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"He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Heb. 1: 3).
Now we know from the testimony of this same apostle that the burial, the resurrection,
and the ascension, must all have their place if we are ever to speak of a "finished" work
of Christ. Yet such is the special aspect of this epistle, that these facts are overleaped in
order that there shall be the closest possible association of thought between the purging of
sins and the seating of Him Who thus accomplished our sanctification.
While the actual seating of Christ is not mentioned in Heb. 3: 1 the believer is called
upon to consider Him both as "the Apostle"--that is the One sent from God, thus
embracing the first advent of the Lord, and as "the High Priest"--that is the One Who
returned back to God, His work having been accomplished. The insistence elsewhere in
this epistle on the fact that the Priest is seated enables us to realize that it is implied here.
The exhortation in Heb. 4: 16 to come boldly to the throne of grace likewise implies a
seated Christ. In Heb. 5: 6 Christ is first revealed as the High Priest after the Order of
Melchisedec and Psalm 110: 4 is quoted. The reader will remember that the Psalm opens
with the words:
"The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand" (Psa. 110: 1).
The very fact therefore that Christ is a priest after the Order of Melchisedec indicates
that He is now seated at the right hand of God.
The whole of Heb. 7: is occupied with the Melchisedec priesthood and its teaching,
and this the apostle summarizes as follows:
"Now of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum: We have such an high
priest Who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. A
minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not
man" (Heb. 8: 1, 2).
Chapter 9: is devoted to the typical teaching of the tabernacle, and explains the
meaning of the words, "the true tabernacle", which the apostle associated with the
"seated priest". Chapter 10: first shows that it is impossible that the blood of bulls and
goats could take away sin. It then gathers up all that has been taught in the earlier
chapters concerning the glorious fullness of the person of Christ: His unchanging
priesthood, His once-offered sacrifice, and His heavenly sanctuary, unpitched by man.
"And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after He had offered one
sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God" (Heb. 10: 11, 12).
A |
11. The standing priests.
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Work NEVER done.
B
| 11. The repeated sacrifices.
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B
| 12. The One Sacrifice.
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A |
12. The seated Priest.
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Work FOR EVER done.