Matthew 22:41-46 Mark 12:35-37 Luke 20:41-44

Matthew 22:41-46 41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: 42 “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” They said to Him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying, 44 ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET”’? 45 “If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” 46 No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.

Mark 12:35-37 35 And Jesus began to say, as He taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? 36 “David himself said in the Holy Spirit, ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET.”’ 37 “David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?” And the large crowd enjoyed listening to Him.

Luke 20:41-44 41 Then He said to them, “How is it that they say the Christ is David’s son? 42 “For David himself says in the book of Psalms, ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, 43 UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”’ 44 “Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord,’ and how is He his son?”

There is often a disconnect between our expectations and reality.  We anticipate that something will happen in a certain way, but things often turn out very different.  The nation of Israel had many expectations about Messiah.  Jesus did not fit with many of those presuppositions.  This can also be said of us today.  We have a certain way that we think the circumstances of our life will go.  However, real life often turns out to be very different.  We must be careful not to allow these circumstances to hinder our walk with the Lord and the way we relate with Him.

THE EXPECTATION OF A HUMAN KING: Jesus has been being questioned over the last several sections so now He begins to ask some questions.  He asks them whose Son the Christ would be?  They quickly answer that he would be the son of David.  This answer was partially correct, but we will deal with that in the next paragraph.  However, what this does reveal is that they were expecting a human king.  Israel had been under oppression for generations and dreamed of getting back to the “glory days” of David’s and Solomon’s reigns.  Israel had been a world power, but now they were under oppression.  What they wanted more than anything was to have freedom, autonomy and security in their land.  In their minds, this is what Christ would bring to them.  These are the promises of the Old Testament.  These were the expectations of that generation.  The problem was that they were only half of the equation.  They were so focused on the physical that they were unable to remember or consider the spiritual aspects of the promises concerning Messiah.  Unfortunately, we too tend to think much more about the physical than that spiritual world in our relationship with God.  It is important that we manage and adjust our expectations.

 

THE REALITY OF A DIVINE LORD: When the Pharisees respond that Christ is the son of David, Jesus asks them how it is that David, being father, would call Christ Lord.  What Jesus is demonstrating that the Messiah promised in the Old Testament was not merely a human king who descended from David.  The Messiah promised in the Old Testament was a Divine Lord of lords and King of kings.  Jesus wants to make sure that all of us understand that He fulfilled all the prophecies concerning Messiah’s first coming.  He came as a suffering servant that paid the price for our sin.  The expectation that He would reign as King on earth is a reality that will happen at His second coming.  The truth about Jesus is that He is God.  The reason the Jews crucified Him was that He claimed to be God.  They understood His teaching clearly.  They just didn’t believe it.  What each of us believe about Jesus will determine our eternal destiny.  Any who consider Jesus to be merely a human king cannot be saved.  Those who believe He is Divine Lord are taking a vital step towards understanding the Gospel and being saved.

APPLICATION: We must keep our expectations about the physical aspects of being a Christian in check.  The peace and prosperity that is promised in the kingdom must not become the focus of our present lives.  However, we need to make sure that we are living now in submission to Jesus as our King of kings and Lord of lords.  Never forget that Jesus is God.