Jesus is God's Psalm for the World

Sermon on Matthew 27:32-37

Stanley Hauerwas, an excellent theologian now at Duke Divinity School, had an interesting commentary on today’s passage. He said, “Jesus is God’s psalm for the world. It is not an accident that the Psalms became the hymnal of the church. When we pray them, we pray Jesus.”[1]

What I think Hauerwas is saying is that Jesus fully embodies the message of the Psalms. This is true in two ways. Firstly, Jesus’ life is essentially a prayer to God. It is a prayer because there is communication between the Father and the Son. It is prayer also because there is revelation from the Father to the Son. Through Jesus, we come to know the Father. Through Jesus, we receive God’s grace. Secondly, Jesus’ life is not only a prayer; it is also an expression of praises to God. His life of complete devotion to the Father’s will is worship. His ultimate goal in life is to glorify God. Prayer and praise, these are precisely what the Psalms are about. So in reflection of the life of Jesus, we come to realize, Jesus is indeed God’s psalm for the world.

That, I believe, is Hauerwas’ interpretation of today’s passage. And I fully agree that that is the correct focus as well. The main event may be about Christ’s crucifixion. After all, that is the purpose of being at Golgotha, it is the place to perform that particular punishment. But the focus of the passage is never on the act of crucifixion. That alone should be a warning to any Christian overly zealous on dramatizing the act itself. When Christians reflect on Jesus’ death, we sometimes focus on the pain, the torture and the suffering. We agonize over the pounding of the nails. We shudder at the flowing of the blood. We might say “Jesus endured all these pains on the cross for us; this is why you must believe him.” But this fascination or preoccupation with the crucifixion is alien to the text. In today’s passage, the crucifixion is almost a passing comment. It is only a subordinate clause “When they had crucified him”. It is a clause to put another activity in context: that of the soldiers casting lots over his clothes. Not only that, the crucifixion is also sandwiched beside another highlighted activity: the wine mixing and tasting. After tasting the mixed wine, Jesus rejected it. Jesus refused to dull his senses with this wine.

So, two activities were highlighted alongside the crucifixion: lots casting and wine mixing. It seems the narration dwells more on what the soldiers did, than what happened to Jesus. Why? This is because of Matthew’s agenda. He is using these two activities to make reference to two psalms, Psalm 22 and Psalm 69. Allow me to sidetrack here for a moment. When the biblical writers quote from their scriptures, the Old Testament, they often use the phrase “as it is written in the scriptures” or something like that. Since Matthew uses a lot of OT quotations, such phrases are easily found throughout his gospel. Yet, they are missing in today’s passage, even though he makes two references to the Psalms. Why? My guess is that it could be because the Psalms were already so familiar to his listeners, like the lyrics of our modern worship songs. “Be thou my vision, oh Lord of my heart” or “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.” Matthew didn’t need to make the quotations explicit for the readers to know that he is referencing the psalms.

But we do know that Matthew is definitely making a reference to these psalms because he intentionally modified Mark’s version of the account to make the referencing even clearer. While Mark mentioned that it was wine mixed with myrrh (Mark 15:23) that Jesus refused, Matthew refined it to state that the wine was mixed with gall. This is because the same word ‘gall’ also appears in verse 21 of Psalm 69. Psalm 69:21 They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst. Changing myrrh to gall makes the reference to Psalm 69 stronger. While Mark mentions only the dividing and casting of lots for the clothes, Matthew goes on to say that the soldiers kept watch over him there. Unsurprisingly, the watching action is found in verse 17 of Psalm 22, the preceding verse to the lots casting in verse 18. Psalm 22:17 All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. 18 They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment. Matthew had added an extra detail to emphasize the parallels between the crucifixion event and Psalm 22. Hence we observe in both cases, there are strong indications from Matthew that he was indeed referencing these two Psalms in today’s passage.

So we have to ask: why were these two particular Psalms referenced? Why were they given focus, even more than the act of crucifixion itself, which is only given a cursory mention? I believe it has to do with Matthew’s overriding theme of his gospel: Jesus is the King of God’s kingdom. Upon investigation we discover that both of these psalms were written with King David as the main subject. In both psalms, David was under persecution from his enemies, and the likely scenario was persecution from Saul. We know from the bible stories, that even though David had been anointed by Samuel as king, Saul was jealous and refused to give up his kingship. The resulting harassment from Saul was the inspiration for these two psalms. Both of them were prayers of distress. David cries out to God for help, and laments about all the treachery he suffered from his enemies. But these psalms were also expressions of hope in the eventual deliverance of God. Whether it is in safety or in the midst of danger, David expressed confidence in God's salvation. God would give him justice. In referencing these two psalms, Matthew, like many other New Testament writers[2], was making the case that Jesus was just like David, the king of the Jews.

In my opinion, to compare the similarities between Jesus and David was a brilliant theological insight from the New Testament writers. The Jews were expecting a restoration of God’s kingdom. They were anticipating a king that would lead them to victory over their enemies. Their hopes and dreams were not wrong. They were based on the covenantal promises of God. Jesus fulfilled God's promises but not in the way they imagined. It was their conclusion that had gone awry because they imagined a charismatic warrior as their coming king. They wanted a king like David. They forgot that David was more than just a good fighter. In their minds, David was the model king, the Davidic dynasty was the blessed royal bloodline from God. But David also had his times of persecution and rejection too. These times were captured well in the Psalms and the history books. The Jews had forgotten that all these were a part of David too. David may be the king, divinely anointed by God. But David was not free from attacks and hardships. In fact, his troubles arose out of his choice to fulfill God's will. It was his latent kingship that led Saul to persecute him. The worthiness of David lies not in his strength or talents, but in his full dependence and commitment to God. David was the chosen king of God, even in the times when he was down and out. In referencing these psalms of David, Psalm 69 and 22, Matthew was telling his readers that Jesus was king too. Jesus was crucified on the cross, mocked and persecuted by his enemies. But this path was already well traveled by the likes of king David. Jesus' miserable plight diminished not his royal stature. Jesus is king.

But it is more than just a revelation of Jesus' kingship that Matthew was doing. Matthew was also telling us the kind of king that Jesus is. David had troubles, some perhaps more self-inflicted than others. David had his moment of weakness with Bathsheba, his moment of folly with Absalom and his many moments of war. But these were not the sources of hardship for David in these two psalms. The enemies of David were well described in the two psalms, and they were the enemies of God himself.

Allow me to read from Psalm 69:6 Lord, the LORD Almighty, may those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me; God of Israel, may those who seek you not be put to shame because of me. 7 For I endure scorn for your sake, and shame covers my face. 8 I am a foreigner to my own family, a stranger to my own mother’s children; 9 for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.

So the psalms were more than a distress call from sufferings of pain and trouble. They were battles against evil, and in particular, the sins of humanity. David was fighting because of Saul's rebellion against God's will. But David persevered for the sake of God. He was mindful of the community that he served. He labored on in suffering so that those who hope in God and seek him were not disgraced. In these very moments, David demonstrated what it meant to be a servant king. He was a servant of God and also a servant of his people. Matthew, in referencing these two psalms, illustrated to us why Jesus on the cross is also king of the Jews. This is true kingship. It is a kingship exemplified by David himself. Jesus on the cross was not helpless. He was not a victim of circumstances. He was fighting the good fight, fulfilling the mission of God against his enemies. It was a battle against evil.

There is a Chinese saying 道高一尺，魔高一丈. It concludes that the battle against evil is seemingly impossible. For every achievement in moral good, it seems the difficulties and oppositions from evil will mount a bigger challenge. It is a never-ending fight, but eventually a hopeless cause. If we too concentrate only on the act of crucifixion, we too may conclude that evil has won. But Matthew has given us a different picture. He focused not on the act of crucifixion, but on the casting of lots and the wine mixing. They were references to psalms 22 and 69. Understanding these two psalms become the key to understanding the passage. The two psalms of David were cries of help from a righteous servant. But they also confess the truth that God is in control, and salvation belongs to him. Those familiar with the biblical story know that David overcame Saul. The Psalms are right. God triumphs over evil.

I've quoted from Psalm 69, allow me to quote from Psalm 22. Psalm 22:27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, 28 for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations. 29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— those who cannot keep themselves alive. 30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. 31 They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!

As we have read, the two psalms referenced by Matthew speak of the victory of God. He defeated his enemies so that his people will worship him. The victory is important because it shows his rule and dominion. It shows his righteousness and justice. He must act because he is God. This was so for David, it was the same with Jesus. Jesus' resurrection from the dead is his vindication from God. As the psalm proclaims, “He has done it! (Ps 22:31)” God raised him from the dead to show his victory over sin and death. Jesus served the Lord and his people just as David served. He endured the ridicule and mockery of his enemies just as David endured. But he also won his battle just as David won. Jesus who was crucified on the cross is the king. It is hard for the world that worships strength and power to see the truth. Jesus was so weak that he couldn't even carry his own cross. How could he be the promised king? But we who have read the Psalms and the bible stories must recognize it. Jesus who was crucified on the cross is the king. He is glorious as a faithful servant on the cross. His glory is complete when he is resurrected.

Brothers and sisters, this is why Jesus is God's psalm for the world. In our lives, the battle against evil wages on. On the bigger scale, there are wars against tyrants and dictators. On a smaller one, there are local fights for more civil liberties and social equality. Whether big or small, it is a constant struggle for the righteous. We lament over the injustice. And we long for God to act as he had acted in the past. So we pray to Jesus. We worship Jesus. Jesus is God's psalm for the world. In Jesus we have the promise that God vindicates the righteous. In Jesus we have the victory. So in this period of Lent, let us remember those who are suffering under evil. You may be facing an injustice of your own. Evil has its time of the day to manifest itself. They are mixing wine and casting lots. You may be frustrated and perplexed over God's timing. Lent is the season when we reflect over these difficulties that Jesus also had to endure. But we continue our faith in God. Situations can transform even just in three days. On Easter morning, we rejoice. For Jesus who was the king of the Jews is now the Lord of our lives.

[1] Stanley Hauerwas, Matthew (Brazos Theological Commentary), p. 237
[2] See the parallels in John 2:17 cf. Ps 69:9a; Romans 15:3 cf. Ps 69:9b; Romans 11:9-10 cf. Ps 69:22-23; Rev 16:1 cf. Ps 69:24; Acts 1:16, 20 cf. Ps 69:25; Rev 21:27 cf. Ps 69:28