You will see the son of man seated at the right hand of power

The high priest questioned him again and said to him: “Art thou the Christ, the Son of the blessed? And Jesus said, “I am; and you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “Why do we need more witnesses? You heard the profanity. What do you think ? And they all condemned him as deserving of death. Mark 14:61-64

Jesus warned his enemies – the Jewish high priests, elders and scribes – that if they rejected him now, they would one day see him seated at the right hand of God the Father in heaven and coming in clouds of glory to be their Judge. Now was the time to repent and turn to Him in faith for mercy and forgiveness before it was too late (cf. Psalm 2:10-12).

Why was Jesus condemned by his enemies? What were the charges against him? It is because he told his enemies the truth, that he is God’s own beloved Son – and they would see him on the last day as prophesied in Daniel the prophet: “I have seen in night visions, and behold, a The Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came unto the Ancient of Days, and they brought him unto him, and unto him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations and tongues may serve him. His dominion is an eternal dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom a kingdom which shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14).

Jesus’ enemies accused him of “blasphemy” for claiming to be the Messiah, the Son of Almighty God, and said he “deserved death.”

This truth that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God and judge of them at the last day, troubled them because Jesus had revealed to them their state of utter sin and their need to repent and trust in him for salvation, but they were not ready to face their own sin and need a Saviour!

Today, too, people reject Jesus and the Christian faith for the same reason. They are bothered by the truth that Jesus is God the Son and will be the judge of the living and the dead at the last day. They do not want to acknowledge their own sin before the LORD God and their need for a Saviour! They do not want to turn from their sins to Christ Jesus for mercy!

Instead of accepting responsibility and guilt for their own wickedness, people attempt to justify and apologize, blaming everything and everyone but themselves for their failures. Instead of acknowledging their absolute sinfulness and seeking God’s mercy and forgiveness, they attempt to justify themselves and are angered by the truth that God will judge and condemn them for their sin.

The Bible says, “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to you, so that you do not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for our own, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 1:7-2:2).

Again, the Bible says, “He who covers his sins will not succeed, but he who confesses them and forsakes them will obtain mercy” (Prov. 28:13).

Devotion is by Randy Moll. He can be contacted at [email protected] Moll’s other devotional writings can be read freely at https://goodshepherdonline.org. The opinions expressed are those of the author.