Can I pray for you in any way?
Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
In Christ, Mark
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk
** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn
** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you
think about the Messiah? Whose son is He?”
“The son of David,” they replied.
He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’”
If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?”
No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask Him any more questions.
Matthew 22:41-46
This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
As we continue working through Passion Week and the events that resulted in salvation being made possible for all people, we come to an interesting fact concerning the scriptural accounts of Jesus' final week on earth.
For there is no mention of anything that happened on the fourth day, the day we would call Wednesday in modern times. The speculation is that there was a lot of preparation going on, good and bad. Jesus would be preparing Himself for His last Passover meal with His disciples while the Jewish religious leaders were plotting His arrest and subsequent execution.
So given that the scriptures have no account of events on the fourth day, I want to go back to day three (Tuesday) and capture a passage that we should not let get by us, a passage that removes any doubt as to who Jesus was. Look again at these words from the 22nd chapter of Matthew:
While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is He?”
“The son of David,” they replied.
He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’”
If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?”
No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask Him any more questions. Vv.41-46
At the beginning of this series, we found Jesus making His triumphal entry into Jerusalem and being treated as royalty even though the scriptures indicate that the people didn’t really know He was the Messiah who had been predicted by the prophets of old. The word of God tells us that the crowds who welcomed Jesus so warmly thought He was just a mere “prophet from Nazareth of Galilee” (Matthew 21:11).
With this, it’s little wonder that Jesus would return to the matter of His true identity and, of interest, chose to address those who opposed Him the most. We know this because the scriptures tell us Jesus went to the Pharisees who “were gathered together” and therefore an easy audience for Him to address. We need to keep in mind that these were the Israelite religious authorities of that time who knew the law best, strictly enforcing it among the Jewish people even though they themselves never perfectly adhered to it, a fact that we know stoked the ire of Jesus.
These Pharisees, with their staunch, legalistic approach to carrying out the Word of God and the messages spoken by the prophets, found themselves facing a simple question from Jesus regarding the lineage of the Messiah, the prophesied holy One who was expected to come in power and authority to rule and reign over God’s people while vanquishing all their enemies.
Jesus simply asked them this:
“What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is He?”
We sense there wasn’t a whole lot of deliberation or hesitation in the Pharisaic response for they told Jesus they believed the Messiah was “the son of David” and I think what happened next was simply fascinating as we see Jesus building up to the true point He wanted to make. The Messiah question was just setting the stage for a final move that would be as beautiful as a chess master working His opponent toward checkmate.
So what did Jesus do to put His opposition right where He wanted them?
We see where He went back into the Old Testament scriptures and drew straight from the words of David himself. Quoting Israel's former king from the 110th Psalm, Jesus said:
The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” Psalm 110:1
Note that the first Lord here, representing none other than the Lord God Almighty, was not speaking with David nor was He talking to Himself. Rather, He was speaking with David’s Lord, the second Lord mentioned, and that Lord was none other than the Messiah or Jesus Himself.
Thus, if the Lord God Almighty was speaking to the Messiah as Lord and David was identifying the Messiah, not as his son but as his Lord's, then how could the Messiah be David’s son?
This was the point Jesus made and it was an inescapable truth. Jesus masterfully exposed the Pharisees' theory and clearly inaccurate understanding of the scriptures they were supposed to be well versed in and in doing so, He identified Himself as the Messiah, the very Son of God.
How effective was this scriptural checkmate move by Jesus?
We read where it left the Pharisees speechless.
Indeed, the scriptures tell us that “no one could say a word in reply” to the question Jesus answered. In fact, after this encounter "no one dared to ask Him any more questions” or in other words, Jesus’ identity was unquestionable. It was then in New Testament Jerusalem and it still is today.
It was and is unquestionable that Jesus was, and is, God’s Son, the prophesied Messiah, and David’s Lord.
It was and is unquestionable that Jesus went onto sit, and still sits, in authority and power over all creation at His Father’s right hand.
and…
It was and is unquestionable that Jesus had been, and still is, elevated above all of His enemies. As the Psalm proclaimed, they are the footstool under His feet.
Friends, as we come to this fourth day of Passion Week, Jesus has established who He is in undeniable fashion and as we enter into the final days of His life, we are soon to see that there is one more fact that is unquestionable:
Jesus Christ is indeed the Savior of all, the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world (John 1:29) and brought the hope of eternal life to anyone who would simply believe in Him (John 3:16).
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
