In many places the New Testament tells us Jesus is sitting to the right of the Father. Matthew, Mark, and Luke each record an exchange Jesus had with Pontius Pilate shortly before the crucifixion; Pilate asked Jesus point blank if He was the Christ, and Jesus replied, “If I tell you, you will not believe, and if I ask you, you will not answer. But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God (Luke 22:67-69).”
Many people know that the right hand was the seat of prominence in their culture. The seat to the right of the one throwing a banquet was reserved for the guest of honor, and it is why the disciples argued internally over who would sit at Jesus’ right side in the kingdom.
But the seat to the right also has another cool meaning. In ancient Jewish courts there was a scribe seated to the left and the right of the judge. Once his verdict was rendered one of the scribes would go to work. If the verdict was guilty, the scribe to the judge’s left would write out the verdict and subsequent sentence, and hand it over to the officer (and maybe the executioner!).
However, if the verdict was not guilty, the scribe on the right side would pen the acquittal.
Too many people picture Jesus sitting to the judge’s left, furiously scribbling down guilty verdicts. But Jesus told Nicodemus that He did not come to condemn the world, but to save it (John 3:17). It is true that the world is condemned already because of unbelief, but that is humanity condemning itself. Jesus came, not to write guilty verdicts, but acquittals for all those who would put their trust in Him and call out for salvation.
One day you will stand before the Judge of all the Earth (Genesis 18:25) in His courtroom. Will your verdict be guilty or not guilty? Jesus wants to write your acquittal; it’s why He is sitting to the right of the Judge. Call out to Him today before it is too late.
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