page_title: Session of Christ
section_title: Biblical references
hierarchical_section_title: Session of Christ / Biblical references
context_page_description: The Christian doctrine of the Session of Christ or heavenly session says that Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of God the Father in Heaven—the word "session" is an archaic noun meaning "sitting". Although the word formerly meant "the act of sitting down", its meaning is somewhat broader in current English usage, and is used to refer to a sitting for various reasons, such as a teaching session, or a court or council being in session. The New Testament also depicts Jesus as standing and walking in Heaven, but the Session of Christ has special theological significance because of its connection to the role of Christ as King. The Session of Christ is one of the doctrines specifically mentioned in the Apostles' Creed, where "sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty" immediately follows the statement of the Ascension.
context_section_description: According to the Book of Acts, Acts 2:33, after Jesus' resurrection and ascension, he was "exalted to the right hand of God." Preaching on the Day of Pentecost, Peter saw Jesus' exaltation as a fulfilment of Psalm 110:1, The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." In the Bible, the "right hand" is the special place of honour.
  The idea of Christ's heavenly session appears a second time in the account of Peter's preaching in the Book of Acts. In Acts 5:31, Peter says that God exalted Jesus, "to his own right hand" (NIV), though Louis Berkhof notes that the dative τῇ δεξιᾷ may have to be taken in the instrumental sense ("by his own right hand") rather than a local sense ("at his own right hand").
  The heavenly session was important to other writers of the New Testament. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, Hebrews 10:12, it says that Jesus "sat down at the right hand of God," after he had "offered for all time one sacrifice for sins." As in Acts 2, the language of Psalm 110 is used, the next verse saying that Jesus is waiting "for his enemies to be made his footstool." Other New Testament passages that speak of Christ as being at God's right hand are Ephesians 1:20 (God seated Christ "at his right hand in the heavenly realms") and 1Peter 3:22 (Jesus has "gone into heaven and is at God's right hand").
  In Matthew Matthew 26:64 and Mark 14:62, Jesus says to Caiaphas, "you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power". This is a reference to Daniel 7:13, in which Daniel sees a vision of "one like a son of man" coming to the Ancient of Days.
caption: Pieter de Grebber, God Inviting Christ to Sit on the Throne at His Right Hand, 1645. This invitation from Psalm 110:1 is quoted in the Book of Acts as being fulfilled in Christ's heavenly session.
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