After Jesus' death and resurrection, he appeared to his disciples and said,

"This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms."

Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. (Luke 24:44-48, NIV)

In this series of Bare Roots, we will explore ways in which the Psalms testify to Jesus. We will find that, when the New Testament writers say that Jesus "fulfils" Scripture (Greek pleroo -- literally, "to fill full" or "fulfil"), they mean it in two ways: First, the Scriptures sometimes predict events that come to pass in Jesus. Second, Jesus' speech and actions sometimes put the words of Scripture in a new light, "filling" them "full" of new meaning.

To illustrate: In Psalm 8, David praises God for giving human beings dominion over the earth (see Genesis 1:26-28, discussed in Bare Roots 4.1):

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. (Psalm 8:3-8)

Elsewhere, in Psalm 45, we find a wedding song written for one of the kings descended from David:

My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king...You are the most excellent of men (literally, "the most excellent of the sons of men") and your lips have been anointed with grace, since God has blessed you forever...Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy. (Psalm 45:1-2, 6-7)

The Psalms often speak of davidic kings exercising the authority of God because the Lord appointed them to rule as His authorized representatives on earth (see Bare Roots 6.6). However, Psalm 45 is truly remarkable in that the songwriter addresses the king not only as the "most excellent" human being ("son of man") in verse 2, but as "God" in verse 6. (See Isaiah 9:6 for a strikingly similar description of the davidic king as "Mighty God.")

A thousand years later -- after the coming of Christ -- the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews finds these Psalms "filled full" of new meaning (see Hebrews 1:9; 2:5-18).

First, he notices that both Psalms speak of the "son of man" -- a term often used by Jesus to refer to himself (in, for example, Matthew 8:20; 11:19; 20:18-19).

Second, Psalm 45 portrays the "most excellent" son of man as both "man" and "God." This description can literally apply only to Jesus, for he alone is both human and divine.

Third, the language of Psalm 8 reminds the Hebrews writer of Christ's incarnation, when the divine Son temporarily became "a little lower than the heavenly beings" by taking on human flesh.

Fourth, both Psalms call to mind how God then exalted His incarnate Son by "setting him above his companions" and "putting everything under his feet."

So the words of these Psalms evoke images of Jesus' deity, his incarnation, and his glorification. But why would the immortal God choose to become a mortal man? This question leads the Hebrews writer to reflect on the reason for the Incarnation:

We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone...Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might...make atonement for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 2:9, 14, 17; compare Philippians 2:5-11)

God became man in order to die as the sacrifice for our sins.

Reflect...

1. If, in Jesus, we see God incarnate, then what do we learn about God from Jesus' character, his words, and his deeds?
   
   
2. If, in Jesus, we see God hanging on a cross, then what does that tell us about God?
   
   
3. C. S. Lewis viewed the Hebrews writer's interpretation of Psalms 8 and 45 as prime examples of "second meanings in the Psalms." What do you think about this view of the "fulfillment" of Scripture?

Christopher A. Davis, Ph.D.
Professor of New Testament
Hope International University
Fullerton, California

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