The Transfiguration Of Our Lord/Last Sunday After The Epiphany
Preaching
Hear My Voice
Preaching The Lectionary Psalms for Cycles A, B, C
Object:
Undoubtedly, the reason why Psalm 2 occupies its place in the lectionary is because it amplifies the divine theophany of the Transfiguration episode in the Gospel Lesson. When the voice of the Lord in Psalm 2:7b says, "You are my son; today I have begotten you," clearly it is prefiguring, in the lectionary committee members' minds, the heavenly voice in Matthew 17:5: "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!"
Yet there is a lot more at work in Psalm 2 than this prophetic link to the New Testament. The psalm stands alone, quite apart from the church's tendency to read between its lines and see Jesus.
Mitchell Dahood identifies Psalm 2 as a coronation psalm (Psalms 1:1-50, in The Anchor Bible; Doubleday, 1965, p. 7). Or, more accurately, it is an anointing-psalm -- since the ancient Israelites set their kings apart not by placing a golden circlet upon their heads, but rather by anointing them with oil (see 1 Samuel 16:13). The word "Christ" literally means "anointed one" -- another reminder of the Christian community's conviction that Jesus is the true spiritual heir of the Davidic dynasty.
The Lord's beloved son who is heralded in Psalm 2 -- one of the royal psalms -- is a warlord. At the ceremonial commencement of the king's reign, the Lord is presenting the nations of the earth to him as his heritage, and the very ends of the earth as his possession (v. 8). For his part, this warrior-king is fierce and fearsome. He "will break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel" (v. 9). Against this mighty ruler, the nations may "conspire" and the kings of the earth may "plot" -- but always "in vain" (v. 1). There is no defeating this king, who has at his disposal the mightiest weapon of all: the Lord's favor.
James Luther Mays identifies this psalm as "the only text in the Old Testament that speaks of God's king, messiah, and son in one place" (Psalms, in the Interpretation series [Louisville: John Knox Press, 1994], p. 44). For that reason, it has a particular importance to the Christian community, despite the logical disjunction between the humble Jesus of the gospel narratives and the fearsome warrior-king of the psalm. (Of course, the book of Revelation presents a very different portrait of Christ, one that is perhaps more in keeping with the psalm.) The church has traditionally looked upon this psalm, and discovered in its ancient imagery a prefiguring of the cosmic Christ Pantocrator of eastern orthodox religious art: the exalted Lord, raised to rule over all. The Transfiguration episode itself is a brief revelatory moment, in which Jesus' most trusted friends are allowed to glimpse this aspect of his true nature. But first, there is a long journey ahead: to Jerusalem and the pain and disgrace of the cross. God's people must wait a while longer to see the vision of Psalm 2 -- and of the Mount of Transfiguration -- truly made manifest.
-- C. W.
Yet there is a lot more at work in Psalm 2 than this prophetic link to the New Testament. The psalm stands alone, quite apart from the church's tendency to read between its lines and see Jesus.
Mitchell Dahood identifies Psalm 2 as a coronation psalm (Psalms 1:1-50, in The Anchor Bible; Doubleday, 1965, p. 7). Or, more accurately, it is an anointing-psalm -- since the ancient Israelites set their kings apart not by placing a golden circlet upon their heads, but rather by anointing them with oil (see 1 Samuel 16:13). The word "Christ" literally means "anointed one" -- another reminder of the Christian community's conviction that Jesus is the true spiritual heir of the Davidic dynasty.
The Lord's beloved son who is heralded in Psalm 2 -- one of the royal psalms -- is a warlord. At the ceremonial commencement of the king's reign, the Lord is presenting the nations of the earth to him as his heritage, and the very ends of the earth as his possession (v. 8). For his part, this warrior-king is fierce and fearsome. He "will break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel" (v. 9). Against this mighty ruler, the nations may "conspire" and the kings of the earth may "plot" -- but always "in vain" (v. 1). There is no defeating this king, who has at his disposal the mightiest weapon of all: the Lord's favor.
James Luther Mays identifies this psalm as "the only text in the Old Testament that speaks of God's king, messiah, and son in one place" (Psalms, in the Interpretation series [Louisville: John Knox Press, 1994], p. 44). For that reason, it has a particular importance to the Christian community, despite the logical disjunction between the humble Jesus of the gospel narratives and the fearsome warrior-king of the psalm. (Of course, the book of Revelation presents a very different portrait of Christ, one that is perhaps more in keeping with the psalm.) The church has traditionally looked upon this psalm, and discovered in its ancient imagery a prefiguring of the cosmic Christ Pantocrator of eastern orthodox religious art: the exalted Lord, raised to rule over all. The Transfiguration episode itself is a brief revelatory moment, in which Jesus' most trusted friends are allowed to glimpse this aspect of his true nature. But first, there is a long journey ahead: to Jerusalem and the pain and disgrace of the cross. God's people must wait a while longer to see the vision of Psalm 2 -- and of the Mount of Transfiguration -- truly made manifest.
-- C. W.
