Celebrating the reign of God
May 18, 2023 - Thursday, Sixth Week of Easter
Psalm 98:1-4
Psalm 98 is a hymn that celebrates the reign of the Lord evident in his wondrous deeds. For the people of Israel, the greatest deed of God was God’s victory over the Pharaoh of Egypt and his powerful military forces. When the Israelites saw the Egyptian soldiers dead on the seashore, they were awe-stricken and feared the Lord. Then, both Moses and his sister Miriam sang songs to the Lord praising God for his glorious victory. For us, Christians, the greatest deed of God has been God’s victory over death in Christ’s resurrection. With Saint Paul, we can ask: “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” And the answer is: “Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor 15:54-55).
We sing this psalm also on Christmas when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. He came to save the Jews and the Gentiles and his birth was declared to the shepherds of Judea and the magi from the East. Jesus Christ is God’s salvation; in Him, all the promises of God towards the house of Israel have been fulfilled. And at his birth, the angels sang a new song to the Lord. But Jesus Christ will come again to judge the world in righteousness and the people with uprightness (see Ps 98:9, LXX).
At the heart of Jesus’ message was the reign of God. We are familiar with empires and nation-states. Is there any difference between them and God’s kingdom? The clash between worldly empires and God’s kingdom is evident in the story of Jesus’ death on the cross. The Roman Empire crucified our Lord without any reason. There was no justification for that crucifixion. And yet, neither Jesus nor his disciples retaliated with vengeance. Instead, in three hundred years, the Church drew the Roman Empire to the crucified Christ by proclaiming the Gospel.
Psalm 98 can be titled “the new song for the Ruler and Judge of the world”. Who could it be if not the Son of Man who did not come “to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28)? In the liturgy of the Church and through her proclamation, the Lord makes his salvation known to the whole world. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the crucified Lord of Glory is that “new song” that we sing in honour of the Lamb that was slain and by his blood “ransomed people for God” (Rev 4:9-10). Through that “song” God’s salvation reaches all the ends of the earth.