The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool ?
Jesus is in Jerusalem in his final days before the crucifixion, engaged in a series of intense debates with religious leaders. Here he quotes Psalm 110:1 — one of the most cited Old Testament passages in the entire New Testament — and poses a question that stops the Pharisees, who were expert interpreters of Jewish scripture, completely cold. In that ancient psalm, King David refers to a future figure as "my Lord." Jesus' argument is this: if David himself calls the Messiah — the promised savior-king — his Lord, then the Messiah must be more than just a human descendant of David. He must be something greater. The phrase "sit at my right hand" signified the highest position of honor and authority in a king's court — at God's right hand meant supreme authority over all creation. Jesus is pointing to his own divine identity without saying it outright.
Jesus, you are larger than the version of you I carry around in my head. Forgive me for the ways I've quietly shrunk you to fit my comfort. Give me the courage to sit with questions I can't answer, and the openness to let you be who you actually are. Amen.
The Pharisees thought they had Jesus figured out. They'd spent their entire lives studying the scriptures — they were the credentialed experts, the people everyone came to with questions. And then Jesus pulls out a poem David wrote a thousand years earlier and asks a question no one can answer. Not to humiliate them — but to crack something open. The Messiah they had been waiting for wasn't going to arrive on their terms or fit neatly inside the box they had so carefully constructed around the promise. We do this too — quietly, naturally. We build our understanding of Jesus from what we were first taught, from what's comfortable, from what fits the version of faith that already makes sense to us. And then a passage, a conversation, or a season of loss shifts something, and the person we thought we understood turns out to be somehow larger than we allowed. Jesus seems to enjoy this. He's not threatened by our limited categories — he asks questions that invite us to look again. What assumption about who Jesus is might he be gently pressing on in your life right now?
Jesus uses an ancient psalm to make a point about his own identity — what does this approach tell you about how he understood scripture, and how he expects his followers to read it?
The Pharisees were silenced because the question didn't fit their framework. Can you think of a time when an encounter with scripture or with God surprised you in a way your existing framework couldn't account for?
Jesus is pointing to his divine authority here — that he sits at God's right hand above all his enemies. How does that claim actually sit with you, personally? Does it comfort, challenge, or quietly unsettle you?
If Jesus holds authority over everything — including the things in your life that feel most out of control — how does that change the way you relate to those situations, if it changes it at all?
Is there a question about Jesus or your faith that you've been avoiding because you're not sure where the answer might take you? What would it look like to actually sit with that question honestly?
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Colossians 3:1
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2
A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool .
Psalms 110:1
But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool ?
Hebrews 1:13
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Genesis 3:15
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Hebrews 1:3
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
Hebrews 10:12
And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Revelation 20:3
'The Lord (the Father) said to my Lord (the Son, the Messiah), "Sit at My right hand, Until I put Your enemies under Your feet"'?
AMP
“‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”’?
ESV
'THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, 'SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET ''?
NASB
“‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’
NIV
‘The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool” ’?
NKJV
‘The LORD said to my Lord, Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies beneath your feet.’
NLT
God said to my Master, "Sit here at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool."
MSG