A Few Puzzling Phrases.

By Elon Moreh.

This originally appeared in the Jan 2012 Moriel Bulletin.

There are some phrases in Scripture that at first glance seem puzzling. Sometimes it's good to follow the rabbit trails of Scripture and search out things that interest us. I thought I would just share with you one rabbit trail I went down recently, and hope that it interests you too.

“Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:”

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” (Acts 2:36)

The first question that comes into our mind here might be: “Hasn't Jesus always been the Son of God from eternity?” and hasn't He always been the Messiah from eternity too; why did He need to be made Messiah and declared Son of God?” Yes, of course that is absolutely true. Jesus always has been God. One reason that we can have problems with a text is because sometimes we approach it thinking what it ought to say, without letting Scripture speak for itself. Not every scripture about sonship or Messiahship is dealing with the same aspect of it, and we also need to properly define the terms “Son” and “Messiah” before we rush to interpreting the text.

I would say Peter is almost certainly referring here to Psalm 2. “The kings of the earth stand up and the rulers take council together against the LORD and against His Anointed (Messiah)”. As for Paul, in Acts 13 is an example of one of Paul's sermons, albeit in somewhat compressed form, and we actually see Psalm 2 again in connection to this very concept of resurrection, ascension and Sonship:

“And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. But God raised him from the dead: And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.”

At first glance this passage seems a strange one to teach of the resurrection of the Messiah from the dead, and this is a separate and very interesting question in itself. However on a merely human level, the term “son” is used of Israel's king in some contexts in the Scriptures, just as Israel is termed the LORD's 'son' in some passages. This usage of the term in some contexts implies a covenantal rather than natural relationship.. We can also see that some of Jesus's contemporaries understood this passage as referring to kingship at least in a human sense (unfortunately they understood it only in this way). If we take a look at Jesus's trial we see the following:

“But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, "Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What Think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.”

Notice the words: “tell us whether thou be the Messiah The Son Of God”. The only place in the OT where the terms Messiah and Son appear closely together is in Psalm 2. Jesus was charged on oath to declare as to whether he was the promised Messiah King of Psalm 2 or not. The Sanhedrin clearly understood Psalm 2 and “Thou art my Son this day have I begotten Thee”, in light of the previous verse “Yet have I set my king on my holy hill”. In other words they recognised it as referring to an appointment to kingship. It is probably because of this reason that Jesus avoided using the term “Son of God” in certain company, because it would have created unhelpful expectations in the people. The problem with the Jewish authorities was that their understanding stopped there, they did not join up the dots with Psalm 2's companion psalm.

Jesus however did.

Notice also how Jesus pulls in another term “seated at the right hand of power”. This is a clear allusion to Psalm 110 long recognised even then as a Messianic psalm.: “The LORD said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet”. Jesus made it even more explicit as to what He meant by referring to Daniel 7's “Son of Man” motif. The Sanhedrin tried to “stitch up” Jesus before Pilate on the grounds that He claimed to be a king in opposition to Caesar, but this was not the grounds on which they themselves condemned Him. They condemned Him for blasphemy when He claimed to be Messiah and Son of God, not just in the human sense of being king of Israel (as they understood it), but in the fullest sense of the word (see Hebrews 1), -posssesing divine nature and authority, the very Son of Man whose kingdom and dominion is everlasting, who comes on the clouds of heaven and who sits at the right hand of power, the One who is both David's Lord and also priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4).

Jesus was the first to connect Psalm 2 and 110 together to give a fuller understanding of the nature of the Messiah, and thereafter we see them repeatedly referred and alluded to by the Apostles.

If we understand parts of both Psalm 2 and 110 in terms of taking up of authority and office, it connects well with Daniel 7:12-13 which Jeus referred to in His trial: “One like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him” this also corresponds to what we find in Acts 2, which at first glance seemed a little strange because it says Jesus was “made” both Lord and Messiah and lo and behold, we see Psalm 110 also.

“This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” (Acts 2:32-36)

And we see also this appointment concept in Hebrews 5:5-6:

“So also the Messiah glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”

The author of Hebrews weaves the “thou art my Son etc..” originally connected with kingship in Psalm 2, together with “a priest after the order of Melchisedec” in psalm 110, thus showing us that Jesus ascent to kingship and priesthood are linked, in the Apostles thinking, and indeed, from Peter and Paul's sermons and letters we see that this appointment was connected with Jesus resurrection and ascension. If we remember also Jesus's own words where he likened Himself to someone who went on a journey to receive a kingdom. (Lk 19:12), then we can see from that in one aspect Romans 1:4 “declared to be Son of God”could refer to his receiving of His kingdom and entering into His High Priestly ministry. The problem is that we are used to seeing Messiah as a title only, but it also describes a state of being, or office, so in many places it is translated “Anointed”, thus Saul was described by David as “His (that is the LORD's) Anointed (Messiah)” using exactly the same construction in Hebrew as in Psalm 2:6. If we remember that both kings and priests were “anointed” into office this adds the finishing piece to our puzzle as how Jesus was “made” Messiah and “declared” to be Son of God.