At the Right Hand of the Father

To sit at the right hand of the Father is a mystery that belongs to the Incarnation. For it does not suit that bodiless nature apart from the taking on of flesh; nor is the honor of a heavenly seat sought for the divine nature, but for the human. That is why it is said of him, “Your seat, O God, is prepared from that time on; you are from everlasting.” The seat, then, on which the Lord Jesus was to sit was prepared from everlasting, he “at whose name every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth; and every tongue will confess to him that Jesus is Lord, in the glory of God the Father.” Of him David also speaks in this way: “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” Referring to these words, the Lord said to the Pharisees in the Gospel, “If, then, David in the Spirit calls him Lord, how is he his son?” By this he showed that according to the Spirit he was David’s Lord, and according to the flesh he was David’s son. That is why the Lord himself says in another place, “Truly I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power of God.” And the apostle Peter says of Christ, “Who is at the right hand of God, seated in the heavens.” And Paul also, writing to the Ephesians: “According to the working of the might of his power, which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand.” [a]