Paying Tribute to God’s Son

Psalm 72:1-7,10-14,18,19; Matthew 2:1-12

Our Psalm is a prayer for guidance and support for King Solomon. It is a prayer that the king will carry out God’s directive to execute justice and righteousness. The poor are under God’s care, thus the king who is God’s representative acts for the good of the poor and needy. His express purpose is to protect the powerless. Then it talks about foreign kings rendering him tribute.

Many find this to be a prophecy regarding the visit of the Magi to Jesus. This last Sunday was Epiphany Sunday where we celebrate the visit of the Magi who pay tribute to the Christ child. In fact, this Psalm ends blessing the Lord God of Israel who alone does wonderous things. So, could this Psalm dedicated to Solomon also be referring to Christ? It talks about righteousness to the king’s son – could this be the Prince of Peace – Jesus?

In our familiar Matthew passage about the visit of the Magi – the scribes find another prophecy regarding Jesus birth from the Old Testament book of Micah. It predicts a ruler who will shepherd God’s people of Israel. Going back to Mary’s Magnificat a lot of the deeds her son Jesus will bring are told of in our Psalm especially the delivering the needy when they call and saving the lives of the poor, helpless, and needy. “Blessed am I to carry this son,” Mary proclaims and “blessed be the Lord who brings all these things.”

How can the Israelites like the shepherds and Magi not pay tribute to God’s son who will bring all these things through the grace of him providing salvation from the unjust world and in his future reign do all the qualities that a human king would struggle with due to their humanity and sinful nature?

How are we to bring homage to Christ today? We may not have frankincense, gold, or myrrh but we can give the gifts the Lord has given us. Not just our finances but our talents to help promote God’s kingdom of justice. Also, by reaching out to the helpless – the poor and the needy. Whenever you give to someone you are giving to me says Jesus in Matthew 25.

May we all pay homage to Jesus who has brought us salvation and truly say, “Blessed am I due to the blessings given me from Christ the son of God.”

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