He Sat Down

While at first glance it may seem such a triviality yet in the life of our LORD Jesus Christ there is important meaning to the phrase ‘He sat down.’

1. “And he sat down and taught the people out of the ship.” (Luke 5:3) Our LORD, the Great Master Teacher was often found sitting with His disciples whom He had called out and they sitting with Him. His sitting to teach was a position of authority and rightly so as the Son of God. Theirs was a position of humility and rightly so as needy sinners before Him.

2. “And there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them.” (Luke 5:29) Contrary to the Pharisees who loved to stand to be seen and heard, our LORD was found sitting with publicans and sinners, a position of identification with those He came to save, not the righteous but sinners, Matthew 9:13.

3. “And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.” (Luke 22:14) At the last Passover, Christ sat to eat it with His disciples at the appointed time by God the Father. All the Passovers, over the thousands of years, would now culminate in the death of Christ the Lamb of God Who humbly sat down, not only to eat of it but to explain its true meaning with His own, then to get up and fulfill it.

4. “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God.” (Hebrews 10:12) Where is Christ now? He is seated. His work of salvation: of putting away sin, of redeeming and justifying His people is DONE. If He is seated, that means all their sin has already been purged, every transgression removed and His righteousness imputed to their account.

There is something in most that tells them they need to be justified before a Holy God. They know they don’t measure up to God’s standard so they try to justify themselves before God by their good works hoping that God will be pleased with them. This is a very deadly assumption. God will never be pleased with the works of natural man. The problem is that God is so holy that, by virtue of His nature, He must punish sin. This is every person’s problem who has been brought into this world because the soul that sinneth, it shall die [Ezekiel. 18:4-20; Rom. 4:1-8]. So how are we to be justified before God? How can God be just and justify sinners?

The only answer declared in God’s Inspired Word is: “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:24) What a glorious HOPE that Christ finished the work and SAT DOWN and ever lives to intercede for each one for whom HE paid the debt!