I Am Baptized
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. – Mark
16:16
Make the sign of the cross as you say, “In the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
A Morning Prayer
Father in heaven, in the beginning when You created
all things, the earth was formless and void. I look ahead at the week not yet
knowing what will be, but I trust you to form it and fill it with meaning. Your
Spirit hovered over the face of the deep. Let your Spirit hover over the deep
dark places in my heart and mind to do your life-giving work in me. In the
beginning, Lord, you spoke and what you spoke became. Speak to me through the
Word Made Flesh, Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen one. Speak faith. Speak
hope. Speak love. Create these things in me. Speak mercy, grace, and kindness.
Speak justice, truth, and holiness. Speak death to sin, new life in Christ, and
resurrection. Create me anew in the image of Jesus, and, created anew, let my
life show forth the power of his cross for forgiveness, and the promise of his
empty tomb for new life. Amen.
I Believe …
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven
and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was
conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the
virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was
crucified, died and was buried. He
descended into hell. The third day He rose again from
the dead. He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
From thence He will come to judge
the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian
Church, the communion of saints, the
forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and
the life everlasting. Amen.
The Reign of the Lord's Anointed
2 Why
do the nations rage[a]
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
4 He
who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 “As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”
the Lord holds them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 “As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”
7 I
will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break[b] them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break[b] them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”
10 Now
therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.[1]
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.[1]
Perhaps the violence in this Psalm is uncomfortable to
us. The picture of God we used to dealing with is of a gentle, if powerful, God
who only blesses and never punishes. This is not really an accurate picture.
Certainly, God deals with us according to his grace and mercy, and in love his
desire is to bless us, especially for those who have been redeemed and who hope
in him. But the Lord also disciplines those he loves (Deut. 8:5, Heb. 12:6) –
and the experience of discipline is not always perceived as love is it? Think
back to when your parents grounded you or disciplined you in some other way.
Perhaps now, you see the blessing and love behind their actions, but did you at
the time? Sometimes, we just perceive that discipline as punishment.
So, if we-who-believe do not necessarily perceive
God’s discipline as blessing and love, how will the rulers of the world who
plot in vain experience God’s correction? Will those who actively seek to
remove God’s Word from them – to burst their bonds and cast away the cords of
God’s Commands and Promises – receive God’s correction as an act of His love?
They are set in conflict with the Lord and with His Messiah, as we ourselves
once were, as it says in Romans 5, “For if while we were enemies we were
reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are
reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (ESV)
God has given his Son to be our king and, as our king,
the Son is our Savior. His salvation comes to us as we live under is reign
(remember, Jesus first message is that the kingdom, the reign, of God has
come!). As the kings and rulers seek to cast off the Son, they place themselves
outside of God’s salvation. So the LORD says to the Son, “You shall break them
with a rod of iron and dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Some feel
that this is a reference to a Mesopotamian metaphor for kingship, but, even if
that is the case, this phrase displays that the Son has real power. There is
good reason to approach him with fear because his righteousness condemns sin
and disobedience, but we are also able to rejoice in trebling because we have
met the LORD’s Anointed through his mercy and salvation.
Jesus once said that he had not come to condemn the
world. He said that the world already stood condemned. He came to save the
world. The violence and conflict of Psalm 2 is directed toward those who
continue to live in condemnation, refusing Jesus’ salvation. He is the Way, the
Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father apart from Jesus. But those who
come through Jesus, who “kiss the Son,” taking refuge in him as the crucified
and risen Messiah are not condemned, but are blessed. And that means, you are
blessed, as you trust in Jesus as your savior.
Questions for Meditation
What does this reading teach you about Jesus, what He
said and did, or what He wants His followers to believe? What does it teach you
about God’s love and forgiveness?
What does this reading lead you to be thankful for?
What behavior, thought, or attitude does this reading
challenge? What sin does it lead you to confess?
How might you pray for God to have a richer impact on
your life through this reading?
Prayer
Pray for God to
help you to understand and believe His Word.
Pray for increased
faith, hope, and love.
Lord’s Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven;
give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those
who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom
and the power and the glory
forever and ever. Amen.
Benediction
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than
all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be
glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and
ever. Amen. (Eph. 3:20-21 ESV)
[1] English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV®
Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a
publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Comments