Christ Is Whose Son? (Luke 20:41-47 and Matthew 22:41-46)

Christ is whose Son? Jesus asked, "David says in the Book of Psalms, “‘The Lord said to my Lord.”’ David thus calls him Lord, so how is he his son?” (Luke 20:41-44; see also Matthew 22:41-46 and Mark 12:35-37). How can David call the Messiah “Lord” if the Messiah is also his Son? How can the Messiah be both David’s Lord and Son? https://youtu.be/ZFUfdbyV40Y Christ is whose Son? How can David call the Messiah “Lord” if the Messiah is also his Son? (Luke 20:41-44 and Matthew 22:41-46). Table of contentsThe Jehovah's Witnesses Deny that Jesus Is GodThe Jews Didn’t Think the Messiah Was GodThe Paradox of the Messiah Being the Root and Offspring of DavidThe Majority Knew the Messiah Is the Son of DavidHow Can Jesus Be David's Son and Lord?Jesus Showed the Messiah Is GodJesus Showed There Is a ResurrectionTruth Brings AccountabilityOur Accountability When I was an elementary school teacher, an aide in my classroom was a Jehovah’s Witness. She was a sweet old woman, and we enjoyed each other. We had many of the same values. She not only helped me when I taught academics, but she also tried to reinforce the lessons on character that I taught. We would have pleasant conversations about our theological differences. I would share my questions about Jehovah’s Witnesses. Sometimes, she would respond. Other times, she would tell me she had to look into it, and then she would return with a copy of The Watchtower, the Jehovah’s Witnesses magazine. She must have told her husband about me because he came to my house with another Jehovah’s Witness one day to talk to me. We jumped right to a discussion of who Jesus is. It resembled this morning’s passage. In the parallel account in Matthew 22:42, Jesus asked the religious leaders, “What do you think about the Christ?” In answer to the question of who Jesus is, the man opened his New World Translation, the Jehovah’s Witness translation of the Bible, pointed to a verse in Matthew and said, “Jesus is the Son of God. See right here?”I said, “But you don’t think He’s God, do you?He said, “No. It says right here he’s the Son of God.” The Jehovah's Witnesses Deny that Jesus Is God The Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that when Jesus said He was the of God, He wasn’t claiming to BE God. But the Jews in Jesus’s day understood that when Jesus claimed to be the Son of God or to have God as his father, He was claiming equality with God: John 5:17 Jesus [said], “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” 18 This was why the Jews were SEEKING ALL THE MORE TO KILL HIM, because…he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. They wanted to kill Him because they thought He was committing blasphemy, and this was the punishment for blasphemy: Leviticus 24:16 Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. Here’s another example: John 10:30 I and the Father are one.” 31 The Jews PICKED UP STONES AGAIN TO STONE HIM. 32 Jesus [said], “For which [good work] are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” Think about when Jesus healed the paralytic’s sins: Luke 5:20 [Jesus] said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 The scribes and the Pharisees [said], “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Because only God can forgive sins, to claim to forgive sins was to claim to be God, and that was blasphemous. John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him. Pastor Nathan has made fun of me for years for correcting people’s grammar. He even got me one of my favorite sweatshirts, identifying me as part of the grammar police. I correct my kids’ grammar all day, which they love. They always say to me, “Daddy, thank you so much for all you’re doing to help us speak and write good.” Then I say, “Speak and write well.” So, of course, being the grammar Nazi that I am, I caught Jesus’s grammar mistake. He said, “Before Abraham was, I am,” versus before Abraham was, I was.” The religious leaders wanted to stone Him because they were legalistic and bothered by lousy grammar even more than me. No, they wanted to stone Jesus because they understood He was declared that He was God. He used the “I AM” title God gave Himself in Exodus 3:14 when speaking to Moses at the burning bush. The Jews Didn’t Think the Messiah Was God Why did the religious leaders accuse Jesus of blasphemy when He claimed to be the Son of God but not when He claimed to be the Messiah? The answer is pretty simple: When Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, they thought it was blasphemous because it was claiming to be God. But when Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, they did not think it was blasphemous because they didn’t think claiming to be the Messiah was claiming equality with God. The Jews thought the Messiah would be someone like Moses, David, or Solomon: He would deliver them from Rome like Moses delivered the Israelites from the Egyptians He would be a great military leader like David and defeat their enemies like David defeated the Philistines He would be a wise king like Solomon who would make the nation wealthy and powerful like it was under Solomon The Jews thought the Messiah would be Moses, David, and Solomon rolled into one. They thought he would be a great, wise, and powerful manand the keyword is man. They thought he would be a man, but not God. Remember this because it provides the background to understand this morning’s verses. The Paradox of the Messiah Being the Root and Offspring of David Consider how Jesus described Himself in this verse: Revelation 22:16 (NKJV) “I am the ROOT and the OFFSPRING of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” Jesus said He is both David’s root and David’s offspring. How could He be both? This title comes from Isaiah 11: Isaiah 11:1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. The Hebrew word for shoot is ḥōṭer, which means branch, which is why the second half of the verse says branch. Hebrew writing commonly involves saying the same thing with two different words. Jesse is David’s father, and he’s called a stump, so to say that a shoot or branch will come from this stump is to say that the Messiah will come from or be a descendant of Jesse, and we know in particular the descendent of Jesse’s son, David: Isaiah 11:10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoplesof him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious. Continuing the tree analogy, the Messiah is now called the root of Jesse. A root is the source of something. So, now the Messiah is the root or source of Jesse and his family. A paradox is a statement that seems contradictory, inconsistent, or absurd but is still valid, and there’s a paradox in these verses. We are told the Messiah will be a descendent of the house of Jesse and the source of the house of Jesse: How could the Messiah come from the house of Jesse and be the source of the house of Jesse? How could the Messiah be the source of a family and be that family’s descendent? This is the background of Jesus’s question to the religious leaders. The Majority Knew the Messiah Is the Son of David Matthew 22:41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” The religious leaders have been questioning Jesus, but now He questions them. They tried to trap Jesus, but He didn’t do the same with them. Instead, He tries to get them to think about who He is…for their good. The Pharisees affirmed that the Messiah is the Son of David. This was common knowledge. Listen to blind Bartimaeus when Jesus passed by: Luke 18:38 He cried out, “Jesus, SON OF DAVID, have mercy on me!” 39 [People told] him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “SON OF DAVID, have mercy on me!” Blind Bartimaeus knew the Messiah was the son of David. Listen to the way the Canaanite woman cried out: Matthew 15:21 Jesus…withdrew to…Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman…came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” Even a Canaanite knew the Messiah was the Son of David. How Can Jesus Be David's Son and Lord? Now, we can look at Luke 20:41 to see what Jesus said next: Luke 20:41 But he said to them, “How can they say that the Christ is David's son? Luke 20:42 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 your footstool.”’ 44 David thus calls him Lord, so how is he his son?” The quote is from Psalm 110, which is quoted in the New Testament more than any other Psalm. The religious leaders knew this was a messianic Psalm, which is to say they knew it was about the Messiah. Jesus’s question implies a problem or difficulty with saying the Messiah is David’s son. Previously, you might have said, “What is the big deal about the Messiah being David’s son?” But now you have the background from Isaiah 11 to understand the paradox. Jesus spelled out the paradox for them: How can David call the Messiah “Lord” if the Messiah is also his Son? How can the Messiah be both David’s Lord and Son? Rephrasing Jesus's question to better understand it: Rephrase 1: David said, “The Lord (God) said to my (David’s) Lord (the Messiah), ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’” Rephrase 2: God said to the Messiah (David’s Lord), ‘Sit at my (God’s) right hand until I (God) make your (the Messiah’s) enemies your footstool.’”