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the Sanhedrin ... Of this Ab din mention is made in the Targum, Cant. 7:4, The Father of the house of judgment,
who judgeth the judgments agreeably to that. The Father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgment unto
the Son' (Dr. John Owen).
The fullest description in Hebrews of the place where the ascended Lord is now seated is in chapter 8:1, where it
is said to be not only at the right hand of God, or at the right hand of His throne, but
`On the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens'.
The only other reference in Hebrews that uses the word majesty is Hebrews 1:3. This word megalosune is used
by David in the LXX of 1 Chronicles 22:5. `The house that is to be builded for the Lord must be exceeding
magnifical', and Hebrews 3:3-6 shows that Christ is building a house `whose house are we', and Solomon
recognized that, however `magnifical' the house he had built might be, God could not be contained even in the
`heaven of heavens'. Yet within a few lines, he prayed that the Lord would `hear from thy dwelling place, even
heaven' (2 Chron. 6:18,21), and it is there `in heaven itself', in the true Tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not
man, that Christ has entered `now to appear in the presence of God for us' (Heb. 8:1,2; 9:24).
Megalosune `majesty' is ascribed to God by Moses in `The Song of Jehovah's Name' (Deut. 32:3), and in the
prophecy of Nathan to David concerning the building of God's house by Solomon (2 Sam. 7:21,23). The only other
king who has the term `majesty' applied to him in Scripture is Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 4:22; 5:18,19), and this is
doubly significant when we learn that the last and only other reference in Daniel is to the glorious kingdom of the
Messiah, with which it was so great a contrast:
`And the kingdom and the authority and the majesty of the kings that are under the whole heaven were given to
the saints of the Most High; and His kingdom is an aeonion kingdom, and all principalities shall serve and obey
Him' (Dan. 7:27 LXX).
The reader will observe in this last reference `the principalities and powers' (arches kai exousias) of Ephesians
1:21. Here we have Moses, David, Solomon, Nebuchadnezzar and finally and completely, the Coming of the Son of
Man.
The Ascension and session of the Saviour at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty on high is a sign that
these prophecies of His glory shall be as surely fulfilled as were all those of His humiliation.
`He came where he was'
The revelation given in Hebrews 1:2,3 is comparable with Colossians 1:15-19, Philippians 2:5-11 and John
1:1-18 in the majesty of its theme - the Person of `The Son', Who in the beginning was `The Word', `The Form' and
the `Image' of the Invisible God. It comes somewhat as an anticlimax after reading that this Son of God was the
Express Image of the substance of God, and upholding all things by the word of His power, to read:
`Being made so much better than the angels' (Heb. 1:4).
What angel is ever spoken of as `The Form or the Image of the Invisible God'? What angel could be `The
Express Image of His substance'? We have purposely omitted the closing words, the words that form the link and
contain the explanation of this strange conclusion. After the attributes of Deity already quoted, we come to terms
that refer not to Deity, but to the mediatorial work and reward of the Son of God Who had taken upon Himself the
form or status of a slave. These links and explanatory claims are:
(1) He purged our sins; (2) As a consequence He sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.
We have already examined the exaltation of the Lord and what is implied by this session at the Right Hand, and
can readily see that inasmuch as for our redemption the Son of God was made a little LOWER than the angels (as we
shall discover by reading chapter 2), so as the triumphant Conqueror of sin and death, and still in the capacity of the
One Mediator, He can be spoken of as `being made' better than angels, and `obtaining by inheritance' a more
excellent name than they.