“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3 KJV).
Hebrews 1:3 draws our attention to an important aspect of Jesus’ substitutionary atonement: Jesus purged our sins by Himself. The author of Hebrews will return to this subject again in chapters nine and ten, but for now, we can say that no other person or thing contributes to our salvation. Instead, Jesus completely addressed the issue of sin through His atoning death on our behalf.
Jesus’ seated position “…at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (ESV) also sheds some additional light on the finality of His sacrificial offering. While we might normally associate a seated position with a place of rest, we know Jesus continues to sustain everything that exists as mentioned earlier in this verse. Therefore, we can say with certainty that this imagery conveys something else. That “something else” finds its origin in the sacrificial system of the Old Testament.
Unlike an Old Testament priest who engaged in daily sacrificial offerings, Jesus’ sacrificial work is finished…
“The representation that Christ has ‘sat down’ is a testimony to the completed nature of his work. In the Jewish economy, the high priest did not sit down when he went into the Holy of Holies, there being no provision of a chair, testifying to the preparatory and temporal nature of the atonement that he made; but not so with Christ who having accomplished all things is seated at God’s right hand…” (1)
So, Jesus has assumed a seated position at “…the right hand of the Majesty on high” along with all the dignity and honor that accompanies that exalted position. This symbolism originates in an ancient, cross-cultural symbol of authority and power. Since most people are right-handed, the right hand (or right arm) eventually came to be associated with the greatest degree of skill and strength.
This eventually led to a further identification with the concepts of favor, importance, righteousness, blessing, and sovereignty. In fact, we continue to acknowledge this ancient imagery today whenever we refer to a person who serves as the “right hand” of someone in authority. This symbolic representation of Jesus’ authority is so important that the author of Hebrews will go on to reference it four additional times throughout the rest of this epistle.
(1) Coffman, James Burton. “Commentary on Hebrews 1”. “Coffman Commentaries on the Bible”. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/bcc/hebrews-1.html. Abilene Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. 1983-1999.