A Greater King Defeating Greater Enemies
“29 “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne,
31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.
33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,
“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
35 until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’
36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” ”
Acts 2:29-36 ESV Read More
One of the things that the Jewish people celebrated on Pentecost was the giving of the Law. It was the anniversary of Moses meeting with God for 40 days on Mount Sinai and bringing down the 10 commandments. It was a time of God not just delivering His people out of slavery, but no giving them a new way to live.
The other thing they celebrated on Pentecost was the life and kingdom of David, the second but also the greatest king of Israel.
Peter builds on everyone’s reverence and joy about King David to say that Jesus is that much more!
You think David is great, he was, but Jesus walked out of the place where He was buried.
You think David is powerful and did mighty works? He was super powerful, but Jesus told David that He, Jesus, told David to sit at the right hand of Jesus. That’s a big deal. That’s like the President of the United States telling the Secret Service driver, “You get in the back. I’m driving the beast today.”
If you told someone to sit at your right hand, that was putting them into the number one spot below your authority.
And finally, you think David finally had a victory over all of his enemies? If you read the end of 2 Samuel you might think so. He cleans house. It’s terrible.
But Jesus did it all better. He told David, sit back here and I’ll totally humiliate your enemies. What greater enemy do we have than death? What separates people from loved ones, delightful places, and the best of our experiences? Is it not death? Who cares about King Achish of the Philistines when eventually death is going to take you both?
But Jesus beat death. In the cross and His resurrection, Jesus turned death into something that we rest our feet on after a long day, and then push to the side as our conversation with our friends becomes more exciting.
Read that again. In the cross and His resurrection, Jesus turned death into something that we rest our feet on after a long day, and then push to the side as our conversation with our friends becomes more exciting.
Jesus, the life giver, is our Lord. He’s the One to whom we pray and live.