KNOW YOUR SRIPTURE Matthew 22:41-45 (NASB) The Son of David Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” They said to Him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “Then how 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?” No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question. Notes on the Scripture Remember, the Pharisees are now feeling (temporarily) less hostile to Jesus due to the verbal drubbing he gave their enemies, the Sadducees, in verses 23-33. In fact, Jesus had admirers among the religious leaders of Jerusalem. Many among them were sincere lovers of God: Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God. (John 12:42-44) The Pharisees official attitude toward Jesus was still antagonistic, but some were generally sympathetic towards Him. At any rate, His encounter with the Sadducees temporarily quieted their institutional wrath towards Him. And they now fear His tongue, if not His divinity. The party line for the Pharisees was a belief in the prophets, that a messiah would come to Israel. He would be like David and one of his bloodline, anointed by God, a great warrior, to rally the Hebrews under the banner of Gods appointed king and, with the power of Yahweh Himself, drive out the Romans (and all other heathen Gentiles) from Palestine. He would establish the true Israel by bloody war. “Christ” is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “messiah”; both of them mean “the anointed one”. So, in the absence of Jesus, the Pharisees expectation was not unreasonable. They failed to account for much of the prophecy, however, especially about the next messiah being peaceful and ruling over the world. But David had been anointed by God, as Israels king, so they equated the “anointed one” with a new David. But Jesus pokes an unmendable hole in yet another of their beliefs, by quoting Davids own prophecy in Psalm 110. This is a psalm of David and he is the referent of “my” in “my Lord”. David thus referred to the coming messiah as Lord, which means that he would be something more than David; and David called nobody “Lord” except God. The Pharisees, at this point, realize that they are wrong. (Or they at least have a sneaking suspicion.) But they will choose pride over honesty, position over holiness. They would rather hold onto their power than change their theology. They will, therefore, kill the Messiah, the Son of God. Note: The reference in Psalm 110 to Melchizedek — well, who is in the world is Melchizedek? The name sounds so obscure that its almost scary. Maybe we can take up the Epistle to the Hebrews after Matthew, where his importance is explained. He is actually rather fun to learn about. In a nutshell, Hebrew priests were required to be descendants of Aaron, by Gods own command (Leviticus 6:12-15), with one exception: a rather mysterious man named Melchizedek. Hebrews shows that Jesus Christ is our high priest, and the “order of Melchizedek” shows how Jesus qualifies to be a priest under the law of Moses, even though he was not a Levite, i.e. a descendant of Aaron. SOURCE>dailyprayer.us Daily Prayer Community
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 10:34:15 +0000
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