(Christ) has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

1 Peter 3:22

I imagine Peter pausing after writing this sentence, perhaps straightening up from bending over the parchment on which he wrote 1 Peter, and taking a moment to remember that wonderful and yet melancholy day when his Lord rose into the air and drifted ever upward away from him and his fellow apostles until “a cloud took him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9).  I wonder if the apostle could ever look at Daniel’s prophecy about the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of Days in the same way after seeing that awesome sight (Dan. 7:13-14).  If Peter had known the author of Hebrews and had read his inspired treatise, it’s conceivable that the Hebrew author could have asked him to describe to him how Jesus had “passed through the heavens” (Heb. 4:14ff).

Perhaps he recalled the “two men” who suddenly “stood by them in white robes” as they watched Him ascend into heaven, promising them that “this Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acs 1:10-11).  Had he remembered their promise after reading Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians which described Christ’s magnificent return through the sky on the last day (1 Thess. 4:16ff; 2 Thess. 1:7ff; cf. 2 Pet. 3:15-16)?  Had he and Paul ever discussed the Lord’s ascension into heaven and future return?  Possibly, considering that we know they spent time together (Acts 15; Gal. 2:6-10).

Perhaps he remembered when the Holy Spirit had inspired him on that special Pentecost years prior (Acts 2:1-4; cf. 2 Pet. 1:19-21; Matt. 10:19-20) to proclaim to the “men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem” (Acts 2:14ff) that the same Jesus they had murdered just day earlier was now “exalted at the right hand of God” (Acts 2:33ff; cf. Ps. 110:1).  I imagine Peter, Paul, Mark, and the writer of Hebrews trying to picture in their minds what it must look like to see Jesus sitting at God’s right hand (Rom. 8:34; Eph. 1:20; Col. 3:1; Mk. 16:19; Heb. 1:3; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2).  I wonder if Peter and the others, upon reading Luke’s inspired account of what Stephen saw before his death, wished that they too could have seen Jesus “standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55-56).  One day, we all will see it (2 Cor. 5:10; Matt. 25:31ff).

Did he and Paul ever compare notes when it came to writing about the “angels, authorities, and powers” who have been “subjected” to Christ (v. 22b; Eph. 1:20-21; Col. 2:10; cf. Rom. 8:38-39; 1 Cor. 15:24)?  Jesus Himself had told them after His resurrection that “all authority in heaven and on earth” had been given to Him (Matt. 28:18; cf. Dan. 7:13-14).  “Angels” (angelos, messengers), while sometimes referring to human messengers of God (cf. Rev. 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14; cf. 1 Kings 19:2), in most cases refer to “myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands” of celestial, supernatural messengers of God who serve before His throne in heaven (Rev. 5:11ff) and also serve the saints in undescribed ways (Heb. 1:14).  “Authorities” (exousia) refers to power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases, strength, and/or the power or rule or government, while “powers” (dynamis) refers to the control or influence that comes through wealth or armies.  There’s a reason Paul refers to Christ as “the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God” (1 Tim. 1:17) and “the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Tim. 6:15).  There’s a reason John was granted the vision of angels singing “the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb” which reads: “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty!  Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!  Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name?  For you alone are holy.  All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed” (Rev. 15:3-4).

The Jesus we serve is mighty indeed…

— Jon