Psalm 2 famously states, “Kiss the son, lest he be angry and you perish in the way” (2:12, NKJV). But there is more than one way to kiss the son.
Luke 22 tells the story of Jesus’s arrest. Jesus was handed over to his captors by a kiss from Judas Iscariot: “Jesus said to him, ‘Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?’”
The irony of such a kiss is captured by Michael Card in his song, “Why?”
Why did it have to be a friend
Who chose to betray the Lord
Why did he use a kiss to show them
That’s not what a kiss is forOnly a friend can betray a friend
A stranger has nothing to gain
And only a friend comes close enough
To ever cause so much pain…
Card goes further in the song to explain that the world cannot offer a true kiss, just as the world cannot truly crown Christ as king. Christ’s demands of allegiance are too great. His love is too pure,
Because in this life that we live
For all who seek to love
A thorn is all the world has to give.
Christ offers himself in love. The world crowns his love with thorns. Judas Iscariot indeed did kiss the Son, yet he perished in the way. The kiss of Psalm 2 was never meant to be merely a kiss. A kiss of genuine affection and devotion was the one intended by the psalm.
A kiss of mere lip service is never enough, as though the action itself were all that was demanded. Spurgeon reminds us to be on guard “when the world puts on a loving face, for it will, if possible, betray me as it did my Master, with a kiss. Whenever a man is about to stab religion, he usually professes very great reverence for it.”
Our kiss must stand the trials of time. When pressure builds to affirm same sex marriage, will we still offer our affectionate embrace of God’s Son, or, as with World Vision, will we seek favor with donors or those wielding political clout? When we are called hateful bigots because we think homosexuality is sinful, will we still kiss the Son? When we are ostracized, outcast, and persecuted, will our kiss endure?
We must kiss the son, but not like Judas.
Gregory C. Cochran 
What do you think?