“The Lord is at Your right hand; He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath.” Psalm 110:5
This is NOT the picture the modern American church has of Jesus. Usually, He is pictured as a sweet, solemn hippy right out of a Precious Moments Bible. Actually, in recent years I’ve seen more pictures of Jesus with shorter hair, big smiles, and carrying sheep or with hands reaching toward you in an inviting way. No one has a picture of Jesus as a warrior King slaying enemies! But this is the image of Jesus in Psalm 110 and it’s not just in Psalm 110.
Isaiah 63:1-3 pictures Jesus as returning from victorious battle with His garments all stained with the blood of His enemies, like one who has treaded grapes in a wine press and gotten their robe soaked in the blood of the grape. This is His glorious apparel. Or Psalm 2 where the kings of the earth are warned to serve the King of Kings or be slain. This is not just reserved for the Old Testament.
Revelation 19, at the marriage supper of the Lamb, the final victory of Jesus over His enemies, describes Him as judging and making war against the kings of earth arrayed against Him. He is riding a white horse. His robe again covered in blood as He treads the winepress of His wrath upon them. He slays them with the sword that comes from His mouth. An angel calls for all the birds of the air to come and feast on the flesh of the defeated kings that cover the battlefield. Part of the marriage supper of the Lamb is the death of His enemies.
Salvation and judgment go together all throughout the Bible. The judgment of the wicked is the salvation of the righteous. This is theme of the “Day of the Lord” that runs from Genesis to Revelation.
In the New Covenant Jesus tells Peter to put away his sword of metal because the New Covenant promised land, which is the entire earth, is not conquered through the fleshly warfare of horses and swords. We still have armor, we still have weapons, it is still a war, but it is a spiritual war as 2 Corinthians 10 makes clear. But this truth shouldn’t cause us to picture Jesus looking like John Lennon sitting cross-legged with flowers in His hair singing Kumbaya.
Jesus is a Man of war. (Exodus 15:3) He is the King of glory, strong and mighty, mighty in battle. (Psalm 24:8) He says in Matthew 10:34, “Do not think I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.”
This is the Jesus of Psalm 110. This is the Jesus of the Bible.
His mercy endures forever!
Pastor Flynn