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It was still Tuesday in the last week in the life of Christ. It continues to be a day of controversy. Pharisees, Scribes, Lawyers and Sadducees, all had attempted to entrap Jesus with their questions. Now Jesus asks the Pharisees a question. Notice the time He picks to ask the question. While they were gathered together, in council, seeking to find a way to get rid of Him. There is strength in numbers, but they were no match for Jesus. He, thus, gives them the advantage and yet He conquers them.
Notice the question. "What do you think of the Christ?" "Whose Son is He?" This was a different question than the one He asked the Disciples. To them He asked, "Who do men say that I am?" To the Disciples , He was asking about Jesus of Nazareth. To the Pharisees, He was asking about the Promised Messiah. We know them to be the same, but they did not. The question to the Pharisees was an easy one, it was in their Catechism, their stated doctrines of belief. The answer in the Catechism was that the Christ would be the Son of David. The Scribes in expounding on the scriptures, always concluded that "out of the seed of David, out of the root of Jesse, the father of David", would come the Messiah. If Christ was truly the son of David, than He was really and truly a man.
Lets get back to the first part of the question. "What do you think of the Christ?" Is He a man? Is He the Son of God? Is He an earthly Savior? Is He a Heavenly Savior? Is He the Savior of mankind? Is He only the Savior of Israel? They had questioned Jesus about the Law. He questioned them about the "Promise". This is a logical question to ask even today, because the answer to it will determine where you spend eternity. "What think ye of Christ?"
"Whose Son is He?" If Christ was the son of David, why did David call him Lord? Paul writes in I Cor. 12:3, "No man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Spirit." II Sam. 23 "For it was the Spirit of the Lord that spoke by him (David)." The word "Lord" is the English version of several words in the Hebrew. God was sometimes translated EL, E-lo-him, Yah-weh or Lord. Each was a descriptive name representing some function of the God Head. David wrote in the 110th Psalm, "The Lord said to my Lord....", meaning, God the Father, said to God the Son, come set at my right hand. In Rev. 5, John wrote that Jesus was the only one found worthy to open the seals on the "Lamb's Book of God". When He had done this, God said to Him, "Come set by my right hand till I put thy enemies under thy feet." What was Jesus attempting to teach these Pharisees?
A thousand years of mis-understanding had to be made right. Being the "son of David" meant being of the linage of David. Somehow, Jesus was going to have to get these people to see that the Messiah was to be the Son of God. He was to be the Second Person of the Trinity, which meant the introduction of a completely new understanding of the "God Head. What success did He have?
He puzzled them. No one was able to answer Him. Why? Was it because of ignorance or was it by choice? Or, was it because the "truth" had not yet been revealed to them? Without the revelation of the Holy Spirit, we would not be able to understand either. Jesus made this plain when He said to Peter after Peter proclaimed "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God", Jesus said, "Flesh and blood had not revealed this to you but the Father." Thus saying that spiritual truths have to be revealed by divine enlightenment.
Christ, as God, was David's Lord. Christ, as man, was the son of David, 28 times removed, 14 generations from David to the Babylonian exile and 14 generations from the exile to Joseph and Mary.
Rev. 22:16 says, "I am the root and the offspring of David." How can Jesus be the Father and the Son of David? John explains that when he says that Jesus was from the beginning. The confusion is always caused by the two natures of Jesus, His divine nature and His human nature. As a human, He was the descendant of David. As the Son of God, His divine nature, He was the Lord of David. Even His own mother called Him Lord.
Notice this question and its answer silenced the Scribes and Pharisees. From that point on, none of them ever asked Him another question. Of course others of lesser station did sincerely ask questions but none of the Jewish leaders ever questioned Him again. We can visualize the Scribes and Pharisees turning and going away, having met their match and came away wanting. As they leave, not understanding or not wanting to understand, Jesus turned to the crowd and pronounced a "woe" upon them. This brings us to the next lesson.
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