Jesus is a bad ass. That’s not blasphemy. It’s a fact. Jesus, the incarnation of divinity, the second person of the Trinity, the fullness of the godhead in flesh, spent most of His time officially not fucking around. Just look how He handled the scribes, Pharisees, Herodians, and Sadducees in any text. Look at how He handled His “trial” at the hands of the uptight religious leaders.

The Story

They took Jesus to the high priest; and all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes were assembled…Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death; but they found none. For many gave false testimony against him, and their testimony did not agree. Some stood up and gave false testimony against him, saying, “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’” But even on this point their testimony did not agree.
Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?” But he was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
Jesus said, “I am; and ‘you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power,’ and ‘coming with the clouds of heaven.’”
~Mark 14:53, 55-62

Jesus just sits there, silent, listening to the haters twist themselves in knots, unable to get their lies straight. He knows that they need 2-3 witnesses for Him to be condemned, but they don’t have it. If the witnesses don’t agree, you must set Him free. To be released, possibly with nothing more than a beating, Jesus only needs to remain silent.

But when directly asked about His identity, He will not lie, will not hold back, will not shy away from who He is, what His mission is, or how much power He really holds.

Like we said, bad ass. So let’s do a deep dive into His response and see just how powerful His answer really was.

“I am and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

“I am”

The assembled religious elite ask Jesus a direct question: “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus answering “yes” to either title is not blasphemy in and of itself, as both phrases could be used to refer to a king or powerful ruler blessed by God. In other words, answering “yes” would cause Jesus a politically problem, but not, necessarily, a religious one.

This reality is emphasized when compared to the parallel accounts of this scene in the other synoptic gospels where Jesus’ answer is more coy: “You have said so” (Matthew 26:64) and “You say that I am” (Luke 22:70).

Mark’s account goes for broke (“Yeah, I’m Him!”), but Jesus wasn’t done there.

“…Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power…”

We will return to the first part of this phrase after tackling the second.

Jesus is most likely referencing Psalm 110, a royal psalm showing the power of conquest imbued by God. Specifically verse 1:

The Lord says to my lord,
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies your footstool.”

The Psalm itself catalogs the strength and ability of the one who will “rule in the midst of [His] foes” (vs 2) with a vast, loyal army (vs 3). One who is “a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (vs 4), who will “shatter kings” (vs 5), “execute judgment among the nations,” and fill the land “with corpses…over the wide earth” (vs 6). All this while having the time to periodically pause to drink from cool waters and stay hydrated (vs 7). While all of this is an impressive display of power, one should not discount the image in verse one.

Gregory Boyd asserts that Psalm 110:1 is the most quoted passage in the New Testament {p 314}, but goes on to make a more stunning historical note:

This verse states that the king will sit “at the right hand” of Yahweh (viz. in the power of Yahweh) until he has made “your enemies a footstool for your feet”— presumably referring to the ancient practice of humiliating conquered kings by placing one’s foot on their next before slaying them (c.f. Josh 10:24) or perhaps the practice of stuffing their bodies and using them as footstools” (ibid).

The historical and archaeological record backs him up.

For example, there are many Egyptian artifacts depicting a Pharaoh sitting next to a god, or sitting in a god’s lap, with his feet resting on the bodies/corpses of conquered enemies and subjects. The “enemies as footstools” motif is also recorded within the Assyrians, the Persians, and Roman artistic sensibilities as well. [click on images to enlarge]

All that to say, Jesus was throwing MAD SHADE in terms of addressing the sort of power He was keeping in check.

This is also contained in the label of “Son of Man” itself.

“the Son of Man…coming with the clouds of heaven.’”

When Jesus refers to Himself as the “Son of Man” here, most take Him to be quoting Daniel 7:13-14:

As I watched in the night visions, I saw one like a human being [Son of Man] coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him. To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.

But this is not the first time Jesus identified Himself with this powerful figure from the Hebrew Bible.

Earlier in Mark (2:1-12), a paralyzed man is brought to Jesus’ home. The house was so full of people clamoring to be near Jesus, the man’s friends tore a hole in Jesus’ roof and lowered the paralyzed man down in front of Jesus (#SquadGoals)! Jesus, so moved by the faith and actions of the man’s friends, told the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven” (vs 5). And the religious elite in the room were pissed:

Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (vs 6-7)

But Jesus, knowing that they were talking shit about Him in their hearts, questioned them out loud:

“Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and take your mat and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— “I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.”
And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” (vs 9-12)

Jesus, the Son of Man, has power to forgive sins, because the Son of Man is divine.

We are not going to argue the specifics of Jesus’ rationale, so feel free to choose your own atonement theory (e.g. Christus Victor, Embracement, Healing Servant Incarnational, Shared, Governmental, Moral Influence, Moral Example, Penal Substitutionary, Ransom, Satisfaction, and/or Scapegoat). However, what is clear is that