And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.
All Commentaries on Luke 24:50 Go To Luke 24
Bede
AD 735
We must not pass over the fact that Bethany is on the slope of the Mount of Olives. Just as Bethany represents a church obedient to the commands of the Lord, so the Mount of Olives quite fittingly represents the very person of our Lord. Appearing in the flesh, he excels all the saints, who are simply human beings, by the loftiness of his dignity and the grace of his spiritual power. We chant to him in the Psalms, “God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of happiness above your companions.” The present Gospel reading bears witness that he promised the favor of the same holy anointing to his companions, the faithful. He sent what he had promised, as we know, not long after that. It is delightful to hear how the house of obedience, the holy church, is built on the slope of the Mount of Olives. Let us read the Gospel of John where it said that when his suffering on the cross was fulfilled, “one of the soldiers opened his side with a lance, and immediately blood and water came out.” These truly are the sacraments by which the church is born and nourished in Christ. These are the water of baptism that cleanses the church from sins and the blood of the Lord’s chalice that confirms its gifts. It is also signed with the chrism of the Holy Spirit. The mountain on whose slope the holy city is situated, on which the gift of blessing is given, is properly called the Mount of Olives that it may be capable of being perfected on the day of redemption.
