SITTING IN THE THRONE OF HIS GLORY

 

By Lloyd Dale (01-20-08)

 

 

 

 

Recently I came across a statement in an article which I was reading that really got my attention.  The author of the article wrote:

 

“When Christ ascended to the right hand of the Father, he finally received the Kingdom promised to him (Heb. 1). Ever since that time, Jesus has been reigning over his Kingdom. First Corinthians 15:25 states, “For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.” Jesus, our victorious King, is in the process of conquering his enemies on the earth.”

 

As we can see the author used “Heb 1” as the bases for his conclusion.  Does Hebrews 1 really demonstrate that Jesus Christ received the promised Kingdom at the time He ascended to the right hand of the Father?  This student of Scripture does not think so.  Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that Hebrews does not teach that Jesus received the promised Kingdom at the time of His ascension and to demonstrate when Jesus actually did receive the promised Kingdom.

 

While we may not have the exact date, it appears that Jesus ascended to the Father in ca. 33 AD.  A careful reading of Luke 21:28-32, which most certainly speaks about the events leading up and about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, will shed a great deal of light on the timing of Jesus Christ’s reception of the promised Kingdom:

 

“"Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."  Then He spoke to them a parable: "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees.  "When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near.  "So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.  "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. (Luke 21:28-32 NKJV)”

 

Historically, the events prophetically described by Jesus as recorded in Luke 21:8-27 occurred in the years of ca. 36-70 AD.  Jesus clearly instructed His listeners that “when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near!

 

"Near" does not mean "here".

 

In the above passage, Jesus clearly instructs His listeners that the promised Kingdom had not yet arrived, but that it was very “near.”  Once again, “near” does not mean “here”! If the kingdom had not arrived yet then Jesus most certainly was not ruling.  If he was, He was ruling a non existent kingdom.  How can a non existent kingdom be “ruled”?

 

Commentator Scott McKnight writes, "I cannot think the expression “kingdom of God” can ever mean anything other than a set of conditions in which God’s rule (or the rule of God’s Son) is carried out among his people. Kings need people ([to make up] kingdom) and that involves a society where God (or God’s Son) is king and God’s people are God’s (or God’s Son’s) subjects.[1]

 

However, when we turn to Hebrews chapter one, we will find no mention that Jesus “finally received the Kingdom promised to Him.”  What we do find is a discussion about Jesus in which the author states that Jesus “purges our sins and sits down at the right hand in the Majesty in highplaces”[2] in accordance with His instructions from God the Father in Psalms 110:1:

 

“…sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool”

 

At this point we should note that the phrase “your footstool” is an idiom that should be understood to mean - “place under your authority.”  In other words, in this passage, repeated in Hebrews 1:13, God the Father instructs His Messiah/Christ to come and sit down at my right hand until God places all of Christ’s enemies under His authority, i.e. until God gives Jesus the throne of David – “the throne of His glory” – which occurred in 70 AD.

 

A careful examination of this passage – compared with the quote above - will demonstrate that the author of the above quoted statement overlooked a very important word in God’s instruction to His Messiah.  This word “until” is often overlooked by Bible students who read this passage and conclude, as the writer above did, that Jesus received His promised kingdom when He ascended to the “right hand of the Father.”  Simply put, that is not what the Bible teaches.

 

This confusion about this passage is removed by an additional comment on this subject by the author of the letter to the Hebrews:

 

“But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting until His enemies are made His footstool. (Hebrews 10:12-13)”

 

Here the author of Hebrews clearly instructs us that Jesus did not receive His kingdom when he sat down at the right hand of the father, rather He sat down to wait a specific period of time, then the Father would place all of His enemies under His authority and give Him the kingdom.  We now know that the specific time of the “wait” was ca. 37 years as the Bible does teach that God gave Jesus “the throne of His glory” in ca. 70AD.  This is the on and only “Parousia” of Jesus Christ and it has nothing to do with a “return to earth” then or in the future.

 

The passages from Hebrews referenced above are the NT commentary on Psalm 110, especially verses 1-2:

 

“<<A Psalm of David.>> YHVH said to my (David’s) Lord (the resurrected Christ), "Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool."  The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies!  Your people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power; In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth. (Psalms 110:1-3 NKJV)”

 

As pointed out in Hebrews10:13, a key word in this passage is “until.”  Keeping this word in mind while we re-read this passage we learn that the passage demonstrates a progression.  1)  At His resurrection the anointed Prince is invited to ascend to heaven and be seated on the right hand of the Father.  In Jesus’ own commentary on this verse, He states, I sat “down with my Father in His throne.”[3]   2)  Jesus is to remain seated with his Father, until His Father gives Him the kingdom by placing all of His enemies under His authority.  This event is the Parousia referenced repeatedly in the NT.  In the Parousia, Jesus leaves His father’s throne and ascends to the throne of His glory, i.e. the promised and long awaited throne of His father David.  Commenting on this passage, Jesus states that He invites His faithful “overcomers” to ascend to heaven (by resurrection) and “sit with Me in My throne even as I also overcame and sat with My Father in His throne.”[4]  3) Once He is sitting on the throne of His glory God “sends the rod of (Jesus’) strength out or Zion” and so Jesus reigns “in the midst of His enemies.  Paul, commenting on this passage, states that, “He must reign until…He has put down all rule and all authority and power…when all things shall be subdued unto Him…”[5]

 

From the above, we learn that the "Parousia" of Jesus Christ has nothing what-so-ever to do with Jesus returning to earth.  His "Parousia" is His enthronement on the throne of David in fulfillment of the prophecies as summed up in Luke 1:32-33:

 

""He (Jesus) will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David (I.e., The Parousia of Jesus Christ). "And He will reign (what Jesus is doing during His "Parousia") over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end." (Luke 1:32-33 NKJV)"

 

According to Matt 19:28, 25:31, Rev 3:21 and literally dozens of other passages in the Bible -- the "Parousia" of Jesus Christ, i.e., His being seated "in the throne of His Glory" occurred in ca. 70 AD.

 

There are some who teach that the destruction of Jerusalem was the Parousia of Jesus Christ.  This notion is pure fabrication and is no where taught in the Bible.  A passage, speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem, in Matthew 24:30 provides clear evidence that the destruction of Jerusalem is not the Parousia; but is, in fact, the sign that the Parousia is a reality:

 

“‘"And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven…, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:30 NKJV)”

 

Of this passage, James Jordan writes, “…the Greek is quite clear, what will appear will be a sign that shows that the Son of Man is in heaven” [6] ascending to the throne of David.  Jordan continues, “…the destruction of Jerusalem (was) a dramatic and visible manifestation (“sign”) of the heavenly rule (in the Parousia) of the Son of Man.”  Thus we should now understand that the destruction of Jerusalem was in fact the proof that He (Jesus) had indeed ascended to heaven and “in His Parousia”[7]  had become the King of kings and Lord of Lord” upon the throne of His glory, i.e. the throne of His father David.  Jordan continues, “As the passage reads, (the) son of man is already in heaven”[8] thus, the “sign” pertains to His accession to the throne of His glory, i.e. His enthronement in the ca. AD 70 Parousia.

 

Thus, we see that according to the Bible, Jesus was enthroned in His Parousia ca. AD 70 - not at His ascension in ca AD 30 as so many erroneously claim and vigorously assert.

 

 

 

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[1] McKnight, Scot in “Keys of the Kingdom in Mark 9:47”, Planet Preterist, January 15, 2008.

 

[2] Hebrews 1:3c, See Rev 3:21 for the meaning of “sit in the right hand.”  There it is explained as Jesus sitting down in the throne of His Father (God) with His Father.  Jesus is not ruling here.  He is sitting with the ruler waiting the time when the Father will give Him His throne of Glory (Matt 19:28, 25:31, Rev 3:21) which occurred in ca. 70 AD.

 

[3] Revelation 3:21b

 

[4] Revelation 3:21

 

[5] 1Cor 15:25, 24, 28; collated

 

[6] James B. Jordan, The Handwriting on the Wall: a commentary on the book of Daniel, p 340-342

 

[7] Here note again the question which the disciples put to Jesus, “Tell us…what will be the sign of your Parousia?” (Matthew 24:3, cf. 1Cor 15:23c & 25a in which Paul declares that Jesus begins to reign “in His Parousia” and continues to “reign” in His Parousia, i.e. His accession to the throne of  His glory – the throne of David, Luke 1:32-33)

 

[8] While the quotes from Jordan’s book are direct quotes, the position I am presenting here is not the same as the position which Jordan is presenting.  Because Jordan holds the same misguided opinion as the author of the quote on page 1, “When Christ ascended to the right hand of the Father, he finally received the Kingdom promised to him. Ever since that time, Jesus has been reigning over His Kingdom.”  Because this erroneous notion blocks his view Jordan has not yet come to the accurate understanding of the view presented in this paper, instead he improvises a rather fanciful, complex; but, nevertheless, erroneous interpretation.