A clod immortalized, behold,
Flies through the skies swifter than an angel could.
In this poem, Taylor meditates upon Philippians 2:9:
Therefore, God has highly exalted him
And bestowed on him the name
That is above every name, (10)
So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow
In heaven and on earth and under the earth
(11) And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the Glory of God the Father.
The lines come at the end of the famous Carmen Christi (Song of Christ) which speaks of the Son of God prior to his incarnation (being God), willing became incarnate, suffered and died, was buried, resurrected and then ascends. Verse 9 begins the account of Christ’s ascension, that is, his ascending to the right hand of majesty on high to be seated as king.
“Eyes above”: all the heavenly realm.
Seraph: an angelic being. Isaiah 6:2:
Above him [the Lord] stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.”
“A turf of clay”: Jesus Christ was a human being with a rational human soul: “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God” (1 John 4:2).
“Yet bright Glory’s king”: Even though a man, Jesus was also God incarnate, and thus the King of Glory:
Psalm 24:7–10 (ESV)
7 Lift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle!
9 Lift up your heads, O gates!
And lift them up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory! Selah
“A clod immoratlized” Jesus having risen from the dead, dies no more:
Romans 6:9 (ESV)
9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.
memoirandremains 