The Root and the Descendant

By Samantha Rodriguez

“The Lord says to my lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in the midst of your enemies!’ Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor, your young men will come to you like dew from the morning’s womb. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.’ The Lord is at your right hand; he will crush kings on the day of his wrath. He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth. He will drink from a brook along the way, and so he will lift his head high.”—Psalm 110 (NIV)

One of my favorite aspects of the Bible, especially the Old Testament, is how all throughout it you can see pictures or themes that point to Jesus as the Savior! This is why Jesus was able to teach His disciples before He ascended into heaven how everything in what we know as the Old Testament, the Law, the Prophets, and the psalms, all pointed to Himself! We see a summary from Jesus on what He told His disciples in Luke 24:46–47 (NIV): “He told them, ‘This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.’”

This is a beautiful thesis statement we can cling to as we read through Old Testament passages as well. Today’s psalm is not hard for us to see Jesus in because He actually quoted it Himself in a conversation with some Pharisees in Matthew 22:41–46. In this story, Jesus asks the Pharisees a trick question after they had just finished asking Him a series of trick questions themselves. They were trying to trip Jesus up so His huge following would be divided or offended. They also wanted to catch Him in His words in order to have a reason to arrest and kill Him. After answering all their trick questions with divine wisdom, truth, and skill, He in turn asks them a question. He brings up today’s psalm, which was known to be a royal or messianic psalm, and asks, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” (Matthew 22:42a NIV). They reply by saying the son of David, to which Jesus then says, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’” (Matthew 22:43 NIV). After He quotes this psalm, the Pharisees are left stumped without any answer to give, so they stop asking Jesus questions.

The point of sharing this is not to focus on the way Jesus handled this situation, although that is something I encourage you to think about on your own. The point of sharing this is to identify what David was prophetically describing when he wrote this psalm. This psalm shows us that, though the Messiah would come from the lineage of David, He would also be holy and royal, on equal level with God the Father. This psalm shows us that David Himself recognized the glory, majesty, and power of the Messiah as His Lord before even meeting Him. David’s psalm describes Jesus as a royal priest from the order of Melchizedek, which also gives us insight to His divine authority which you can read more about in Hebrews 5–7. This psalm is one we can read and proclaim today because it reminds us of the promised victory to come through Jesus who already victoriously rose from the dead securing our salvation and who will one day victoriously return to secure our eternity with Him and establish a new heaven and earth!

Read this psalm over again and dwell on the imagery of victory! Jesus declares in Revelation 22:16 (NIV), “I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” One day, we’ll see our Savior face to face in all His splendor, and this psalm will not even compare to His glory! Praise God!

Pause: What does Jesus being the Root and the Offspring of David show us about His character?

Practice: Spend time praising Jesus today for His victory before we see it all in completion! Take a moment to pray out loud and ascribe glory to your Savior.

Pray: Holy, Holy Jesus, You’re matchless in glory and wonderful in power! You’re victorious, and I’m humbled to know Your victory is on our behalf. You defeated sin and death to rescue us and give us access to Yourself! We’re not worthy of Your victory or salvation, but in Your holiness You’re also perfectly gracious. Thank You. Today, I dwell on that grace and live from the victory You secured for me. Amen.