— “Christ in Glory,” by the inestimable, inimitable Ukrainian iconographer, Ivanka Demchuck (2015)
Sit at My Right Hand
In the very first sermon of the Christian Church, on Pentecost, the Apostle Peter no longer showed any sign of cowardice, doubt, or denial. He proclaimed these words, loud and clear:
“This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and hear” (Acts 2:32-33).
In those deeply mysterious ten days between the Ascension of Christ and the Descent of the Holy Spirit, something mysterious and wonderful happened. “Christ entered, not into a sanctuary made with hands, which is a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf” (Hebrews 9:24). Here came Jesus Christ, having completely and perfectly obeyed his Father’s Will, and he brought that complete and perfect sacrifice – himself – as the perfect Archpriest – himself – into the depths of the Holy Trinity, which is and can only be heaven itself.
There, he ascended and sat down at the “right hand of God the Father, and he shall come again to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom shall have no end.” And there he asked God the Father to send “another Comforter,” just as he had promised his disciples at the Last Supper.
Jesus is the heavenly Archpriest who continues to intercede for all of humanity and all creation, along with the intercessions of his mother, the Theotokos, in the bond of the Holy Spirit. And he is the ascended King even now – not later – and his kingdom shall have no end.
The Apostle Peter continued on with his truly Pentecostal sermon: “For David did not ascend into the heavens; but he himself says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.’ Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly this: that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:34-36, quoting Psalm 110:1).
A few weeks later, the Apostles Peter and his fishing-partner John healed a disabled beggar at the temple gate called “Beautiful.” The beggar had asked for alms, but Peter said, “Silver or gold have I none, but I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk” (Acts 3:6).
And the beggar did just that.
Well, that caused quite a stir at 9 o’clock in the morning – the same hour as Pentecost in the chapter before. Peter explained to the crowd in the Temple what had just happened:
“And his name – the Author of Life – whom you killed and whom God raised from the dead – by faith in his name, has made this man strong whom you see and know; and the faith which is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all” (Acts 3:16).
He’s Still Here
Here’s an important fact: this Jesus who ministered with his fishing friends for three years, who was betrayed and arrested, who was tortured and tried in a court of lies and corruption, who was crucified horrendously on the Cross, who was buried under stone, “when your body was in the tomb and your soul was in hell,” who after forty days “was lifted up and a cloud took him out of sight” (Acts 1:9) – this same Jesus was still here, through the omnipresence of the Spirit and in the power of his Name.
Still healing. Still loving. Still saving. “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). “I will not leave you as orphans,” he said on that terrible night when he was betrayed in the garden – a garden that is meant to remind us of the Garden of Eden where we had betrayed him so long ago – “I will come to you … and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him” (John 14:18,21).
“Repent therefore,” St. Peter continued, “and turn back to God, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshment may come from the presence of the Lord, that he may send the Messiah appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must welcome until the time of restoration” (Acts 3:19-21).
Jesus the Messiah, the Christ, is not only still around: He is King, even now. He will come in glory at that time of restoration. But he is now establishing his Kingdom through the Holy Spirit: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool,” as God the Father said when he invited his faithful incarnate Son not only to regain the glory which he had voluntarily surrendered at the Incarnation, but also to bring with him his human nature.
Think of this, and be overwhelmed: at the Ascension, Jesus brought his human nature into the depths of the Holy Trinity.
We Have No King But Jesus
Jesus did not give up his human nature at the Resurrection or the Ascension. Instead, Jesus became the always long-expected and one true King of all humanity and all creation. He is now leading a revolution against the satanic age of the spirit of antichrist, which had made false claims upon this world and had taken authority in dark usurpation that is polluted with sin and death.
Jesus is putting things to right, in preparation for his glorious Second Coming. He is king. From the moment of his Incarnation he has been the King, but now he is the Ascended King – there can no longer be any other. Domination, authoritarianism, tyranny, autocracy – these can only be antichrist revenants from a dark BC past.
But there are people who would have it otherwise. On Good Friday, the religious leaders in Jerusalem cried out “We have no king but Caesar!” They said this in response to Pontius Pilate, who showed them Jesus and said, “Behold your King!”
Instead of “We have no king but Caesar,” we Christians say – or should say – “We have no king but Jesus.”
But too many people – and even, heartbreakingly, too many Christians – are still saying “We have no king but Caesar.” Why? Probably because they do not want the sort of King that Jesus is. His Kingship is portrayed by him seated on an innocent white colt, entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. His Kingdom is demonstrated by his washing the feet of his friends. His kingship is revealed by his dining with sinners who had the sense to admit they were sinners, the sick who knew they were sick and needed a physician, a Good Samaritan who recognized their need.
They Still Prefer Caesar
The Kingdom of Jesus is an odd kingdom. And frankly, its unworldly oddness offends those who would rather take advantage, who would rather the world stay the way it is, where the others remain “othered” and the powerless remain dispossessed, where the “have’s” can congratulate themselves by comparing themselves advantageously to the “have not’s.” Where the Mary Magdalene’s and the Matthew’s and the Lazarus’s of this world would stay where they belong, on the outside where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
But Jesus has never stopped being the Good Shepherd looking for his lost lambs. He has never stopped being the Good Samaritan looking for and rescuing victims mugged by demons who’ve been tossed to the wayside and left for dead. He has never stopped “preaching good news to the poor,” or “proclaiming release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind,” or “liberating those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18).
Right before Palm Sunday, Jesus warned his disciples that he was no Caesar, nor would he ever be: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave; even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28).
He is the Same, Yesterday, Today, and Forever
Jesus still says “Woe” to the Pharisees. He still prefers the widow’s mite to the sumptuous offerings of the well-to-do. He still says “Blessed are you poor” and “Blessed are you that hunger now” and “Blessed are you that weep now” and “Blessed are you when men hate you and exclude and revile you on account of the Son of man” (Luke 6:20-22).
He still says “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). He still says “This is my commandment, that you love one another” (John 15:12).
Why do people ever think that Jesus changed after he ascended? Do they think that he would take on the nature of a Caesar? Do they think that when he disappeared into the heavens, that he changed his personality from a Suffering Servant to a wrathful despot who can’t wait to take revenge? “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19) — but why are we so sure that this is a statement of divine intention instead of a prohibition of taking mattesr into our own hands?
But no, he remains at the right hand of God the Father and will always continue to be the Good Shepherd who says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
After all, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8).
Christian history has been burdened by Christians who look for power and advantage, preferring a Caesar over the Crucified King. They’d rather have a good old-fashioned Tsar who rewards his oligarchic friends: but a Tsar Slava was just too much. Divine glory is beyond the grasp of human glory: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 55:8).
They couldn’t recognize a God who washed their feet in true self-denying glory, but could understand only the selfish glory of human tyranny. They looked instead for a more historically-familiar potentate instead of the Ascended King: “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24.24).
But eventually they will recognize the Ascended King, on that Day of Restoration that the Apostle Peter prophesied, and so did St Paul, when they see the nail prints on his hands and feet, the laceration of the spear thrust into his side, when “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11).
On that day, there will be no tyrannical Caesar who rules by fear and privilege. There will only be the God of love triumphant. A triumphant love that washes feet and calls us “friends.”
Say it with me: “We have no king but Jesus.”