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He is seated at the right hand of the Father, |
A statement of
faith, confirmed by prophecy in the Old Testament, and supported by a number
of visions in the New testament and since. |
There
are two key aspects to this statement. At the right hand – this is the place in
ancient lore of privilege and delegated power. Seated – this implies special
favour, indeed a co-equality with the Father; in a
ruler’s presence, you stood, not sat.
Several
Old Testament passages talk of the reception of the Messiah into heaven;
perhaps the best are at the end of Psalm 24 (NB: come in, implying that God had
left heaven) and in Psalm 110 … “The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right
hand, until I have made my enemies your footstool”. Even in this Psalm, there
is a time limit implied by “until”.
Jesus
himself simply said that he would be returning to the Father – going back to
the place He came from.
In
the later New Testament, a number of people had visions of Christ in glory; one
of the first was Stephen (Acts 7,56 … was Jesus
standing to receive His first martyr?) and notably in Revelation 2 and 3.
Why
is this important?
·
When
we pray to Jesus, we are praying to a human being who understands, and to a divine being with
power to act. It is not sending our thoughts into a mysterious void!
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