The Gentile Times Reconsidered Chronology Christ

264 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED
congregation of followers, and that the “kingdom of the world” did
not become “the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ” until the
year 1914?
C-5: Waiting “at the right hand of God” for what?
On the last day of his earthly life Jesus explained to the members
of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high court, that his kingdom rule was
now due to begin, stating that, ‘from now on the Son of man will be
sitting at the powerful right hand of God.”—Luke 22:69, NW. 52
That Christ after his resurrection was elevated to “the right hand
of God” is repeatedly emphasized by the New Testament writers.
The phrase “sitting at the powerful right hand of God” is a
reference to Psalm 110:1, a text quoted or alluded to in the New
Testament more often than any other passage of the Old
Testament. 53 This psalm is consistently interpreted by the New
Testament writers as depicting Christ’s exaltation to the throne of
God after his resurrection. 54 The first two verses say:
The utterance of Jehovah to my Lord is: “Sit at my right hand
until I place your enemies as a stool for your feet.” The rod of
your strength Jehovah will send out from Zion, [saying:] “Go
subduing in the midst of your enemies”—Psalm 110:1–2, NW.
52 The parallel passage at Matthew 26:64 adds another feature to Jesus’ statement:
“From henceforth you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power
and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Compare Mark 14:62) The last part of the
statement is an allusion to Daniel 7:13–14, where Daniel in his vision saw “with
the clouds of the heavens someone like a son of man happened to be coming; and
to the Ancient of Days he gained access, and they brought him up close even
before that One. And to him there were given rulership and dignity and kingdom”.
It should be noticed that in this vision the “son of man” did not come from heaven
to earth. Rather, his “coming” is in the opposite direction, to the “Ancient of Days”
on the heavenly throne, to be given rulership, dignity, and kingdom. This passage,
therefore, does not seem to be dealing with Christ’s second coming, but rather with
his enthronement at his resurrection and exaltation.
53 Professor Martin Hengel finds that Psalm 110:1 is used in twenty-one passages in
the New Testament, seven of which are direct quotations. The passages are: Matt.
22:44; 26:64; Mark 12:36; 14:62; 16:19; Luke 20:42f.; 22:69; Acts 2:33; 2:34f.;
5:31; 7:55f.; Rom. 8:34; 1 Cor. 15:25; Eph. 1:20; Co1.3:1; Heb. 1:3,13; 8:1;
10:12f.; 12:2; and 1 Pet. 3:22. —M. Hengel, Studies in Early Christology
(Edinburgh: T&T Clark Ltd, 1995), p. 133.
54 To sit “at the right hand of God” obviously means to sit with God on his throne, in
view of Jesus’ statement at Rev. 3:21. This enthronement of Christ is not nullified
by the fact that the letter to the Hebrews twice presents him as being seated “at
the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb. 8:1; 12:2) The language here, of course,
is figurative. God is not sitting on a literal throne. At Matthew 5:34 Jesus says that
“heaven . . . is God’s throne.” A “throne” is a symbol of rulership. Whether Christ is
pictured as being seated on God’s throne or on a separate throne to the right of it,
the meaning is the same, viz., that he is ruling. Besides, as Professor Hengel
argues, the sense of the text at Heb. 8:1 and 12:2 is “at the right hand of God on
his throne,’ rather than “at the right hand of the throne of God.”—M. Hengel, op.
cit., pp. 142, 148–49. Compare also Revelation 22:1, 3, which speaks of “the throne
of God and of the Lamb” as one common throne only.