Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, May 28, 2013 Read – Psalm 2 We noticed yesterday that Psalm 2 is quoted by Luke in the response of the followers of Jesus to the release of Peter and John when the religious establishment had attempted to intimidate them and prevent them from witnessing to Jesus. Psalm 2 has a long history within the experience of God’s people. At its beginning the Psalm was used at the coronation of the new king. It was the promise of God that the new king was God’s anointed through whom God would exercise his rule in the world. The Psalm speaks both of the power of God and of the assurance to the king that God would reign through him. Eventually, when kings no longer ruled, the Jewish people came to see this Psalm as a Messianic Psalm. The hope was that eventually God would once again reign through the Messiah – the anointed one! When the followers of Jesus read Psalm 2 through the filter of their experience of the death and resurrection of Jesus they recognized Jesus in the Psalm. Jesus was the anointed one whom God had declared to be his Son. These are the words that are spoken at the baptism of Jesus. Jesus is God’s Son – the one who is longed for, who fulfills the promise of Psalm 2. But, more than just those words from the Psalm, the followers of Jesus also heard the first words of Psalm 2 in a new way – Herod and Pilate became the “kings of the earth who set themselves against the LORD” (Psalm 2:2). And, they conspire to take counsel with the rulers – the religious establishment in Jerusalem (Psalm 2:2). The Psalm fits the experience of Jesus and his followers – so they recall it here as more evidence authenticating Jesus and his mission. Luke has made a great deal of the claim that all that has happened is “according to the scripture.” Jesus said, “Everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44). Jesus “interpreted the things about himself in all the scriptures” to the Emmaus road travelers (Luke 24:27). Jesus “opened their minds to understand the scripture” that it was “written that the Messiah is to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day” (Luke 24:45). All of these passages are used by Luke to bear witness to this claim. Though none of them specifically speak of the suffering, death, and resurrection of the Messiah; together they witness to Luke’s claim. We have spoken of this earlier as “Messianic Exegesis” – seeing more in the OT than was possible for the original writers to have known and also letting the OT scripture help interpret and tell the story of Jesus. Psalm 2 is an important part of that process.