“After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…” – Hebrews 1:3b
It’s hard to imagine a more jaw-dropping, heart-pounding, awe-inspiring revelation of Jesus Christ as He is today, in full glory, being worshiped by the angels who surround His throne as the Center of creation and who are sent out from there on missions to serve Him in the earth. A Bible commentary says,
To sit at the right hand of royalty was regarded as a great honor and proved that someone was worthy of great respect. Treating one’s conquered enemies as a footstool is a metaphor taken from the ancient practice of a conquering king placing his foot on the neck of a defeated king as a symbolic gesture of triumph. Why is Jesus sitting, rather than standing, at God’s right hand? The book of Hebrews proceeds to answer this question. He has done his priestly work of purification for sin and now waits until the final judgment (Ps. 110:1). Jesus used Psalm 110:1 with reference to himself in Mark 14:62. Even the Jews of the first century a.d. understood Psalm 110 to refer to the Messiah. (1)
While Hebrews often looks back to Jesus’ years on earth in humility to live without sin, die for our sin, and rise for our salvation, the emphasis is on Jesus’ current glory and future glorious dominion over all as King and Lord. Those who originally heard Hebrews were struggling and suffering. What emboldened and encouraged their faith was looking to Jesus, who is in glory today and is coming again in full authority as the object of our faith and the hope of our heart. The same is true for us. The more we can consistently keep Jesus Christ as the center of our focus and hope, seeing Him ruling and reigning right now in all glory with unlimited sovereign power, the more we are able to live by faith with joy as God intends.
How are you doing at keeping Jesus the center of your life? Is there anything that needs to change for you to focus on Him more?
(1) Robert B. Hughes and J. Carl Laney, Tyndale Concise Bible Commentary, The Tyndale Reference Library (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), 664.
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