Ascension and Pentecost

The liturgical feast of the Ascension provides the occasion to point out an interesting parallel between the New Testament and the Jewish tradition.

In the Epistle to the Ephesians, one can find this passage: “But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it is said, "When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people” (Ephesians 4:7-8, citing Psalm 68:19). This biblical verse is rather obscure and the translations differ and are uncertain. The author of the Epistle cites it quite freely and it could also be understood to say: “as a man you took gifts”.

The usage of this verse can be clarified when compared wth a passage in the Talmud that cites this same verse too (bShabbat 88b-89a). This passage gives us a very colorful description of the scene of Moses climbing Mount Sinai and arriving in the heavenly sphere in order to receive the Torah. His bursting into the upper world, causes great confusion among the angels. “Master of the world, what is this son of a woman doing among us?” Their confusion is even greater when God reveals to them why Moses has come. “He has come to get the Torah”. The Torah, which had been created before the creation of the world and which the angels were used to see among them, at the center of the heavens, was now going to go down to earth and be profaned by men! “Answer them,” God told Moses. “Master of the world, I fear that they will burn me up with the breathof their mouth!” “Grasp my throne of glory and give them an answer!” Moses then tried to show the angels that they had no need of a Torah that said “I am the Lord your Gord who brought you out of the Land of Egypt… do not steal… do not kill… honor your father and mother”. “Were you captives in Egypt?... Are you jealous of one another?... Do you have fathers and mothers? Amazed by the pertinence of his answers, the angels each gave him a gift. With the Torah, Moses thus brought heavenly gifts to earth. “As a man,” he captured the gifts of heaven and brought them down to earth.

This Talmudic text clarifies the passage in the Epistle, showing how the verse of the Psalm was used in the Jewish tradition. Like Moses, Jesus ascended and “as a man” he brought down the heavenly gifts to earth. What follows in the Epistle clarifies that this refers to the charisms and ministries which have as their goal the edification of the Body of Christ.

There is however a difference between Moses and Jesus: Moses began from below, he ascened and then descended. Jesus, as we are told in the Epistle, started with his descent and then he ascended. Without redescending, he distributed the celestial gifts from on high. Liturgically, this passage throws light on the link that unites Pentecost with the Ascension: ascending on high, Jesus sends down the Holy Spirit and all the gifts that accompany him.