Singing Condemnation on Yourself
Just a couple of hours before the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the Jews were given one last chance by Pontius Pilate to drop their charges against Jesus, allowing Pilate to free Him. Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your king?” The response given by the chief priests was, “We have no king but Caesar!” (John 19:15).
This is a tragedy on many levels. The obvious hypocrisy of this claim stands out when it is compared to what the Jews previously said to Jesus, “We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone” (John 8:33). It’s altogether possible that some of the same people who claimed Caesar as king before Pilate effectively told Jesus they had no human king. It is also terrible to think that the priests, the leadership group set in place by God to help protect and prepare the people for His Anointed and their Messiah, so readily rejected Jesus. The High Priest in particular (there were two at this time, one appointed according to Moses’ law and one by the Romans; no doubt both are included in the phrase “chief priests” but possibly other priestly leaders) was meant to be an Old Testament type of Christ (e.g. Hebrews 4). These priests however could not have been any more atypical of Christ than at Jesus’ trial.
There is yet another level of this tragedy to consider though. Have you ever wondered why Jesus is called the Christ? Christ doesn’t mean Savior or Lord; instead, it is the Greek form of the Hebrew word Messiah. Both of these words mean “Anointed One” in reference to the ceremony that Jews used to set apart their leaders (e.g. 1 Samuel 16:13). Effectively, the term means “King.”
The Jews understanding of the coming Messiah centered around the concept of kingship. Though priests were also anointed (e.g. Psalm 133:2), the one identified as God’s “anointed one” was usually His king (e.g. 1 Samuel 2:10; note the parallelism between the words “king” and “anointed”). Because the term initially applied to physical kings, the Jews thought of the Messiah of prophesy not as a spiritual Savior or as the Son of God, but as a physical king. This is why virtually all of the Jews looked to Jesus to become an earthly king, including Jesus’ disciples (even after His resurrection – Acts 1:6).
Many scholars believe that the worship hymnal of the Jews was the book of Psalms. If this is true, though it’s hard for us to imagine, it means that at one time each of the Psalms was sung in worship to God. Among the songs that were sung is Psalm 2.
Psalm 2 makes a connection between the Lord’s anointed and the Lord Himself; it demands that the respect and obedience given to God must be given to God’s king. The original Jews who sung the Psalm no doubt connected it with the Davidic kings; David himself wrote it (Acts 4:25). Like 2 Samuel 7:12-14 though, Psalm 2 is a passage that doesn’t really find its fulfilment in any earthly king, David himself included. After the Babylonian exile, it seems that Jews identified it with the Messiah of prophesy. The authors of the New Testament reveal that this Psalm was in fact talking about Jesus on several occasions (e.g. Acts 13:33).
Psalm 2’s fulfillment in Jesus shows us the full depth of the tragedy that occurred when the Jews said, “We have no king but Caesar!” Not only were they being dishonest and hypocritical, they were also categorically rejecting God by rejecting His King, His Anointed One, Jesus. Even if they didn’t understand this passage to be Messianic, claiming Caesar as king brought the Jews in line with the raging heathen (Psalm 2:1). It therefore brought them under the judgment pronounced to the unrepentant in the psalm (2:4-5, 9, 12). The very words of the song they sung no doubt many times over condemned them.
Paul wrote, “I will sing with the understanding” (1 Corinthians 14:15). In its original context, this statement speaks to the proper use of the miraculous gift of speaking in tongues, a gift present in the first century church. However, wouldn’t the principle here also require us first to understand the words of our songs and second to mean what we say as we sing? Jesus said, “Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’” (Matthew 5:37); doesn’t that apply to what we sing too? How many of us follow the example of the stubborn, hard-hearted Jews, and sing one thing but say or do another? How many of us like them will one day be condemned by the very words that we sing?
This is a tragedy on many levels. The obvious hypocrisy of this claim stands out when it is compared to what the Jews previously said to Jesus, “We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone” (John 8:33). It’s altogether possible that some of the same people who claimed Caesar as king before Pilate effectively told Jesus they had no human king. It is also terrible to think that the priests, the leadership group set in place by God to help protect and prepare the people for His Anointed and their Messiah, so readily rejected Jesus. The High Priest in particular (there were two at this time, one appointed according to Moses’ law and one by the Romans; no doubt both are included in the phrase “chief priests” but possibly other priestly leaders) was meant to be an Old Testament type of Christ (e.g. Hebrews 4). These priests however could not have been any more atypical of Christ than at Jesus’ trial.
There is yet another level of this tragedy to consider though. Have you ever wondered why Jesus is called the Christ? Christ doesn’t mean Savior or Lord; instead, it is the Greek form of the Hebrew word Messiah. Both of these words mean “Anointed One” in reference to the ceremony that Jews used to set apart their leaders (e.g. 1 Samuel 16:13). Effectively, the term means “King.”
The Jews understanding of the coming Messiah centered around the concept of kingship. Though priests were also anointed (e.g. Psalm 133:2), the one identified as God’s “anointed one” was usually His king (e.g. 1 Samuel 2:10; note the parallelism between the words “king” and “anointed”). Because the term initially applied to physical kings, the Jews thought of the Messiah of prophesy not as a spiritual Savior or as the Son of God, but as a physical king. This is why virtually all of the Jews looked to Jesus to become an earthly king, including Jesus’ disciples (even after His resurrection – Acts 1:6).
Many scholars believe that the worship hymnal of the Jews was the book of Psalms. If this is true, though it’s hard for us to imagine, it means that at one time each of the Psalms was sung in worship to God. Among the songs that were sung is Psalm 2.
Psalm 2 makes a connection between the Lord’s anointed and the Lord Himself; it demands that the respect and obedience given to God must be given to God’s king. The original Jews who sung the Psalm no doubt connected it with the Davidic kings; David himself wrote it (Acts 4:25). Like 2 Samuel 7:12-14 though, Psalm 2 is a passage that doesn’t really find its fulfilment in any earthly king, David himself included. After the Babylonian exile, it seems that Jews identified it with the Messiah of prophesy. The authors of the New Testament reveal that this Psalm was in fact talking about Jesus on several occasions (e.g. Acts 13:33).
Psalm 2’s fulfillment in Jesus shows us the full depth of the tragedy that occurred when the Jews said, “We have no king but Caesar!” Not only were they being dishonest and hypocritical, they were also categorically rejecting God by rejecting His King, His Anointed One, Jesus. Even if they didn’t understand this passage to be Messianic, claiming Caesar as king brought the Jews in line with the raging heathen (Psalm 2:1). It therefore brought them under the judgment pronounced to the unrepentant in the psalm (2:4-5, 9, 12). The very words of the song they sung no doubt many times over condemned them.
Paul wrote, “I will sing with the understanding” (1 Corinthians 14:15). In its original context, this statement speaks to the proper use of the miraculous gift of speaking in tongues, a gift present in the first century church. However, wouldn’t the principle here also require us first to understand the words of our songs and second to mean what we say as we sing? Jesus said, “Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’” (Matthew 5:37); doesn’t that apply to what we sing too? How many of us follow the example of the stubborn, hard-hearted Jews, and sing one thing but say or do another? How many of us like them will one day be condemned by the very words that we sing?
-Patrick Swayne
patrick@tftw.org
patrick@tftw.org
Posted in Bible Study
Posted in Singing, Psalm 2, Crucifixion, Jesus Trial, Pilate, Pharisees, 1 Corinthians 14:15, Messiah, Anointed One, Christ
Posted in Singing, Psalm 2, Crucifixion, Jesus Trial, Pilate, Pharisees, 1 Corinthians 14:15, Messiah, Anointed One, Christ
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