{"id":11646,"date":"2017-05-17T07:11:19","date_gmt":"2017-05-17T11:11:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/eidos\/?p=11646"},"modified":"2017-05-19T08:30:27","modified_gmt":"2017-05-19T12:30:27","slug":"11646","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/eidos\/2017\/05\/11646\/","title":{"rendered":"Questions from M: Jesus Sat Here. What the Heck?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Blake_Job_but557_1_8-9_pd_100_opt\"<\/a>If God is spirit, then how does Jesus sit at God\u2019s \u201cright hand.\u201d God doesn\u2019t have a hand or a right side!<\/p>\n

A jolly person, skeptical about, though friendly toward, Christianity asked me 55 questions. This summer I am trying to briefly answer some of them. M asks*:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Christians claim that Jesus is now \u201cseated at the right hand of God the father.\u201d What exactly does this mean? Is Jesus physically located anywhere now?\u00a0 When one says, he is \u201cseated at the right hand of God the father\u201d, is God physically next to Jesus? Is God in a corporeal form of some kind? Please explain?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Jesus said \u201cI am the door,\u201d but I have yet to meet a person who does not understand that this is a figure of speech. \u00a0One could not get splinters from the Son of God! Jesus is the Vine that has never produced a literal grape. Oddly, when it comes to language about God, people struggle more with figures of speech.<\/p>\n

    God is\u00a0a different sort of being<\/em>: essentially immaterial. God as God does not have arms, legs, or eyes. Humankind does and so we talk about God as if<\/em> God were human. This is natural.<\/p>\n

    We anthropomorphize\u00a0nearly everything<\/em> to talk about what he, she, or it is doing. Watch PBS for any length of time and you will hear about \u201cNature\u201d doing things. Of course, there is not a personal agent named \u201cNature!\u201d We look at our pets and decide that they are talking, \u201cgood girls,\u201d or \u201cbad boys.\u201d In fact, our pets do not talk and have no moral status whatsoever. They do what they do.<\/p>\n

    In like manner, when we are in class and finally understand an idea, we say: \u201cI see!\u201d even if we were just thinking and our eyes did not glimpse a literal concept floating in the air. \u201cWe see!\u201d is an image of what our mind has done.<\/p>\n

    In the same way, Jesus \u201csat at the right hand\u201d of God in the sense that such a position was in ancient times a place of authority and power. Jesus (a God-man) humbled Himself as God and was elevated as man. Jesus became man so we could become like God.<\/p>\n

    Where is Jesus now?<\/p>\n

    The body that went into the tomb came out of the tomb, but transformed. It exists, but in\u00a0glorified\u00a0<\/em>manner. The easiest way for a modern person to understand this is to say that Jesus has a body as we do, but in a different key. He is\u00a0at least<\/em> as we are, but also more than we are. Adam and Eve (as types of the first humans) cut off the full development of what a person could be. We became spiritually cut off and were broken in body. Jesus restored what humanity might have been: spiritual and physical beings that can be glorified.<\/p>\n

    Jesus exists that way now\u00a0as a man.<\/em> Of course, Jesus\u00a0also<\/em> shares the Divine essence which\u00a0is not essentially physical.<\/em> Jesus has a body, though glorified, as a man and the Divine essence as God. He is both: one person: two natures. A glorified body can eat, but need not. A glorified body can be touched, but is not bound to our three dimensions.<\/p>\n

    Jesus does not \u201csit\u201d next to God . . . God is spirit. The God-man has a corporeal form, but as a man, but without confusing His divine and human natures.<\/p>\n

    \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-<\/p>\n

    *M has asked that I not reveal his or her name. I will write as if \u201che\u201d is a male, but this is for convenience. Here are questions\u00a037<\/a>\u00a0,\u00a054<\/a>\u00a0, and 55<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    If God is spirit, then how does Jesus sit at God’s “right hand.” God doesn’t have a hand or a right side!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1007,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spiritual-reflections"],"yoast_head":"\nQuestions from M: Jesus Sat Here. What the Heck?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If God is spirit, then how does Jesus sit at God's "right hand." 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