"Unless the anointing of the Holy Spirit teaches inwardly, the preacher labors outwardly in vain"; whence Matthew 10: "For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you."
Although the Lord could have given the Holy Spirit immediately, he nevertheless wished to delay, both for the sake of inflaming the desire of the disciples to ask, according to that saying in Matthew 7: "Ask, and it shall be given to you." "For if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the good Spirit to those who ask him?" And for the sake of preserving the mystery, because on the fiftieth day after the passion—which is the number of remission and is composed of seven weeks of days with one unity added—to designate the sevenfold gift of the Holy Spirit. And lastly for the sake of example; whence the Gloss: "Although he could have strengthened them suddenly if he wished, he delayed so as to give an example to those who followed, lest the imperfect presume to preach before the proper time." Therefore Ecclesiastes 3: "A time to be silent and a time to speak"; and Sirach 18: "Before you speak, learn." Whence Jerome: "We learn that after much silence we may from disciples be made teachers. For it is the discipline of the Pythagoreans to be silent for five years, and after being instructed, to speak."
63. (Vers. 50.). Thirdly, as to the ascension of Christ, he adds: And he led them out to Bethany. This was not then, but on the fortieth day. This Bethany, moreover, is on the Mount of Olivet: whence above in chapter 19: "When he had drawn near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olivet." Now Bethany is interpreted as house of obedience, because through obedience one is placed on the mount that is Christ and is blessed by Christ and ascends into heaven.
And therefore he adds: And lifting up his hands, he blessed them; in which it is intimated that he is to be blessed by Christ who obeys him and does the works that he does for the sake of God. For, Hebrews six, "the earth, which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it and brings forth suitable vegetation, receives blessing from the Lord."
64. (Vers. 51.). But with such ones Christ ascended, and therefore he adds: And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he departed from them and was carried up into heaven. Then was fulfilled that word of the Psalm: "God is ascended with jubilation, and the Lord with the sound of the trumpet"; and again: "Ascending on high, he led captivity captive, he gave gifts to men." — His ascension was prefigured in the ascent of the little cloud, of which Third Kings eighteen: "Behold, a little cloud like a man's footprint was ascending," etc.; in the ascension of Elijah: Fourth Kings two: "Elijah ascended by a whirlwind into heaven"; and by the rising of the sun; whence Habakkuk three, according to another translation: "The sun was lifted up, and the moon stood still in its order."
And through this, that Christ ascended to the heavenly places, the Church of Christ was ordered in its degrees; whence Ephesians four: "He who descended is the same who also ascended, that he might fill all things." But Christ was carried up in one way, Elijah in another. For Elijah was carried by the power of Angels and of a fiery chariot, but Christ by his own power, with both spiritual and corporeal creation serving him. And therefore in the Psalm: "He who ascends above the setting of the sun, the Lord is his name"; and Isaiah sixty-three: "Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah, this one beautiful in his robe, striding in the greatness of his strength?"
65. (Vers. 52.). Fourth, as regards the devotion of the disciples, he adds: And they, worshipping him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy. With joy they return on account of the victory of the Lord, whom they saw had penetrated the heights of the heavens; whence the Gloss: "Because they see that their Lord, after the triumph of the resurrection, has penetrated the heavens, they rejoice." For Christ triumphed fully, according to that word in Colossians two: "Despoiling principalities and powers, he led them forth confidently, openly triumphing over them in himself." And about this they rejoiced, according to that word in Isaiah nine: "They shall rejoice before you, as those who rejoice at the harvest, as victors exult when the spoil is captured, when they divide the plunder."
66. (Verse 53). And because spiritual joy disposes us to spiritual acts, namely to praising and praying, he therefore adds: And they were always in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen . They were in the temple to pray and to await the Holy Spirit, according to that passage above in the twelfth chapter: "And you yourselves like men waiting for their lord, when he shall return," etc. And because it belongs to spiritual men not only to wait, but also to exult and in exulting to praise: and this is the final act and that of the fatherland, because it has no end, according to that passage of the Psalm: "Forever and ever they shall praise you"; therefore the most blessed Luke most fittingly placed his ending here.
He therefore makes his ending with the ascension of Christ, so that he might perfectly and completely describe that circuit which Christ made, concerning which the Psalm says: "His going forth is from the summit of heaven, and his circuit even to the summit thereof"; and John 16: "I came forth from the Father and came into the world; again I leave the world and go to the Father."
He makes his ending in the temple, so that, just as he began from the legal priesthood, namely that of Zechariah, so he might conclude with the spiritual priesthood. Whence the Gloss: "Luke, who undertook to set forth the priesthood of Christ more fully than the others, began his Gospel from the ministry of the temple through the priesthood of Zechariah, and beautifully completed it in the devotion of the temple."
He also made his ending in the praise of God, in which there is an end without end. Whence Augustine in the last book of the City of God: "The Lord's day, which was consecrated as an eternal eighth day by the resurrection of Christ, prefigures the eternal rest not only of the spirit but also of the body, where we shall be at leisure and we shall see and we shall love and we shall praise: which shall be in the end without end. For what other end is ours but to arrive at the kingdom which has no end?" To which may Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lead us, through the intercession of his most sweet Mother and the most blessed Evangelist Luke; who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns as God forever and ever. Amen.