Mark 12:35-37
Whose Son Is the Messiah?
35 While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? 36 David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared:
“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet.”’
37 David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?”
The large crowd listened to him with delight.
Psalm 110:1-7
Of David. A psalm.
1 The Lord says to my lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”
2 The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of your enemies!”
3 Your troops will be willing
on your day of battle.
Arrayed in holy splendor,
your young men will come to you
like dew from the morning’s womb.
4 The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right hand;
he will crush kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead
and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.
7 He will drink from a brook along the way,
and so he will lift his head high.
In the temple courts, amidst Jesus' teachings, He posed a seemingly simple yet very profoundly complex theological question to the teachers of the law: "Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the Son of David?"...This query wasn't intended to negate the widely accepted Davidic lineage of the Messiah, a Truth firmly rooted in Old Testament prophecy...Rather, it served as a strategic pivot, a deliberate challenge designed to unravel the limitations of their understanding and unveil a deeper, more transcendent reality about the Messiah's identity...Jesus, drawing upon the very scriptures they revered, quoted Psalm 110:1, a declaration attributed to David himself, a psalm where David proclaims, "The LORD says to my lord: 'Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.'"...This single verse, laden with Divine implication, formed the crux of Jesus's teaching challenge...He then posed the logical and inescapable follow-up: "David himself calls Him 'LORD.' How then can He be his Son?"...This rhetorical question wasn't a denial of the Messiah's human ancestry, but a powerful assertion of His Divine Authority and Pre-eminence, a King of Kings whose rule, extending from Zion, would be amidst His enemies (Psalm 110:2), supported by willing troops in Holy Splendor (Psalm 110:3), and whose priesthood would be eternal, in the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4)...
This Divine and Mysterious laced verse from Psalm 110:1 presents a profound and pivotal declaration, attributed to King David himself, speaking under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit...In this divinely uttered statement, David records, "'The LORD (YAHWEH) said to my Lord (ladoni): 'Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.'"...The significance of this verse lies in the relationship it establishes between two figures both addressed as "Lord."...David, the revered king of Israel and a key ancestor in the lineage of the Messiah, refers to another individual as "my Lord," a title signifying authority and mastery...Furthermore, this "Lord" is invited by YAHWEH, the covenant God of Israel, to sit at His right hand, a position of unparalleled honor, power-sharing, and delegated authority in the ancient Near Eastern context...This invitation to sit at God's right hand implies a status and dominion that extends beyond earthly kingship...The final part of the verse contains a powerful promise from YAHWEH: that He will ultimately subjugate all of this "LORD's" enemies, placing them under His complete control...Given that David is speaking prophetically by the Holy Spirit, his designation of a future descendant as "my LORD" and the description of this individual's exaltation to God's right hand, coupled with the promise of ultimate victory, strongly suggests that the Messiah's identity transcends a purely human, Davidic lineage, hinting at a Divine Authority and a unique relationship with God Himself...This verse, therefore, becomes a crucial piece in understanding the multifaceted nature of the Messiah, being both a descendant of David in His Humanity and the "LORD" of David in His Divine Authority...
The teachers of the law, deeply entrenched in their traditional interpretations, primarily envisioned the Messiah as a powerful earthly king, a descendant of David who would liberate Israel from Roman oppression and restore its former glory....A regular human...Their understanding, while grounded in certain prophetic threads, often overlooked the more profound pronouncements that hinted at the Messiah's Divine Nature and His Unique and Special Relationship with God...Jesus's question directly confronted this limited perspective, compelling them to grapple with the implications of David, the revered king and ancestor, addressing his future descendant as "LORD."...This wasn't merely a polite form of address; in the Hebrew context, "Lord" (Adonai) often carried connotations of authority and even divinity, especially when used in a theophanic or messianic context...For David, speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to bestow this title upon His Offspring suggested a status far exceeding that of a mere earthly successor and a much more than a mere human...
Jesus's teaching here subtly unveiled the Messiah's Divine Sonship, a concept that would later be more fully revealed...By highlighting David's acknowledgment of the Messiah as "LORD," Jesus implied a pre-existence and a Divine Authority that transcended the limitations of human lineage...The Messiah was not just a man descended from David; He was also the LORD whom David recognized and to whom God Himself spoke..This pointed towards a dual nature, a Divine and human reality intertwined in the person of the Messiah...It challenged the prevailing notion of a purely human, albeit powerful, deliverer and hinted at a Savior whose dominion extended beyond earthly realms...It also hints and suggests two of the parts of the Trinity...
Furthermore, Jesus's method of teaching underscored the ultimate authority of Scripture... He didn't introduce a novel concept but drew their attention to a passage already present within their sacred texts...His ability to interpret and apply these scriptures with such profound insight demonstrated His Own Divine Authority and His deep understanding of God's Word...He was essentially saying, "The Truth about Who I AM is already here, within the very texts you study; you simply need to see it with new eyes."...The delight of the large crowd in listening to this exchange suggests a recognition of the power and truth inherent in Jesus's words...They were perhaps less bound by the rigid interpretations of the religious leaders and more open to the revolutionary implications of Jesus's question...
In essence, Jesus's query about the Messiah being both David's Son and David's LORD served multiple crucial purposes...It challenged the limited, often politically motivated, expectations surrounding the Messiah...It subtly revealed the Messiah's Divine Nature and His Unique Relationship with God...It affirmed the ultimate authority of Scripture and demonstrated Jesus's Own profound understanding and interpretation of it...Jesus in God's Word, and is the Word...And the Word is God, and the Word is YAHWEH...And finally, it provoked deeper theological reflection, urging both the religious leaders and the common people to move beyond superficial understandings and embrace the full, glorious truth of the Messiah's identity – a Truth that encompassed both His Human Lineage and His Divine LORDSHIP...This pivotal teaching in the temple courts laid a crucial foundation for understanding the true nature and significance of Jesus Christ...
So the Word became flesh and did dwell among us, and the disciples and others have seen His Glory, the Glory of the Only Son from the Father, full of Grace and Truth...This identifies Jesus as the Incarnate Word...Therefore, if Jesus is the Word, and the Word is God (and "LORD" in the Old Testament often translates to YAHWEH), then Jesus indeed shares in the Divine Nature and authority of YAHWEH...Jesus' use of Psalm 110 reinforces this, showing that even in the Old Testament, the Messiah's identity hinted at this Divine LORDSHIP...