It is now in heaven where our Lord ascended forty days after His resurrection (LVII. 1).
In what sense is it said that our Lord ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father?
In this sense, that He now enjoys the eternal peace of the blessedness of the Father, and that with the Father He has now the same royal and judiciary power over all things, a privilege which belongs to Jesus Christ alone (LVII., LVIII.).
Why, and in what sense, is judiciary power attributed to Jesus Christ?
Because Jesus Christ, as God, is the Wisdom of the Father, and the act of judging is an act of wisdom. and of truth; also because as man, Jesus Christ is a Divine Person; and because He has in His human nature the dignity of being the head of the whole Church, and consequently He is the head of all men who must be judged; further, because there resides in Him sanctifying grace in its fulness which makes Him capable of judging; and lastly, it is fitting that He who was judged unjustly should vindicate the rights of divine justice (LIX. 1-4).
Did our Lord commence to use this prerogative from the time of His Ascension into heaven?
Yes; and there is nothing that happens in the world which is not the effect of His government as He sits at the right hand of the Father. It is our Lord Jesus Christ, as God and as man, who ordains all things, whether it be question of human beings or of inanimate creatures, of angels good or bad (LIX. 5).
Will this power of our Lord over all extend also to the final and supreme judgment on the last day?
Yes; it is only then that He will exercise His power in all its fulness and perfection. It is only then that we shall appreciate the wisdom of His government of all things which are subjected to His royal and judiciary power; and by His judgment of men at the last day, each will receive fully what is his due (LIX. 5).
Does our Lord exercise His authority over both men and angels in the same way?
No; for although the good angels have received from God the Son their eternal happiness, and the bad angels their damnation, neither have received their deserts from the Son of God as man but as God. Whereas all men have received from Him, as man, the wherewith to reach eternal happiness. Moreover, God the Son, in so far as He is man, will pronounce the last sentence which will send the lost to their eternal sufferings on the last day. But both good and bad angels for ever are subject to His authority as man first of all from the day of His Incarnation, and more so from the day of His Ascension, all that they do to help man or to tempt him comes under the power and authority of Jesus Christ; and the good angels for their services will receive from Him, even according as He is man, their reward, and the bad angels the chastisement due to their wickedness (LIX. 6).
Next - The Catechism of the Summa - Tertia Pars - XXIV. OF THE SACRAMENTS OF JESUS CHRIST: OF THEIR NATURE AND NUMBER; OF THEIR NECESSITY; AND OF THEIR EFFICACY (A)
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