.svg)
“After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high having become as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.” Hebrews 1:3-4
The Lord Jesus did one thing that no priest of the temple had ever been able to do. He sat down. After making purification for sins he was able to sit down for the simple reason that there was no longer a reason to stand. There were no more sin offerings to be made.
The sacrifice he made was complete, sufficient and final. The sins of the world were paid for once and for all, and all who believe in the Lord Jesus are recognised as righteous. Surrendering to his Lordship, by faith alone, we are now righteous in the sight of God, purified by the very blood that Christ shed on the Cross.
What a reason for our hearts to sing! And what confidence we have as we daily strive to master sin in our lives and fail daily to master it. The Lord continues to count us as sinless. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t continue the struggle against personal sin; instead we rejoice that our acceptance by God is not about how good we’ve been but entirely his mercy and grace.
But what, then, about the seat that he sat on? We read that the Lord Jesus “sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
Jesus had told his followers “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honour, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person’, and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place.” (Luke 14:8-9)
However, when Jesus sat down, he didn’t sit in the best seat at church (if there can be such a thing), nor even within parliament or a palace building, but at the best seat in the entire universe. And he did that with complete confidence. Jesus sits at the honoured right hand of God the Father, having brought glory to him, now to be glorified by him.
“I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” (John 17:4-5)
What a day it will be when all things are made new at the end of this earth. Standing in the new Jerusalem, followers of the Lord Jesus will see for ourselves the Father and the Son on their thrones and in their full glory. And our response to that will be to bow down and worship. Nothing else will matter. Secure for eternity, an inheritance to look forward to through present troubles.
He sat down.
John McLernon
General Secretary of Crosslinks
