In Matthew chapter 26 verse 64 was Jesus saying that He would one day be their judge?

Question

A friend and I have been talking about;

Matthew 26:64 KJV

Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

His understanding is that the Scripture indicated that Jesus will be physically on a throne next to the Father, and I am more of the understanding that it refers to his position as judge at the Great White Throne judgment.

I have spent some time researching this, and cannot come to a definitive answer. A couple of the commentaries I refer to quite often appear to agree with my understanding, but they only appear to be opinions. I have quoted them here for your convenience, but will appreciate any divergent writings which can help me come to a conclusion.

John Gill

nevertheless, I say unto you, hereafter shall ye see the son of man, sitting at the right hand of power: the Vulgate Latin, and Munster's Hebrew Gospel, read "the power of God", as in Luke 22:69, though it is not absolutely necessary; for "power" designs God himself, who is all powerful; as appears by the creation of all things out of nothing, the upholding of all things in their being, the redemption of men, the conversion of sinners, and the preservation of his saints. In the Jewish writings, God is frequently called, הגבורה, "the power": such a thing, say they, we have heard, הגבורה מפי, "from the mouth of power", or might; that is, from God himself: and so he is by the Grecians called δυναμις, "power": by "the son of man", is meant Christ in the human nature; who then appeared at their bar as a mere man, in a very despicable form and condition, but hereafter they should see him in a more glorious one, and at "the right hand of God": a phrase expressive of his exaltation, above all creatures whatever: respect is had to the prophecy of him in Ps 110:1. "Sitting" there, denotes his having done his work; and his continuance in his exalted state, until all enemies are subdued under him: and when he says they should "see" him, his meaning is not, that they should see him at the right hand of God with their bodily eyes, as Stephen did; but that they should, or at least might, see and know by the effects, that he was set down at the right hand of God; as by the pouring forth of the holy Spirit upon his disciples, on the day of pentecost; by the wonderful spread of his Gospel, and the success of it, notwithstanding all the opposition made by them, and others; and particularly, by the vengeance he should take on their nation, city, and temple; and which may be more especially designed in the next clause;

Matthew Henry

Sitting on the right hand of power, according to the prophecy of the Messiah; Sit thou at my right hand; which denotes both the dignity and the dominion he is exalted to. Though now he stood at the bar, they should shortly see him sit on the throne. 2. Coming in the clouds of heaven; this refers to another prophecy concerning the Son of man (Dan 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. Dan 7:14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.), which is applied to Christ, when he came to destroy Jerusalem; so terrible was the judgment, and so sensible the indications of the wrath of the Lamb in it, that it might be called a visible appearance of Christ; but doubtless it has reference to the general judgment; to this day he appeals, and summons them to an appearance, then and there to answer for what they are now doing. He had spoken of this day to his disciples, awhile ago, for their comfort, and had bid them lift up their heads for joy in the prospect of it. Now he speaks of it to his enemies, for their terror; for nothing is more comfortable to the righteous, nor more terrible to the wicked, than Christ's judging the world at the last day.

Thanks for any help you can give.

Answer 1

I wouldn't say that that scripture was saying that one day Jesus would be their judge, although there are scriptures to support it such as Acts 17:31

"Because he has set a day on which he purposes to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and he has provided a guarantee to all men by resurrecting him from the dead.”

God has appointed a man to judge. That man is Jesus. John 5:22:

"For the Father judges no one at all, but he has entrusted all the judging to the Son"

Jesus knew ahead of time their intent and was telling his captors that he was going to sit at the right hand of God.

I think you could be both correct Cecil. Jesus was sitting on his throne at the right of God until God put his enemies at his feet as a footstool. At that point Jesus would start judging. Matthew 22:44

‘Jehovah said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies beneath your feet”’

This would happen after Jesus's death. Jesus at that time was not on earth to judge. He had 4 goals.

1. First and Foremost the Sanctification and glorification of God's name.
2. The preaching and teaching work. Teaching people about true worship and God.
3. Baptizing and making disciples.
4. Ransom sacrifice through his death. Gave people the opportunity to accept his sacrifice and live.

after these were accomplished his purpose changed. He was to sit at the right hand of God until such a time that God would choose for him to rule his Kingdom. 2 Timothy 4:1

"I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his manifestation and his Kingdom"

Once again I reiterate that you are both correct in your understandings.

Answer 2

To better understand the judgement we must step back a bit.

The point of Jesus was not to judge. "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." -John 3:17

Because the condemnation was already present. "...but he that believeth not is condemned already..." -John 3:17

Again it is pointed out that Jesus did not come to judge, but if someone did not believe what he was teaching the Father would judge in the last day.

And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. -John 12:47-48

And what did he say? Much and also "Judge not, that ye be not judged." -Matt 7:1

The lesson. "For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged." -1 Corinthians 11:31 (Luke 18:9-14)

So the answer is No. In Matthew chapter 26 verse 64 Jesus was not saying that He would one day be their judge.