Hebrews 1.1-4
When I hear the writer of Hebrews say that Jesus ‘sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high’, I am reminded of the words Jesus spoke to the high priest of Israel on the night before the crucifixion. We hear the story in the gospel of Mark. Jesus and his disciples are in the garden of Gethsemane. While the disciples each drift off into sleep, Jesus wrestles with God in prayer, deeply grieved to the point of death. He cries out saying, ‘Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what you will’ Once Jesus reaches that place of submission to the Father’s will through prayer, Judas arrives with a crowd armed with swords and clubs. They seize Jesus and bring him to the high priest. These are Mark’s words describing the encounter:
‘They took Jesus to the high priest; and all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes were assembled. Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the guards, warming himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death; but they found none. For many gave false testimony against him, and their testimony did not agree. Some stood up and gave false testimony against him, saying, “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’” But even on this point their testimony did not agree. Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?” But he was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
Jesus said, “I am; and ‘you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power,’ and ‘coming with the clouds of heaven.’”
Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “Why do we still need witnesses? You have heard his blasphemy! What is your decision?” All of them condemned him as deserving death. Some began to spit on him, to blindfold him, and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” The guards also took him over and beat him.’
In this horrific encounter the earthly high priest sits in judgment over the heavenly high priest. The earthly priest, like the priest before him and the priest before him, is a man beset with weakness. He is a man who can only offer sacrifice for the sins of others after he has offered a sacrifice for his own sin. And yet here he is, standing before the sacrifice for his own sin. He is standing before the heavenly high priest who himself has no sin and needs only to offer up a sacrifice for the sins of others.
And when the lowly carpenter from Nazareth declares that he would sit at the right hand of the Majesty on high, the high priest is outraged. Jesus’ words sound to his ears like the most outrageous blasphemy. That this presumptuous Nazarene would have the gall and irreverence to stand before the office of the high priest of Israel and declare that he would sit at God’s right hand! This was too much to be borne and so the high priest calls for judgment and Jesus is condemned.
I wonder if Jesus’ words to the high priest on that day actually made the priest rest easier about putting Jesus to death? I wonder if it made the priest say to himself, ‘I could not have gotten clearer blasphemy than what that man said! We are surely free from any guilt in putting him to death! We have done our duty.’ I wonder if perhaps Jesus’ words even helped the high priest to sleep peacefully the night after Jesus was put to death?
But Jesus’ words must be measured in the light of his resurrection. The writer of Hebrews, who stands on the other side of Jesus’ condemnation, the other side of his death, who stands in the light of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, not only says that Jesus sat down at the right hand of the power, but that Jesus is the heir of all things; that all the world was created through him that He is the reflection of God’s glory, the exact imprint of God’s very being, and that he sustains all things by his powerful word. He goes on to say that this Jesus, the man who stood before the earthly high priest of Israel and was condemned, is superior even to angels, worthy of greater honor than Moses, a greater high priest than any that ever were before him, and that the salvation brought about through his death and resurrection is the basis for a covenant better than that which was given in the past through the law of Moses.
The claims that seemed to be outrageous blasphemy before the high priest, are embraced by Jesus’ followers when he is raised from the dead. May we who also live on this side of the resurrection not only stand in faith believing that Jesus made purification for our sins and sat down at the right hand of God, but that he will come again upon the clouds.
Let us pray together,
Jesus, you are higher than we can imagine. You are seated at the right hand of the throne of power and you will come again on the clouds of heaven. Even so, come LORD Jesus!
Amen.