So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them,
was taken up into heaven
and took his seat at the right hand of God.
But they went forth and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them
and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.
Saint Mark’s Gospel ends with Jesus’s taking his seat at the right hand of God even as he continues to work with the apostles, confirming their words with wonderful signs.
Perhaps we have grown used to the image of Mary’s son, the poor infant born in a manger, sitting at God’s right hand, but we would do well to reflect on that astonishing, heavenly vision. Since the days of King David and King Solomon, the Jews had imagined God as king. He was Lord of lords and King of kings and God of gods if there were other gods.
Despite crushing military defeat, the destruction of Jerusalem, the loss of national autonomy, the diaspora throughout the world, and their near disappearance among the many peoples, Jews believed and insisted that theirs is the only God. There is no other. Jewish psalmists, poets, and philosophers like Jesus ben Sirach and the Author of Job insisted that their Only God had created the entire universe out of nothing. Not even the Greek gods could do that; their philosophers supposed there had always been matter, and gods had added nothing more than form.
Saint Mark expressed the belief of the new Christian minority when he wrote that Jesus now sits at God’s right hand. His throne name, “Lord Jesus,” expresses our faith that he is coequal with the Father, since the word Kyrios (Lord) was the Greek translation of YHWH, the Hebrew name of God.
But – as high and mighty as he is – Jesus is by no means removed from the Earth or the Church. He works with us continually and confirms our word through innumerable signs. The Son of God never forgets the people who loved him.
As a human being, he still loves his mother Mary and his foster father Joseph. He still enjoys the company of his apostles and disciples. He admires the courageous and speaks kindly to the defeated. His heart is still melted with anguish by the sight of hunger, thirst, weariness, sickness, and death. He is still angered by injustice and cruelty. From his throne in heaven he will no more abandon his church than he would remove himself from the cross.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.