Home > Jesus is God in Mark's Gospel
This is the "Enthronement" of the Gospel.
Mark 16:19: "So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God."
The "Session" (the act of sitting) is the final proof of Christ's finished work and His co-equality with the Father. While the Ascension is His journey, the Session is His Status.
In this verse, Mark shifts from calling Him "Jesus" to "The Lord Jesus."
This title is not just a sign of respect, but an acknowledgment of His Divine Nature. In the Septuagint (the Greek OT), Kyrios was the word used to translate the Tetragrammaton (Yahweh). By using it here, Mark is stating that the Man who was crucified is the God of Israel returning to His throne.
He is not a "new" Lord; He is the Eternal Lord who has now brought His glorified human nature into the presence of the Godhead.
It says that Jesus "...was taken up into heaven".
The Ascension was not a "departure" in the sense of abandonment, but a transcendence. Jesus withdrew His physical, localized presence so that He could exercise His Omnipresent Sovereignty through the Spirit.
Psalm 24:7: "Lift up your heads, O gates! ...that the King of glory may come in."
His ascension is the victorious return of a General who has conquered the enemy (Death) and is now reclaiming His palace.
In the Jewish Temple, there were no chairs for the priests. Their work was never done, so they never sat.
Thomas Aquinas focused on the word "sat." He argued that "sitting" signifies two things: Rest and Judicial Power.
Rest: His sacrificial work is complete (Hebrews 10:12). Unlike the Levitical priests, Jesus sits because there are no more sacrifices to be made.
Judicial Power: He sits as the Supreme Judge. As a king sits to give laws or a judge sits to pass sentence, Jesus sits to govern the universe.
Stephen Charnock argued that "sitting" implies Equality. A subject does not sit in the presence of a King; only a co-regent sits with the King.
This is the ultimate proof of His Consubstantiality with the Father.
This is the ultimate fulfillment of Psalm 110:1, the most-quoted OT verse in the New Testament.
Psalm 110:1: “The LORD says to my lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’”
The "Right Hand" is the place of Supreme Honor and Power. It is the place of the "Executive." When Jesus sits at the right hand, He is exercising the very power of the Father.The Daniel
This is the moment the "Son of Man" (from Mark 13 and 14) actually receives the fulfillment of the "dominion, glory, and kingdom" promised in Daniel 7:13–14.
Daniel 7:13–14: “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”
Mark 16:19 is the answer to the High Priest’s question in Mark 14:61. When the High Priest asked if He was the "Son of the Blessed," Jesus said, "You will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power."
St. Augustine put it: "He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and yet He is with us; for He did not leave heaven when He came down to us, nor did He leave us when He went up again to heaven."
The Session proves He is the Theanthropos (God-Man)—fully human to represent us, and fully God to rule us.