Art Thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I AM: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven (Mark 14: 61-62).

And then shall they see the Son of man coming with great power and glory. And then shall He send forth his and shall gather his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost parts of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven (Mark 13:26-27).

But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto Him, I adjure by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, 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 (Matt. 26:63-64).

Hereafter, shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God. Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And He said unto them, ye say that I AM (Luke 22:6-70).

I saw in the night visions and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven and came unto the Ancient of Days … and there was given Him a dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, languages and nations should serve Him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed (Daniel 17:13-14).

When they heard these things they were cut to the heart and gnashed on him with their teeth. But he [Stephen] being full of the Holy Ghost looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and ran upon him with one accord … and stoned him (Acts 7:54-59).

Now here’s a real Bible mystery that has puzzled many. However, it’s one worth exploring because in unravelling it we learn important truth.

It concerns just what Jesus meant when he told the High Priest and elders at his trial they would see Him as the “Son of man coming in clouds and in great glory”. The question is: Just when did these then rulers of Israel see Him “… sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14: 61-62)?

It’s problematic because, according to scripture (1 Cor. 15: 4-8), although over 500 persons saw the Lord after his resurrection none of the priests, elders and scribes comprising the Sanhedrin that put Jesus on trial for death were among them.

How then could they see the resurrected glorified Lord? The puzzle deepens when it is realised that at his trial Jesus told them they would see Him doing two things:

First, He said, they would see Him as the Son of man “sitting on the right hand of power” (Mark 14:62, Matt. 26: 64). Second, He said they would see Him “coming in the clouds of heaven” (Matt. 26:64, Mark 14:62).

Not only that, but in Mark 13:26 He declared that “they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory”. Who the “they” are is unexplained but other verses such as Rev. 1:7 make clear that “every eye shall see Him”.

Does that mean that Jesus’ priestly accusers who plotted his death will be resurrected at what is commonly called his second coming, presumably just to see this awesome event? Apparently many think so, holding that there is a resurrection of both the good and the bad and that therefore priests, elders and scribes who condemned Jesus to death will be resurrected especially to see Him enthroned in glory. However, I believe they’ve got it wrong.

Why? Because in Luke 13:1-5 Jesus referred to some Galileans slain by Pilate and 18 people killed when the Tower of Siloam fell on them and told his questioners, “...except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish”. And perish means death without hope of resurrection, because only those that repented by believing in Jesus as Saviour will be resurrected (John 11:25).

Since the most of priestly rulers did not repent either before the Lord’s death or afterwards we can conclude they died without hope of resurrection. And, if that be so, then how could see Jesus “sitting on the right hand of power”?

Remember that during his time on earth Jesus three times warned them that unless they “believe not that I AM He, ye shall die in your sins” (John 8: 21 and 24):

I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins, for if ye believe not I AM He ye shall die in your sins (John 8:24).

He also told them “… whither I go ye cannot come”. That precludes any notion that they would be specially transported to the heavenly realm or resurrected there to witness Christ “sitting on the right hand of power”.

Time to provide the answer to this puzzle. Turn to Acts 7:54-59. That valiant witness for the risen Jesus, Stephen, has been dragged before the Sanhedrin to face false charges of blasphemy against the temple. This is only a few weeks or months since Jesus was also tried and condemned by this council. So the same men Jesus warned would die in their sins are now trying Stephen for blasphemy.

In answer Stephen charges them with having been the “betrayers and murderers” of the “Just One”, Jesus, and of “always” resisting the Holy Ghost”. And all the while his accusers saw Stephen’s face shining “as it had been the face of an angel” (Acts. 6:15).  That, of course, would bring to mind the glory on Moses’ face that faded but in Stephen was replaced with the glory of the risen Christ. But more was to come.

When they heard these things [Stephen’s accusations] they were cut to the heart and gnashed on him with their teeth. But he [Stephen] being full of the Holy Ghost looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and ran upon him with one accord … and stoned him (Acts 7:54-59).

I believe that when Stephen told the council he saw the “Son of man standing at the right hand of God” they supernaturally saw it too. That’s why they “stopped their ears” to avoid hearing any more. The truth of who Jesus was, God Almighty, the great I AM, the ruler of heaven and earth, as He had told them, was more than they could bear. So they rushed to stone Stephen.

But Jesus had also told his accusers they would see Him “coming in the clouds of heaven” (Matt. 26:63-64). So when did they, when would they, see that? My conviction is that they saw this through the testimony of Stephen backed up by a supernatural manifestation of God’s power.

To explain: Jesus said his accusers would see the son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, a clear reference to Daniel 7:13 where the prophet saw:

…one like the Son of man [who] came with the clouds of heaven and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought Him near before Him.

So, the “coming with the clouds of heaven” Jesus spoke of is not a coming to earth as in the second coming, the Lord’s parousia, as some believe. It is a coming into his position in heaven at the right hand of the power on high. As Daniel pictures the event, the “clouds” are saints, perhaps angels, who accompany the Lord.

All this would be obvious to the Sanhedrin rulers, well versed as they were in Old Testament prophecy. That the man Jesus they had plotted against and killed on the pretext he was a blasphemer was now exalted to the highest position in heaven was the worst news they could possibly hear.

Yet it fulfilled to the letter Jesus’ declaration that He was indeed “the Christ the Son of the Blessed” and that they would “see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven”

As an aside, it is significant that in Daniel 7 not only does “one like the Son of Man” come to the Ancient of days and is given a “dominion, glory and a kingdom that all nations and peoples should serve Him’, but there is a strong hint that He Himself is also the “Ancient of days”.

Verses 21-22 speak of a beast that warred with the saints “until the Ancient of days came, and judgement was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom”.

The Sanhedrin rulers knew this prophecy and therefore knew, from the words of Jesus and Stephen, that the Jesus they had slain was not only Christ the Son of man and the Son of God, but God Almighty Himself. To rub salt in their wound they now see Him revealed in glory as the one true God of time and eternity.

ADDENDUM: There is a sharp difference between the “coming on the clouds of heaven” and the second coming (1 Thess. 4: 15-16, 2 Thess. 2:1). This is simply traced by looking at the different words for “coming” in the original Greek. In Matt.26:63-63 and Mark 14:61-62 the word translated coming is erchomai, which means to “come and go”. In 1 Thess. 4:15-16 and other verses about the second coming the word is parousia, meaning the arrival to stay of a highly important official such as a king. Thus Jesus appeared temporarily at Stephen’s trial as He later did to Saul on the Damascus road.

John Dudley Aldworth

Email: john.aldworth@hotmail.com

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