(Matthew 22:41-46)
After silencing the Herodians and the Sadducees, Jesus asked the Pharisees a question saying, “What do you think of the Christ? Whose son is he?” The Pharisees answered, “The son of David.” Jesus responded, “How is it then that David, inspired by the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I put thy enemies under thy feet’? If David thus calls him Lord, how is he his son?”
Jesus is the son of David, king of kings and lord of lords. But the Pharisees would not accept that and could not understand how this could be. David recognised that the Christ would come and that he would be of the lineage of David. This was shown in prophecy and revealed to David. However the Pharisees were expecting a king to appear and to rule, not a common man of the people as Jesus was, albeit he was the Christ and did works no other man had ever done. David was the king who was recognised as a man after the heart of God.
It was normal for the younger generations to revere the elders. Unfortunately today this is often not the case, but it certainly was true in the time of Jesus. In those days they understood that with age came wisdom, knowledge and experience. Age brought with it the practice of many years training and first hand experience that can be gained only through time. Thus they revered and looked up to the elders of the people. As such it was very strange that David would make the statement he had made, for he was the elder and all of his sons would naturally revere his wisdom and experience. This was even more so because of his unique relationship with God and the fact that he was a great king.
That is why it puzzled the Pharisees so much. They could not conceive of a father, no matter how many generations removed, revering a son not yet born and calling him Lord. David knew that the Christ was to be of his lineage and he also knew that the Christ was the Son of God. It was certainly also recorded in scripture that there was to be a child born of a virgin as a sign, but this was after David’s reign. (Isaiah 7:14) One can only presume this knowledge was given to David and thus he understood the Christ would be the son of God and also of his lineage.
Due to the knowledge of the Lord and these questions he asked, no one subsequently dared question him over matters of scripture. Indeed he made the teachings of the Pharisees appear foolish for he showed them up to be inadequate and hypocritical in their handling of the truth of the scripture. Thus they were rejected. And in addition they did not recognise that they were the subjects of this prophecy. They were the ones who were the enemies of the Lord and would be subjugated under his feet in due course. They would prove themselves his enemy by having Jesus put to death, even though this was the plan of God. For through Jesus’ death we have received life, but those who are his enemies and reject the Christ will receive death.
Hi! I’m John, the owner, author, and editor of this site. Over the past 50+ years as a Christian I have been teaching, preaching and writing about the Bible to help Christians gain a deeper insight into the scriptures that are easily understood. I also answer specific Bible related questions, so feel free to contact me.
