The human desire for freedom has spiritual roots. Christ Jesus' life and teachings point to a liberty so glorious that the human mind can barely fathom it, and his ascension demonstrates the ultimate freedom. The final record we have of our Master and Way-shower is his ascending above all earthly bondage. Yet he had tested every bond and broken through to incontestable liberty.
Enoch and Elijah had left earth apparently without passing through death. But the Bible records Christ Jesus as enduring the crucifixion, facing the bonds of death, proving them incapable of enslaving him, and then ascending, through spiritualization of his consciousness.
Jesus' resurrection returned him to the presence of others, though he remained freer than a human has ever been and exercised greater control over his experience than anyone else ever has. He was able to keep his identity for a time from two disciples as he walked and talked with them on their way to Emmaus. The Bible notes, "Their eyes were holden that they should not know him."Luke 24:16. Material walls offered no obstruction to him. We read in John, "When the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst."John 20:19. Later, he was free to provide breakfast for his disciples, apparently without laborious process. And after a period, called in Acts forty days, his spiritual sense lifted him above any earthly yearnings. He must have foreseen that his Messiah mission would accomplish its purpose of saving the whole world, and that his personal presence was no longer needed.
