Saturday, September 25, 2010

something greater than Solomon is here



The Word for today:
Psalm 110

mark this:  Psalm 110:1
The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool."


My favorite chapter in the Bible is Luke 24.  Because that's when scripture's greatest prophet teaches prophecy:

Two disciples, disheartened over Jesus' death and confused over reports of his resurrection, were walking down the road to Emmaus, a little village not too far from Jerusalem. 

When suddenly a "stranger" drew near and walked beside them.  (It was Jesus himself, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.)  Then the stranger proceeded to teach the greatest Bible lesson ever taught, to a "class" of two students.  What he taught them was this:
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.   (Luke 24:27)

It wasn't the first time that Jesus had taught this lesson:
You search the Scriptures because you believe they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!  (John 5:39)

If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. (John 5:46)

The Bible isn't just about Jesus.  The Bible is Jesus.  Or, to say it another way, Jesus is the embodiment of scripture:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  (John 1:1, 14)

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  (Matthew 5:17)

***
A sample of Jesus' teaching on the road to Emmaus is given when Jesus quotes Psalm 110:
Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, "What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?" They said to him, "The son of David." He said to them, "How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, "'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet'? If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?" And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.  (Matthew 22:41-46)

It's a trick question which forces the Pharisees to face the inescapable truth: The only way for one person to be both David's son and David's Lord is to be both the Son of David and the Son of God.

So Psalm 110 couldn't be pointing to David's immediate son, Solomon.  It was pointing to someone greater.  Jesus had already provided that hint:
Behold, something greater than Solomon is here.  (Matthew 12:42)

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