إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ وَرَافِعُكَ إِلَيَّ
(آل عمران 3:55)
Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on John, 9 (PG 74, 182-183)

Εἰ μὴ πολλαὶ τοιγαροῦν ἦσαν αἱ παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶ μοναὶ, ταύτης ἂν ἕνεκεν τῆς αἰτίας προαποδημήσειν ἔφη, ὡς δηλονότι προετοιμάσαι τὰ τῶν ἁγίων ἐνδιαιτήματα· πολλὰς δὲ οὔσας εἰδὼς προητοιμασμένας ἤδη, καὶ τῶν ἀγαπώντων Θεὸν περιμενούσας τὴν ἄφιξιν, οὐχὶ ταύτης ἕνεκα τῆς αἰτίας ἀποδημήσων, φησὶν, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἀνόδου τῆς πρὸς τὸ ἄνω, νομὴν ὥσπερ τινὰ καὶ τόπον προευτρεπίσων ὑμῖν, καὶ τὸ πάλαι δύσβατον ἐξομαλιῶν. ἄβατος γὰρ ἦν ἀνθρώποις παντελῶς ὁ οὐρανὸς, καὶ οὐ πεπάτηκε πρότερον πώποτε σὰρξ τὸ καθαρὸν ἐκεῖνο καὶ πάναγνον τῶν ἀγγέλων χωρίον, ἐνεκαίνισε δὲ πρῶτος ἡμῖν τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν ἄνοδον ὁ Χριστὸς, καὶ τόπον ἔδωκεν ἀνόδου τῆς εἰς οὐρανὸν τῇ σαρκὶ, ἀπαρχὴν ὥσπερ τινὰ τῶν κεκοιμημένων, καὶ ἐν γῆς χώματι κειμένων, ἑαυτὸν ἀνακαινίσας τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶ, καὶ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος ὀφθεὶς τοῖς ἐν οὐρανῷ.
If there were not many dwelling places with God the Father, he would have said that he was departing for this reason: to prepare places for the saints to stay. But he knew that there were many dwelling places already prepared, waiting for the arrival of those who love God. So he did not say he was departing to prepare them a dwelling place, but to prepare a kind of passage or space for your upward ascension, paving the way that was formerly impassable. For heaven was entirely inaccessible to men, and no flesh had ever trod in that pure and all-holy territory of the angels. Christ was the first to open for us that upward ascent. He gave flesh passage to ascend to heaven. For he became the first fruit of those who sleep and lie under ground. He presented himself anew to God the Father, the first man to be seen in heaven.

τοιγάρτοι καὶ τὸ σεπτὸν καὶ μέγα τῆς ἐπιδημίας τῆς μετὰ σαρκὸς μυστήριον οὐκ εἰδότες οἱ κατ' οὐρανὸν ὄντες ἄγγελοι, ἀνιόντα κατετεθήπεσαν, ἐπὶ δὲ τῷ ξένῳ καὶ ἀήθει πράγματι μονονουχὶ τεθορυβημένοι φασί «Τίς οὗτος ὁ παραγενόμενος ἐξ Ἐδώμ;» τουτέστιν, ἐκ γῆς· ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀδίδακτον τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς ἀξιαγάστου σοφίας τὴν ἄνω πληθὺν ἀφῆκε τὸ Πνεῦμα, διεκελεύετο δὲ μᾶλλον ὡς βασιλεῖ καὶ τῶν ὅλων Δεσπότῃ τὰς οὐρανίους ἀνοιγνύναι πύλας ἀναφωνοῦν «Ἄρατε πύλας οἱ ἄρχοντες ὑμῶν, καὶ ἐπάρθητε πύλαι αἰώνιοι, καὶ εἰσελεύσεται ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης.»
The angels in heaven did not know about this wonderful and great mystery of the [Word's] coming in flesh. They were astounded seeing him come up, and shaken by this strange and unusual sight , they said: "Who is this who comes from Edom?" (Is 63:1), that is, from the earth. But the Spirit had not neglected to teach that sublime multitude about that admirable wisdom of God the Father. For he had ordered the heavenly gates to be opened for the king and lord of all, when he declared: "Lift the gates, your rulers; rise up, eternal gates, and the king of glory will enter" (Ps 24).

ἐνεκαίνισε τοίνυν ἡμῖν ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστὸς ὁδὸν πρόσφατον καὶ ζῶσαν, ὡς ὁ Παῦλός φησιν, «οὐκ εἰς χειροποίητα ἅγια εἰσελθὼν, ἀλλ' εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν οὐρανὸν, νῦν ἐμφανισθῆναι τῷ προσώπῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν.» οὐ γὰρ ἑαυτὸν ἐμφανίσων τῷ προσώπῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς ἀναβέβηκεν ὁ Χριστός· ἦν γὰρ καὶ ἔστι καὶ ἔσται διὰ παντὸς ἐν Πατρὶ, καὶ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς τοῦ ἰδίου γεννήτορος, αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν, ᾧ προσχαίρει διὰ παντός· ἀνέβη δὲ νῦν ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἀσυνήθως τε καὶ ξένως ἐμφανισθῆναι ὁ πάλαι γυμνὸς ἀνθρωπότητος Λόγος. δι' ἡμᾶς δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, ἵνα καὶ ὡς ἄνθρωπος εὑρεθεὶς, ὡς Υἱὸς ἐν δυνάμει καὶ μετὰ σαρκὸς ἀκούσας καθόλου «Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου,» τῆς υἱοθεσίας τὴν δόξαν ὅλῳ δι' ἑαυτοῦ παραπέμψῃ τῷ γένει·
So our Lord Jesus Christ opened for us a fresh and living way, as Paul said: "He did not enter a man-made sanctuary, but heaven itself, to appear now in the presence of God for us" (Heb 9:24). He did not go up to appear in the presence of God the Father, for he is and always will be in the Father, and he is always in the sight of his own begetter, with whom he forever rejoices. But now he went up to appear in a different and unusual way: The Word, who formerly had no humanity, now presented himself as man. He did this for us, and for our sake, so that both as man and as Son, both with divine power and with flesh, he might hear: "Sit at my right hand" (Ps 110), and in that way communicate the glory of his sonship to the whole human race.

εἷς γάρ ἐστιν ἐξ ἡμῶν, καθὸ πέφηνεν ἄνθρωπος, ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς, εἰ καὶ ὑπὲρ πᾶσάν ἐστιν τὴν κτίσιν, καὶ ὁμοούσιος τῷ ἰδίῳ γεννήτορι, καθὸ πέφηνεν ἐξ αὐτοῦ Θεὸς ἐκ Θεοῦ καὶ φῶς ἐκ φωτὸς κατὰ ἀλήθειαν. ἐνεφανίσθη τοίνυν, ὡς ἄνθρωπος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τῷ Πατρὶ, ἵνα ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἐκ προσώπου γεγονότας διὰ τὴν ἀρχαίαν παράβασιν, στήσῃ πάλιν ὡς ἐν προσώπῳ τοῦ Πατρός· κεκάθικεν, ὡς Υἱὸς, ἵνα καὶ ἡμεῖς ὡς υἱοὶ δι' αὐτοῦ χρηματίσωμεν καὶ τέκνα Θεοῦ. διάτοι τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Παῦλος, ὁ τὸν Χριστὸν ἔχειν ἐν ἑαυτῷ λαλοῦντα διατεινόμενος, κοινὰ τῇ φύσει τῇ ἀνθρωπείᾳ τὰ εἰς αὐτὸν ἰδικῶς γεγονότα διδάσκων φησὶν, ὅτι «καὶ συνήγειρεν ἡμᾶς καὶ συνεκάθισεν ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις ἐν Χριστῷ.»
For he is one of us, as he appeared as man and sat to the right of God the Father, even though he is above all creation and is one in being with his Begetter, appearing from him as God from God and light from light in reality. He appeared as man before the Father for us, who had been cast out of his presence because of the ancient transgression, so that he might reinstate us once again in the Father's presence. He sat with the Father as Son, so that through him we can be called sons and children of God. Therefore Paul, who constantly heard Christ speaking in him, taught that what belonged to Christ properly was shared with our human nature, so that God "raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places, in Christ" (Eph 2:6).

ἴδιον μὲν γὰρ ὡς Υἱῷ κατὰ φύσιν ὑπάρχει Χριστῷ τὸ τῆς συνεδρείας ἀξίωμα, καὶ τὴν τοῦ συγκαθῆσθαι δόξαν αὐτῷ τε πρεπόντως καὶ μόνῳ ἀληθῶς ἀνακεῖσθαι φήσομεν. τὸ δὲ ὅλως καθ' ἡμᾶς ὑπάρχειν τὸν συνεδρεύοντα καθὸ πέφηνεν ἄνθρωπος μετὰ τοῦ νοεῖσθαι καὶ Θεὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ, παραπέμπει πως καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς τὴν ἐκ τοῦ ἀξιώματος χάριν.
For it belongs to Christ by right of being Son to sit with the Father, and we acknowledge that the he alone truly deserves the glory of sitting with him. But because he is totally one of us and sits as man, being at the same time God from God, he communicates to us a share of what belongs properly to himself.

Εἰ μὴ πολλαὶ τοιγαροῦν ἦσαν αἱ παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶ μοναὶ, ταύτης ἂν ἕνεκεν τῆς αἰτίας προαποδημήσειν ἔφη, ὡς δηλονότι προετοιμάσαι τὰ τῶν ἁγίων ἐνδιαιτήματα· πολλὰς δὲ οὔσας εἰδὼς προητοιμασμένας ἤδη, καὶ τῶν ἀγαπώντων Θεὸν περιμενούσας τὴν ἄφιξιν, οὐχὶ ταύτης ἕνεκα τῆς αἰτίας ἀποδημήσων, φησὶν, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἀνόδου τῆς πρὸς τὸ ἄνω, νομὴν ὥσπερ τινὰ καὶ τόπον προευτρεπίσων ὑμῖν, καὶ τὸ πάλαι δύσβατον ἐξομαλιῶν. ἄβατος γὰρ ἦν ἀνθρώποις παντελῶς ὁ οὐρανὸς, καὶ οὐ πεπάτηκε πρότερον πώποτε σὰρξ τὸ καθαρὸν ἐκεῖνο καὶ πάναγνον τῶν ἀγγέλων χωρίον, ἐνεκαίνισε δὲ πρῶτος ἡμῖν τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν ἄνοδον ὁ Χριστὸς, καὶ τόπον ἔδωκεν ἀνόδου τῆς εἰς οὐρανὸν τῇ σαρκὶ, ἀπαρχὴν ὥσπερ τινὰ τῶν κεκοιμημένων, καὶ ἐν γῆς χώματι κειμένων, ἑαυτὸν ἀνακαινίσας τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶ, καὶ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος ὀφθεὶς τοῖς ἐν οὐρανῷ.	If there were not many dwelling places with God the Father, he would have said that he was departing for this reason: to prepare places for the saints to stay. But he knew that there were many dwelling places already prepared, waiting for the arrival of those who love God. So he did not say he was departing to prepare them a dwelling place, but to prepare a kind of passage or space for your upward ascension, paving the way that was formerly impassable. For heaven was entirely inaccessible to men, and no flesh had ever trod in that pure and all-holy territory of the angels. Christ was the first to open for us that upward ascent. He gave flesh passage to ascend to heaven. For he became the first fruit of those who sleep and lie under ground. He presented himself anew to God the Father, the first man to be seen in heaven.
τοιγάρτοι καὶ τὸ σεπτὸν καὶ μέγα τῆς ἐπιδημίας τῆς μετὰ σαρκὸς μυστήριον οὐκ εἰδότες οἱ κατ' οὐρανὸν ὄντες ἄγγελοι, ἀνιόντα κατετεθήπεσαν, ἐπὶ δὲ τῷ ξένῳ καὶ ἀήθει πράγματι μονονουχὶ τεθορυβημένοι φασί «Τίς οὗτος ὁ παραγενόμενος ἐξ Ἐδώμ;» τουτέστιν, ἐκ γῆς· ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀδίδακτον τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς ἀξιαγάστου σοφίας τὴν ἄνω πληθὺν ἀφῆκε τὸ Πνεῦμα, διεκελεύετο δὲ μᾶλλον ὡς βασιλεῖ καὶ τῶν ὅλων Δεσπότῃ τὰς οὐρανίους ἀνοιγνύναι πύλας ἀναφωνοῦν «Ἄρατε πύλας οἱ ἄρχοντες ὑμῶν, καὶ ἐπάρθητε πύλαι αἰώνιοι, καὶ εἰσελεύσεται ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης.»	The angels in heaven did not know about this wonderful and great mystery of the [Word's] coming in flesh. They were astounded seeing him come up, and shaken by this strange and unusual sight , they said: "Who is this who comes from Edom?" (Is 63:1), that is, from the earth. But the Spirit had not neglected to teach that sublime multitude about that admirable wisdom of God the Father. For he had ordered the heavenly gates to be opened for the king and lord of all, when he declared: "Lift the gates, your rulers; rise up, eternal gates, and the king of glory will enter" (Ps 24).
ἐνεκαίνισε τοίνυν ἡμῖν ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστὸς ὁδὸν πρόσφατον καὶ ζῶσαν, ὡς ὁ Παῦλός φησιν, «οὐκ εἰς χειροποίητα ἅγια εἰσελθὼν, ἀλλ' εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν οὐρανὸν, νῦν ἐμφανισθῆναι τῷ προσώπῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν.» οὐ γὰρ ἑαυτὸν ἐμφανίσων τῷ προσώπῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς ἀναβέβηκεν ὁ Χριστός· ἦν γὰρ καὶ ἔστι καὶ ἔσται διὰ παντὸς ἐν Πατρὶ, καὶ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς τοῦ ἰδίου γεννήτορος, αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν, ᾧ προσχαίρει διὰ παντός· ἀνέβη δὲ νῦν ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἀσυνήθως τε καὶ ξένως ἐμφανισθῆναι ὁ πάλαι γυμνὸς ἀνθρωπότητος Λόγος. δι' ἡμᾶς δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, ἵνα καὶ ὡς ἄνθρωπος εὑρεθεὶς, ὡς Υἱὸς ἐν δυνάμει καὶ μετὰ σαρκὸς ἀκούσας καθόλου «Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου,» τῆς υἱοθεσίας τὴν δόξαν ὅλῳ δι' ἑαυτοῦ παραπέμψῃ τῷ γένει·	So our Lord Jesus Christ opened for us a fresh and living way, as Paul said: "He did not enter a man-made sanctuary, but heaven itself, to appear now in the presence of God for us" (Heb 9:24). He did not go up to appear in the presence of God the Father, for he is and always will be in the Father, and he is always in the sight of his own begetter, with whom he forever rejoices. But now he went up to appear in a different and unusual way: The Word, who formerly had no humanity, now presented himself as man. He did this for us, and for our sake, so that both as man and as Son, both with divine power and with flesh, he might hear: "Sit at my right hand" (Ps 110), and in that way communicate the glory of his sonship to the whole human race.
εἷς γάρ ἐστιν ἐξ ἡμῶν, καθὸ πέφηνεν ἄνθρωπος, ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς, εἰ καὶ ὑπὲρ πᾶσάν ἐστιν τὴν κτίσιν, καὶ ὁμοούσιος τῷ ἰδίῳ γεννήτορι, καθὸ πέφηνεν ἐξ αὐτοῦ Θεὸς ἐκ Θεοῦ καὶ φῶς ἐκ φωτὸς κατὰ ἀλήθειαν. ἐνεφανίσθη τοίνυν, ὡς ἄνθρωπος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τῷ Πατρὶ, ἵνα ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἐκ προσώπου γεγονότας διὰ τὴν ἀρχαίαν παράβασιν, στήσῃ πάλιν ὡς ἐν προσώπῳ τοῦ Πατρός· κεκάθικεν, ὡς Υἱὸς, ἵνα καὶ ἡμεῖς ὡς υἱοὶ δι' αὐτοῦ χρηματίσωμεν καὶ τέκνα Θεοῦ. διάτοι τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Παῦλος, ὁ τὸν Χριστὸν ἔχειν ἐν ἑαυτῷ λαλοῦντα διατεινόμενος, κοινὰ τῇ φύσει τῇ ἀνθρωπείᾳ τὰ εἰς αὐτὸν ἰδικῶς γεγονότα διδάσκων φησὶν, ὅτι «καὶ συνήγειρεν ἡμᾶς καὶ συνεκάθισεν ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις ἐν Χριστῷ.»	For he is one of us, as he appeared as man and sat to the right of God the Father, even though he is above all creation and is one in being with his Begetter, appearing from him as God from God and light from light in reality. He appeared as man before the Father for us, who had been cast out of his presence because of the ancient transgression, so that he might reinstate us once again in the Father's presence. He sat with the Father as Son, so that through him we can be called sons and children of God. Therefore Paul, who constantly heard Christ speaking in him, taught that what belonged to Christ properly was shared with our human nature, so that God "raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places, in Christ" (Eph 2:6).
ἴδιον μὲν γὰρ ὡς Υἱῷ κατὰ φύσιν ὑπάρχει Χριστῷ τὸ τῆς συνεδρείας ἀξίωμα, καὶ τὴν τοῦ συγκαθῆσθαι δόξαν αὐτῷ τε πρεπόντως καὶ μόνῳ ἀληθῶς ἀνακεῖσθαι φήσομεν. τὸ δὲ ὅλως καθ' ἡμᾶς ὑπάρχειν τὸν συνεδρεύοντα καθὸ πέφηνεν ἄνθρωπος μετὰ τοῦ νοεῖσθαι καὶ Θεὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ, παραπέμπει πως καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς τὴν ἐκ τοῦ ἀξιώματος χάριν.	For it belongs to Christ by right of being Son to sit with the Father, and we acknowledge that the he alone truly deserves the glory of sitting with him. But because he is totally one of us and sits as man, being at the same time God from God, he communicates to us a share of what belongs properly to himself.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on John, 9 (PG 74, 182-183)