Jesus as the Psalm 2 Royal Son of God

BibleProject

BibleProject Podcast

Jesus, Theology, Old Testament, Demons, Satan, New Testament, Angels, Tim Mackie, Christianity, God, Spiritual Beings, Spirit, Religion & Spirituality, Bible, Jon Collins, Torah, Bible Study

4.8 • 20.5K Ratings

🗓️ 16 March 2026

⏱️ 75 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Psalms 1 & 2 E4 — The New Testament authors make both subtle and direct claims to Jesus’ divinity, almost exclusively by referencing Israel’s Scriptures. In Psalm 2, one of the most quoted passages from the Hebrew Bible, Yahweh responds to the conspiring, violent nations by installing a king (whom he calls his Son) in Israel. Jesus and the apostles frequently use Psalm 2 language to describe Jesus’ divine identity and unique relationship to God the Father. In this episode, Jon and Tim explore these references in Jesus’ baptism, transfiguration, and resurrection, while also considering how the Son of God shares his royal identity with his followers.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Bible Project podcast. For the last few weeks, Tim and I have been studying Psalm 1 and Psalm 2.
0:12.9	We read each on their own, and then we read them side by side and saw how they spark off each other and connect us to the story of the whole Bible.
0:20.2	Today, we're going to zoom in
0:21.8	on Psalm 2 and look at how Psalm 2 is extensively quoted in the New Testament. Now remember,
0:28.7	Psalm 2 is the poem about the Anointed King, who God calls his son, who will inherit the whole world
0:35.2	and how rebel kings of the land are called to serve this king.
0:39.2	And the first time, Psalm 2 is quoted in the New Testament, is during Jesus' baptism,
0:44.0	when the sky rips open and God's voice from heaven says,
0:47.9	You are my son.
0:49.7	He's hearing a phrase from the heavenly voice, quoting the first few words of Psalm 2. And Jesus,
0:56.5	immediately after this, goes out into the wilderness, passes the test that Israel and humanity
1:02.1	failed, and then starts announcing the arrival of God's kingdom. So this voice is saying
1:08.7	something of the sun, almost as it were of like, it's go time. Go, son.
1:12.8	Go get him. Later in the Gospels, right before Jesus heads out to Jerusalem to be killed,
1:18.6	he ascends a mountain with three of his disciples, and suddenly his face and clothes begin shining,
1:24.8	revealing who he really is. And we hear the voice of the Father from heaven again declaring,
1:30.3	This is my son, whom I love, listen to him.
1:33.9	Jesus' status as the sun is not happening in this moment.
1:38.1	Rather, this moment on the mountain and the baptism then,
1:41.2	are little flash openings into the true identity of Jesus, going farther back
1:47.1	than any of our brains can imagine, into the eternal identity of God.
1:52.2	We'll look at how Paul quotes Psalm 2 to talk about the resurrection of Jesus.
	...

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