43 – The Son of David
Mark 12:35-37
And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” And the great throng heard him gladly.
Difficult Words
- Throng: A large densely packed crowd
Question 1
What sort of person would you call ‘Lord’?
Question 2
Therefore, who would King David have called Lord?
We have heard the title Son of David several times now. In this passage Jesus tries to show something wonderful about himself.
The people accepted that the Messiah was going to belong to David’s family. They had been promised that God would raise someone from that family to be King. Indeed, Jesus was part of that family through his legal father Joseph, and his natural mother Mary.
But Jesus wants them to see that there is something more to say about the Messiah. He does this by quoting from a psalm (a type of song) which David wrote. The psalm says that God (the Lord) has said something to another person called ‘my Lord’. The second person here receives a high status as God places him to sit in the most important place, at his right hand.
Jesus says that, in the psalm, God is speaking to the Messiah. If David therefore calls the Messiah Lord, then two things are true. Firstly, although the Messiah can be called the Son of David, he must be more important than David, and have more authority – He is Lord even over King David! Secondly, it is obvious that the Messiah who the people were expecting existed with God when the psalm was written. If that is so, that which Jesus has to tell them is amazing. He is the Messiah who has more power and authority than David. More than that, before he came to the world he existed with God in Heaven.
What is sad in this situation is that the people rejoiced in the way Jesus was explaining the word of God to them, even when he mentioned that God was going to subdue his enemies. A lot of them were going to reject Jesus, even though they had enjoyed listening to what he had to say.
Question 3
How does seeing the many ways people had spoken about Jesus hundreds of years before he came give us assurance?
Question 4
How should we respond when we hear that Jesus is God and that he existed in heaven since before the creation of the world?
Pray
by giving thanks to God for his King who is going to punish everything evil and all his enemies.