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Matthew 26:64 – The Right Hand of Power

There is much to be said about the right hand of God, some of which I’ve mentioned in another post about the throne of David. In Matthew 26:64, and after being silent before the High Priest and others at His trial, Jesus responds to the High Priest’s legal challenge: “I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.” Matthew 26:63. His response is singular in the words He uses in the New Testament. “Thou hast said; nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” Matthew 26:64. See also Mark 14:62; Luke 22:69 also.

There are many ways to look at and study this statement, but I want to focus on one aspect of it. Here’s a question: With respect to speaking about who He is, when do you remember Jesus ever saying anything like that? He referred to Himself as the Son of Man often, and throughout the gospel of John, He emphasized His relationship to the Father as the explanation of His identity. However, I don’t remember Him ever referring to Himself as sitting on the right hand of God or the power of heaven. He references Psalm 2 in Matthew 22:44: “How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, ‘The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?’ ” He said this just a few days before He answered the High Priest about sitting on the right hand of God. The author of Acts records messages referring to Christ a couple of times as being at the right hand of God, and normally as proof of His messiahship and in the face of challenge to that fact by unbelievers. Acts 2:33; 7:55-6. And why does He say “the right hand of power” instead of the right hand of the Father or of God?

In another part of the gospel story, again taking place in the week before His death, a portion of his reply to the High Priest appears: “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Matthew 24:30. The Matthew 24 prophecy by the Prophet, Jesus Christ, is worthy of its own discussion in another post. It would require too much to discuss all of it in this post. It seems that the closer He approached His unjust death, Christ used this reference to refer to Himself. And His followers used the reference when facing opposition from unbelievers.

If this reference to the right hand of Power and His coming in the clouds of heaven is such an important explanation of His identity and justification for His claim to the premier position in the universe, why does it appear only in the last week of His life? Jesus tells the High Priest that he will see this. Yes, I suppose the High Priest and the other persecutors of Christ would see it is true when he stands before God at the final judgment. I suppose “you” can mean a general “you,” as in the whole world one day, but Jesus used this fact of His coronation and ascension to the throne of God as the proof needed by those challenging His identity; it was apparently not for His followers. But as opposed to seeing Christ sitting at God’s right hand at the Judgment Day or the general “you” seeing that also, if the High Priest would see Him coming with the clouds of heaven on earth, then it had to happen before the High Priest’s death.

Why was it in the last week of Christ’s life that He used this phrase? Why did He refer to “the power” instead of God or the Father? I have to accept Christ’s words at face value – that the High Priest and the other persecutors would see that Jesus was exalted and coming with the clouds of heaven. So how did they see it?