January 22
Matthew 22: Who Is Jesus?
Genesis 23; Matthew 22; Nehemiah 12; Acts 22
By the end of Matthew 22, Jesus has been successfully enduring a number of traps laid for him by his enemies. Now in verses 41-46 he turns the tables and asks them a question, not to trick them, but to show them how much they are underestimating him.
When all the Pharisees (the conservative religious leaders of the day) were all gathered together (41), he asks this question:
“What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”
“Christ” means the “anointed one” or “Messiah.” The question about son goes to authority and hierarchy. When you are the son, you come with your father’s authority. Jesus’ question is getting them to think about how great and authoritative will the Messiah be.
They respond accurately:
“The son of David.”
God had promised David that there would never lack a son of his on his throne (2 Samuel 7:12-16). So far so good. But then Jesus asks them about the first words of Psalm 110:
“How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him [the Christ, Messiah] Lord, saying,
44 “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet” ’?
The meaning of the Psalm hinges on who is talking. In your Bible, there are words listed above the Psalm. This is called a “superscription.” While the superscription was probably not written by David, it tells us who the first recipients of the Psalms understood wrote this: David.
Thus over the centuries those studying the Bible have treated this as an “oracular” Psalm. An oracle is like a holy vision. David the King seems to be observing a conversation happening in the throne room of God. One person - “The Lord” - is speaking. Since David is king, this can only be God. And the Lord God says to “my Lord” to sit at the “right hand,” where the son sits, and exercise authority, until the Son’s reign is complete.
So Jesus asks his revealing question:
45 “If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”
Here is the truth Jesus is trying to get them to see: while the Messiah will come from David, and in that sense he will be David’s son, at the same time his glory and authority will be so much greater than David’s that even David will call him “Lord.”
The moment David envisions will be fulfilled when Jesus ascends back to the Father. He has come close and lived our experience. Yet do not underestimate him. He is the King of Glory, the eternal Lord of heaven and earth. Offer yourself freely to him, in holy garments.