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Table Talk: Without checking your Bible, what is the Old Testament passage that is most quoted or echoed in the New Testament?
[“Table Talk” is an opening question or topic for discussion at the beginning of our time together. The intent is to help group members (around tables, with four to six at each table) build connections with each other, as well as to guide thinking in a direction related to the passage.]
Our group began with the “Table Talk” question that came from Michael Bird’s book, What Christians Ought to Believe. Several suggestions included Psalm 23 (“the Lord is my shepherd”) and Isaiah 53 (“He was pierced for our transgressions”). The Shema from Deuteronomy 6 (“Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is One”) or a prophecy from Joel 2 (“I will pour out my Spirit”) or Isaiah 6 (“I saw the Lord sitting on a throne”) were other candidates. Several of these were consistent with Bird’s report, but none was the correct answer:
What is the Old Testament passage that is most quoted or echoed in the New Testament? That’s a tricky one, isn’t it! In my experience most students tend to think the answer has to be either Psalm 23 or Isaiah 53. Sadly, Psalm 23 is never once quoted in the New Testament, and while Isaiah 53 is a good guess, it is not the correct answer. The answer is in fact Psalm 110, especially the first four verses.[1]
The repeated New Testament use of these particular verses takes us into the importance of this phrase in the Creed, “He is seated at the right hand of the Father.” Once again, the Creed includes a reference to a seemingly obscure theological point, but one which the ancient church considered essential. The repeated New Testament references to Psalm 110 help us to see why.
Why Psalm 110?
Psalm 110:1-4 describes God’s exaltation of another person in striking terms:
The Lord says to my Lord:
“Sit at My right hand
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
2 The Lord will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”
3 Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power;
In holy array, from the womb of the dawn,
Your youth are to You as the dew.
4 The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind,
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”
The New Testament does indeed include numerous quotations or allusions to these verses.[2] For example, see the citations, allusions, and echoes of Psalm 110:1, “seated at the right hand” at: Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42; Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62; Luke 22:69; Acts 2:33‑35; Acts 5:31; [Acts 7:55-56, “standing”], Romans 8:34; 1 Corinthians 15:25; Ephesians 1:20‑22; Ephesians 2:6; Philippians 2:9‑11; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews 1:13; Hebrews 8:1; Hebrews 10:12‑13; Hebrews 12:2; 1 Peter 3:22; Revelation 3:21.
Several related verses in Revelation refer to the throne of God and the Lamb (Jesus) with Him: Revelation 5:13; Revelation 6:16; Revelation 7:9-10; Revelation 7:17; Revelation 22:1.
A few verses refer directly to the throne of the Son Himself, presumably a throne to the right of God the Father’s: Matthew 25:31; Luke 1:32; Hebrews 1:8.
Our group briefly considered these verses and noted two particular observations: the different uses of the word “lord” and the reference to sitting at the right hand.
LORD and Lord
The two presentations of the word “lord” in most English translations indicate an important distinction in Hebrew. Printed with all upper case letters, “LORD” indicates God’s name, sometimes called the Tetragrammaton or the “four letters.” That name is taken from Exodus 3:14 where God identifies Himself to Moses as “I AM.” Out of respect and awe, the Name is spoken by observant Jews as Adonai (“Lord”) or Hashem (“the Name”).
The more common printing with only the first letter capitalized, “Lord” is the word for one in authority (Hebrew אדֹנִ֗י, adonai; Greek κύριος, kyrios), sometimes translated “sir” or “master” when used of humans. For example, an interlinear Jewish book of Psalms has the Hebrew text with the English translation under the Hebrew. The first line of Psalm 110 is rendered as “The word of Hashem to my master.”[3] Clearly the Psalmist is describing a statement from God (“Hashem”) to another person (“Adonai”).
This distinction led to an observation about the use of God’s Name in many current Christian circles. It seems popular in recent years to be casual or almost flippant about God’s Name, which He takes very seriously. For example, there was a book (presumably a Christian book) that mimicked the popular title The YaYa Sisterhood but using God’s Name in the title in place of “YaYa”. May God protect us from so trivializing His Holy Name in our worship or Bible study.
For the purpose of our study, the clear point is that God chose to welcome another to His right hand. One of the members of our group pointed out that this understanding of Psalm 110 was expressed by Jesus during His trial in response to a direct question from the High Priest: “And the high priest said to Him, ‘I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven’” (Matthew 26:63-64). The momentous significance of Jesus’ self-identification with Psalm 110 was not lost on His accusers: “Then the high priest tore his robes and said, ‘He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy; what do you think?’ They answered, ‘He deserves death!’” (vv. 65-66). Psalm 110 was so prominent in the thinking and writing of the New Testament authors because that passage played such a prominent role in the climax of Jesus’ ministry. Obviously “sitting at the right hand” was a red flag for the Jewish leadership.
At the Right Hand
The significance of the place on the right hand has a very practical history:
To sit “at” the right hand of another is to have the place of highest honor. This goes back to the time when warriors carried a shield in their left hand and an offensive weapon-a sword, lance, or mace-in their right. This made them particularly vulnerable to attack from the right, and therefore every chieftain or king placed his most trusted warrior at his right. As a result, the custom evolved of having the most honored adviser of a king sit at the right of the throne. Similar customs continue to this day, when in many cultures it is customary to seat the guest of honor at the right hand of the host or hostess. To “sit at the right hand” is therefore a sign of great favor, of shared authority.[4]
Our group explored one of the numerous New Testament passages that emphasizes that place of honor, authority, trust and power that was filled uniquely by Jesus: Hebrews 1:1-14.
Hebrews 1:1-14
Most of the first chapter of the letter to the Hebrews consists of quotations from the Jewish Scriptures. (The handout includes the source passage for each of the references.) Most of those quotations are the positive pronouncements God makes about His Son. The writer begins by comparing God’s self-revelation in the prophets (Hebrews 1:1), but he immediately makes the comparison with God’s self-revelation in His Son. We discussed the difference between hearing information from a messenger versus hearing it from the son of the sender. Either one will probably communicate the content of the message. A son has a direct, intimate, personal connection with the sender that a messenger may or may not have. The writer goes on to describe that direct, intimate, personal connection between the Son and the Sender throughout the rest of the passage.
From the Son being greater than the prophets (who were held in high esteem by the Jews), the writer moves on to describe the superiority of the Son over angels. We considered why angels would be a useful criterion for comparison. As one member of our group commented, angels are pretty high up on the scale of created beings. Another person mentioned the common reaction in Scriptural encounters between humans and angels: fear. Angels may be creatures as we are, but they possess attributes that tend to terrify mortals. Whatever those attributes might be, they are far exceeded by the Son, the “radiance of God’s glory” (v. 3). We talked about “radiance” and “glory” and the fact that God is described as light without darkness (1 John 1:5) and that the eternal kingdom will be lighted exclusively by His presence (Revelation 21:23). “Radiance of His glory” expresses the inexpressible beauty and majesty of God. One comment compared the phrase to the heat felt radiating from a fire, the perceptible effect. The Incarnation of Jesus provided the perceptible effect of God’s movement toward mankind.
Almost all of the comments about “radiance of His glory” used analogies about light. Our group includes a member who is blind, so it was helpful to hear a perspective other than light. “Basking in power” and the experience of feeling connected, feeling a part of what God is doing, are the “perceptible effects” in a person’s experience of the “radiance of His glory.”
If the angels are “high up on the scale” as was described, it is critical to notice that the Son is the object of their worship (v. 6). The angels may be creatures of incredible variety in how they manifest themselves (v. 7), from “winds” that might be a gentle puff of air to “flames of fire” like burning heat to purify or even to consume and destroy. Even these intimidating creatures are in the category of “servants” (v. 14) or minor characters compared to the Son. Someone mentioned that Gabriel informed a skeptical Zacharias that “I stand before God” (Luke 1:19) as an indication of his angelic authority. But even Gabriel stands in God’s presence. Only the Son sits as an equal.
Seated in Victory
The posture of Jesus, seated at the right hand of the Father, has several important implications:
In brief, the ascension is about the victory of Jesus. It leads us back to the text from Ephesians: that Jesus “when he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive” (Eph. 4:8). The one who in his resurrection conquered death now sits at the very throne of God, and because he is there the evil that once held us captive no longer has the power to do so. And if we once might have been inclined to fear not only the powers of evil but also God, because as sinners we could not stand God’s holiness, now we know otherwise, for, as Calvin says, Jesus Christ now “fills with grace and kindness the throne that for miserable sinners would otherwise have been filled with dread.”[5]
Seated as Ruler
Last week as we discussed the ascension we remembered a point made in our earlier study of John’s letters. Jesus “has come in the flesh” (1 John 4:1-3) implying that He still has His physical human body (although now in its resurrected and glorified state). That fact makes a difference in our understanding of “seated at the right hand of the Father.”
God has placed a human being at the helm of the universe. It is vital that we remember that when Jesus ascended into heaven, he did not cease to be human and morph into some disembodied state like a humanoid ghost. Jesus ascended as a human being and remains in this glorified human state for the rest of eternity. The significance of this is that God has placed a human person as the head of the universe. This is precisely what God had intended all along. The commission given to Adam in Genesis 1: 28 shows that it was humanity’s first-order task to rule over creation on behalf of God. The true meaning of the “image of God” is to exercise a royal prerogative as God’s representative on the earth. Psalm 8 picks up this theme when it says about human beings, “You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet” (vv. 5– 6).[6]
Paul makes it clear that Christ’s role as the human ruler of creation has implications for us: “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2: 6). “Believers embryonically share in the reign of Christ by virtue of their union with Christ.”[7] That staggering concept means that we are not passive observers but carry responsibility as stewards – in evangelism, in the environment, in issues of justice.
Drawing Attention to the Father
The exaltation of Jesus is “at the right hand of the Father.” Just as during His earthly ministry, Jesus, the Son, is described in reference to the Father. Jesus repeatedly and constantly pointed to His mission as One sent by the Father, doing the work of the Father, for the glory of the Father.
The Glory of the Father
The exaltation of the Son draws attention to the Father as they share in their mutual eternal glory. “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that 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 2:9-11, emphasis added).
The Source of Joy
The exaltation of the Son draws attention to the life-defining mutual presence of the Father and the Son (John 17:3) as the source of all joy. Here again the writer of the letter to the Hebrews uses a comparison. In chapter 11 he has listed one example of faith after another. Yet these examples are intended as witnesses of the superior example of Christ:
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2, emphasis added).
Like the psalmist, the writer of Hebrews affirms that even for Jesus Himself the source of joy is in relationship with the Father: “In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever” (Psalm 16:11).
When we affirm with the Creed that Jesus ascended and sits at the right hand of the Father, we acknowledge that it is in our relationship with the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, where we find genuine joy.
[1] Michael F. Bird, What Christians Ought to Believe (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2016), 166; Kindle Edition location 2659.
[2] Michael F. Bird, What Christians Ought to Believe (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2016), 177; Kindle Edition location 2881.
[3] Rabbi Menachem Davis, ed., Tehillim, The Book of Psalms with and Interlinear Translation (Brooklyn, New York: Mesorah Publications, Ltd., 2014), 316.
[4] Justo L. Gonzalez, The Apostles’ Creed for Today (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007), 63.
[5] Justo L. Gonzalez, The Apostles’ Creed for Today (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007), 64.
[6] Michael F. Bird, What Christians Ought to Believe (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2016), 164; Kindle Edition location 2645.
[7] Michael F. Bird, What Christians Ought to Believe (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2016), 167; Kindle Edition location 2696.