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41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” They said to Him, “The Son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying: 44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool?”’ 45 If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?” 46 And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore. ~ Matthew 22:41-46
Today, we return to our study of Matthew 22 where the Lord Jesus and His disciples are in Jerusalem at the Temple court. With it still being Wednesday, the Lord Jesus was repeatedly confronted by the antagonistic religious leaders of Israel. Their questions were attempts to trap Him in His words, but one after another He answered their questions accurately. After their questions had run out, the Lord Jesus took the opportunity to ask them a question of His own. And while He could have used this chance to shame or embarrass them, instead He asked a question that pointed them to the truth. Their questions came from wicked hearts with wicked intentions, but His’ offered them the chance to see God's will more clearly.
In v.41-42 of today's passage we read, "41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 saying, 'What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?' They said to Him, 'The Son of David.'"
The answer to the question the Lord Jesus posed to the religious leaders is found in several places in the Old Testament. It was not as if God had withheld the answers from these so-called leaders. All of the promises in the Old Testament regarding the Messiah are grounded in the Abrahamic Covenant and expanded in the Davidic Covenant. Since the Jews assumed that the Messiah would use political power to set up a political kingdom here on earth, they rejected the Lord Jesus as the obvious Promised One. Although they should have, they did not see that the Messiah had to first be the Lamb of God who came to procure the forgiveness of sin of both Jews and Gentiles before He could set up His kingdom on this earth. Arrogantly, the religious leaders saw their Messiah as the Savior of the Jews only.
In v.44-45 of today's passage we read, "44 The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool?' 45 If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?"
Here, the Lord Jesus quotes Psalm 110:1 and then He added a question pointing these devious men back to the truth. This was the final invitation the Lord Jesus gave to the religious leaders of Israel to believe in Him as their Messiah. It was one more moment in which these people could have ceased their open rejection of God's promised Messiah. David, according to Psalm 110:1, called his son his Lord. Graciously, the Lord Jesus revealed to the religious leaders that the Messiah was more than a physical descendant of David, that He is God Himself. In fact, He could not be their Messiah without being God because only the perfection of God can overcome sin and death.
Our understanding of the identity of the Lord Jesus is the most important thing in all of life. A careful study of the Scriptures reveals Him as the sinless Lamb of God who came to pay the penalty which our sin had created. The Bible is very clear that the Lord takes no pleasure in the condemnation of the wicked. This is why the Son agreed before the foundation of this world to be our Messiah. Sadly, the Jewish religious leaders didn't repent of their will in the presence of the incarnate God. They were entertained by His teachings and His miracles but they missed Him and they ended up in hell. How sad are those words. They were so resolute in the darkness of their own sin that they couldn’t see the light when He was shining right in front of them.
According to Matthew 1 and Luke 3, the Lord Jesus came through the genealogical line of King David. Both His parents were from the Davidic line. He, therefore, is the Son of David. If He were not the Son of David, those who desired to discredit Him would have used the genealogical records to discredit Him. To be David’s Son and David’s Lord, the Lord Jesus had to be the eternal God who came as the God-man. This was too much for the Jewish religious leaders to take in. This made them change their interpretation of Psalm 110, saying it refers to Abraham and not the Messiah. As my dad would say, "They were so narrow-minded they could see through a keyhole with both eyes."
In v.46 of today's passage we read, "And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore."
Essential to any relationship is the back and forth exchange of information. Essential for the deepening of our walk with the Lord are the questions that creep up on us on a day by day basis. Most often we are annoyed by those questions because they come at us through unwanted moments. Yet, those questions serve our relationship with God. We do well to see them as our friends because they are a means toward intimacy with God.
We deny the veracity of the Bible when we will fail to believe in the Lord Jesus as the long-promised Messiah. The Jewish religious leaders rejected the Word of God, thus, they rejected their own Messiah and had Him crucified. They led the nation into ruin because they would not humble themselves enough to confess their sins and to trust in the Lord Jesus as the Son of David. These men were "experts" in the study of God, yet they chose not to be defined by Him. Their religion was a matter of external observance, not internal transformation. They never comprehended the fact that the Lord Jesus came to this earth to give those who believe forgiveness of sin and personal relationship with God.
