Footstools

Last year, I made several footstools in my wood shop as Christmas gifts. I wanted to make something practical, and you can use a footstool for all sorts of things: a child can use it to get a book on a tall shelf, a cook can step up on it to reach that spice in the top cabinet, or you can prop your foot on it to tie your shoe. But however you use it, the stool is under your feet—exactly where all of Jesus’ enemies will end up.

We established in Psalm 110:1 that God the Father is speaking to Jesus his Messiah. But what is he saying? “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” There is no denying that Jesus has many enemies in this world. Remember all those raging, plotting nations in Psalm 2? But God promises that by the time this story is over, the Messiah will prop his feet up on every last one of them, like Psalm 2 predicted, along with Genesis 3:15. He will be victorious. It causes David to cheer: “Yahweh sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!”

This is Jesus’ position right now. He is not in a manger, on a cross, or in a tomb. He is ruling at the Father’s right hand, while God subdues all of his enemies. Jesus took his place on that throne in an important event called “the ascension.” This is when, forty days after his victorious resurrection, God welcomed Jesus home into heaven. As God’s eternal Son, he had shared the glory of the Father and the Spirit since before the world began. But this was different: Jesus was now re-entering heaven’s gates as our fully-God, fully-human mediator (1 Tim 2:5). He had completed his mission as our Savior by his perfect life, death, and resurrection. He presented his blood in the holy places, and God the Father enthroned him above all powers (Eph 1:20–21). God gave him a name above every name and declared that every knee should bow, and every tongue should confess his name in heaven, on earth, and under the earth (Phil 2:5–11). Jesus now declares that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him (Matt 28:18). Jesus has been ruling from that position ever since. We call this period Christ’s “session.” He will occupy this position until he returns and God finally puts all things under his feet, as the once-and-for-all Son of David.

These are big claims! But Jesus did something dramatic to prove this claim. He poured out the Holy Spirit on his church. It happened on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. All the nations who were in Jerusalem for the feast heard Jesus’ followers preaching the gospel in their own language. They had been so resistant to Jesus the month before that they had cheered his crucifixion. But on this day, 3,000 of them are “cut to the heart,” and they pledge their faith to Jesus in baptism. Peter explains all of this by quoting Psalm 110: it was a demonstration that Jesus was risen, ascended, and ruling in the midst of his enemies—sending forth his mighty scepter (Acts 2:32–36).

This should change the way we look to the new year! The world will certainly oppose Jesus and his people. Lots of crazy stuff will happen. But before you get depressed or fearful, re-read Psalm 110: King Jesus rules. That’s why we mark time now with the letters “A.D.” That’s short for the Latin phrase, anno domini, which means “in the year of our Lord.” I am writing this “in the year of our Lord 2024,” meaning that Jesus Christ has now been reigning in heaven for two thousand, twenty-four years. There will be plenty of work to do in 2025, but we can take a moment to prop up our feet. It’s going to be a good year.

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Article by Eric Smith
Senior Pastor, Sharon Baptist Church