The Son of David – The Son of God
Jesus asked the religious leaders a question to help them see that He was the Messiah saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He? They said to Him, “The Son of David. He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying: The LORD said to my Lord, sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool? If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son? And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore” (Matthew 22:42-46).
In other words Jesus said, if David calls the Messiah “Lord,” implying that Messiah is older than David himself, how can the Messiah be also David’s “son” and thus be younger than David? The only possible answer to Jesus’ question is that the Person who was to come as Messiah would have existed before His incarnation on this earth. As David’s “Lord,” the Messiah was the Son of God; as David’s “Son,” the Messiah was the Son of man, through the lineage of David (Matthew 1:1).
Sadly, the Jewish leaders were not ready to answer this question because of their cherished wrong ideas of the Messiah (Luke 4:19). They could not answer the question without admitting that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Messiah, the Son of God. In asking this question, Jesus was trying to allow the Pharisees and scribes to visualize the main purpose of His mission to earth for understanding this question would lead them to salvation. In His mercy, He was trying to give them another chance before it was too late. But they refused to accept Him.
Jesus lamented over His opposers saying, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate” (Matthew 23:37,38). God looks with tender compassion upon all the lost (Luke 15:7) and is reluctant to abandon them to their own wicked ways (Ezekiel 18:23; 1 Timothy 2:4) but He respects their choices.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
