Is Jesus Standing at God's Right Hand?

Summary

Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.

Point one — one God, and a genuinely human Jesus

• The question posed (in the host's frame): several verses in the new testament describe jesus, sitting or standing, at god's right hand. probably one of the most frequently referenced is acts (the verse as the question gives it) — where stephen is being stoned, and he looks up into heaven, as he's being murdered, and he sees the glory of god, and jesus standing at the right hand of god. Now, if we take these verses at face value: don't they indicate some sort of separation, or distinction, between jesus and god? I mean, after all: how can jesus, the son of god, and god the father, be one and the same — if stephen really saw jesus, standing at the right hand of god? The answer: this is a very common question. And it's a good question. So, to answer it scripturally, there are a couple things we need to note, first. First of all: jesus christ was a real human being, in every way, just like us — except for sin. So the bible — the new testament particularly — does make a distinction, between god and jesus. It's not a distinction of two divine persons. There's only one god. And there's no distinction of persons, in his eternal essence. Deuteronomy (the verse as he gives it): hear, o israel ('hero israel', as heard): the lord our god is one lord. And there are many other statements of the bible. For example, in isaiah, god says: i'm alone. There's none beside me. There's none like me. There's none before me. There's none after me. When i created the universe, i stretched forth the heavens alone. I spread the earth by myself. I will not give my glory to another. So the bible is full of statements, that god is one. However, jesus was a real human being. So, in order to protect the authentic, genuine humanity of jesus, the new testament speaks of the father and the son. Or god and jesus. And here is a classic example. So that's the first point i would like to make.

Scriptures: Acts 7:55; Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah (book-only)

Point two — God is a spirit, so the right hand must be a metaphor

• The second point (a fused caption timestamp fragment is struck from this sentence by the recorded fix) is: that god is a spirit — john (the verse as he gives it). In fact, john (the verse as he gives it) says: no man has seen god, at any time. Now, notice: that statement was written after the incarnation. After the death, burial, resurrection, life — the ascension of jesus ('after the death burial resurrection life the ascension of jesus', as the sentence's words pile). So even after the disciples had seen jesus, for years, john was able to write: no one has seen god, at any time. That's talking about god's spirit. So god, as a spirit, is invisible. So, when you say jesus is standing at the right hand of god, or jesus is sitting at the right hand of god: you must understand it as a metaphor. You cannot understand it as a literal description of bodies. If you do, you have the question: how can you see god? God's a spirit. God's invisible. Is jesus sitting, or is he standing? Or does he just change position, every so often? It's been a couple thousand years, since he ascended to heaven. Can he walk around, or does he have to sit there, you know? Or maybe he's on the right hand. Maybe it's a giant right hand, and he's standing on the right hand. You can easily see: this becomes absurd, when you try to make it a physical positioning of bodies. Then also: if you have two different bodies — in what meaningful sense do you have one god? Any normal person — if i showed you a picture of an old man, and a young man, if that be the case, sitting here — would they say, oh, there's one person? No, they would say, you know: that's two ('no they would say you know that's one god there no that's two', as the sentence tangles). And then another question: well, if there's a trinity, as this discussion leads to — well, where's the third person? Is he absent? So, when you get to heaven, are you going to see an old man, a young man, and a dove? Is the third person an animal? Even — in revelation (the chapter as he gives it), it talks about the lamb. So is the second person actually going to be a man, or is it going to be an animal? So, when you try to interpret these verses in a physical sense, you quickly go to absurdity. So, if god is a spirit, god is invisible. And god is omnipresent. Psalm (the psalm as he gives it) says god is everywhere. So where would god's right hand be? How — where would — if jesus, we do believe, has a physical body even now — he's in a glorified physical body, somewhere transcending this universe. I think his spirit is everywhere. But he will come back to earth, in his glorified body. We will actually see him. But if there is that one body of god, which god has chosen: well, where would be the right hand of god, so that this body could go? Where would he go? I mean, is it, you know, on the earth, or in heaven? So the point is: we need to look at this as a metaphorical expression. And sure enough, in the languages of the bible — both the hebrew, of the old testament, the greek, of the new testament — there is a metaphor, much like we have in english, when we say: this is my right hand man. We say: this is the person that executes my will. This is the person that does most of my work. This is the person i rely on heavily. And the reason is: 90% of people are naturally right-handed ('90 of people', as heard). So instinctively, a right-handed person thinks of the right hand as having power. And if you are right-handed — of course, if you're left-handed, the opposite is true. But the point is still there: when you try to write with your left hand, or you try to throw with your left hand, or you try to fight with your left hand: you quickly feel awkward. You can't get the job done. You feel foolish, weak, helpless. But if you can use your right hand, you feel strong. So that's why it's a metaphor: the right hand is the position of power and authority. And also, in ancient times, the right hand position, like of a king, is a position of honor. If you sit at the right hand — and you see this in the new testament — then you're seated in the position of honor. So actually, what we're saying is: the visible man jesus is at the right hand of the invisible spirit of god. In other words: the visible man jesus has been invested, with all the power and authority, of the one true god.

Scriptures: John 4:24; John 1:18; Psalm 139; Revelation 5

What Stephen saw, and what John saw — one, in glory

• And why is that so important? Well, in christ's earthly ministry, he just appeared to be an ordinary man. Of course, the people with eyes of faith: they saw him do miracles, they heard him speak, they realized he's more than just a man. But just to the average person, he would look like a typical man. But after he ascended to heaven, he assumed the position of glory. So when stephen was dying, he saw the glorified christ. He didn't just see him as an ordinary man, walking around on earth. To draw the contrast: the apostle john — on a human level, was a close friend of jesus. So, so close: he leaned up against his breast, at the last supper ('leaned up against his breasts', as heard). And when jesus was talking about somebody is going to betray me: peter reached over to john, said: ask him what he's talking about. Because john was at the closest position. And, on the human level, you know: if anybody could get something out of jesus, no doubt it'd be john ('no doubt to be john', as heard). Okay? So that's how close they were. But in revelation (the chapter as he gives it), when this same apostle john saw the ascended christ: he fell at his feet, as if he were dead ('he fell down his feet as if we were dead', as heard). He was so overwhelmed, by the glory of god. Hey: what happened? You walked with him for three years. You ate lunch with him. You leaned up against him. It's no big deal. You're his best friend ('you're his your best friend', as heard). But now you see him, and you just fall out. Because he saw him with the glory of god. The right-hand position. He saw him as god, manifested in the flesh. So if you read acts (the chapter as he gives it) very carefully: it does not say stephen saw two bodies. It doesn't even say stephen saw god, and stephen saw jesus. It says stephen saw the glory of god, and jesus standing at the right hand of god. So i would say: stephen saw this cloud of glory, which was a manifestation of god. You can't directly see god's invisible spirit. But god could reveal his glory, as in the old testament. And the way i picture it ('and then ice the way i picture it', as heard): in the middle of this cloud of glory, i imagine stephen looking up. And he sees this cloud of glory — obviously, the glory of god. But as he looks closely, he sees one man emerging out of it. And that's jesus. He can recognize him. But it's not just jesus, as he appeared on earth. It's jesus, as god. And so how does he say it? I see jesus, standing at the right hand of god. In other words: i see jesus, in the position of power. I see jesus, with all glory. Now, if he saw two bodies, you would have this violation: somebody actually did see god. But then: if you keep reading to the end of the chapter (as he gives it), stephen said: lord jesus, receive my spirit. If he saw two, he ignored one, and he prayed only to jesus. So i'm persuaded that he saw one. And therefore he prayed to one. He spoke to one. And that one is jesus.

Scriptures: Revelation 1; Acts 7

The metaphor throughout scripture — and the conclusion

• Now, if it seems a little far-fetched, that i'm using this metaphor: actually, you say — the whole bible, you'll see the right hand is repeatedly used as such a metaphor. For example, exodus (the locator settling as he delivers it): when the israelites were rejoicing over the fact that god had delivered them from the red sea, they sang: your right hand, o god, is glorious in power. Your right hand delivers from the enemy. Did a giant hand come out of heaven? If so, how do we know it wasn't the left hand? Did a giant hand come out, and scoop them up? No. It's talking about the power of god. The psalms: david said, the lord is at my right hand. Did jehovah have a physical body, and he always walked around on david's right side? The lord is at the right hand of the poor. Or, matthew (the verse as he gives it): here's a great example, from jesus christ himself. When he was on trial, he told the sanhedrin — the jewish council, the high priest: you're going to see the heavens open, and the son of man coming at the right hand of power (as he renders the saying). So when jesus comes back in the clouds, are we going to see two bodies up there, with jesus at the right hand of another body? No. What he was saying: you're going to see me. But you're going to see me not as i am here, your prisoner. You're going to see me coming, at the right hand of power. In other words: you're going to see me coming, with the glory of god. So jesus himself interprets this: the right hand position is not talking about a position of two bodies. It's talking about a position of power. And this statement is used, throughout scripture. In hebrews, the right hand position may signify that he is our intercessor. That, through his death, burial, resurrection, he intercedes, as a human, to god, as the high priest. But i think, overall, the primary emphasis is to say: that man jesus is not just a man. But he has been invested, with the power, and authority, and glory of god. In fact, it's revealing jesus, as god manifest in the flesh ('god manifests in the flesh', as the phrase stands at these points). So i would say: jesus standing on the right hand of god means: jesus, our mediator. Jesus, our representative. Is actually the true god, manifest in the flesh, with all glory and power. So it's a powerful affirmation, of the oneness of god. And the deity of the lord jesus christ.

Scriptures: Exodus 15:6; Psalms (book-only); Matthew 26:64

Scripture index: Acts 7:55; Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah (book-only); John 4:24; John 1:18; Psalm 139; Revelation 5; Revelation 1; Acts 7; Exodus 15:6; Psalms (book-only); Matthew 26:64.