If you remember, the Jewish Leaders come to Jesus way back in Matthew 21 with the question, "by what authority are you doing these things?" Jesus then tells three parables that shows their need for repentance because they have rejected him and rebelled against God. Then three different political groups try to stump Jesus with tough, theological questions to discredit his authority, and finally Jesus asks them this question, which shows where his authority comes from. The whole day of questioning leads up to this passage.
Here is the order of events leading up to this passage:
- Question 1-by what authority
- Parable of Sons: You need to Repent
- Parable of Tenants: Because you have Rejected Me
- Parable of Wedding Banquet: Because you have Rebelled Against God
- Question 2-Taxes
- Question 3-Resurrection
- Question 4-the Greatest Commandment
- Question 5-Jesus asks this question that answers where his authority comes from.
So let's dive in and find out where Jesus gets the authority to cleanse the temple and enter Jerusalem in a triumphal procession.
41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” “The son of David,” they replied.
43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,
44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet.”’
45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Jesus is making a statement about who he is, where his authority comes from. But he is doing in such a way as to imply it, not make a specific, direct claim. He did this because the situation was very tense. He had been shaming the Jewish leaders all day by telling stories about them, answering all their questions and even silencing them to where they looked like third grade boys getting dumbfounded by the smart fifth grader.
They were very upset, and to top it all off, Jesus wants to answer their question about where his authority comes from. So he asks them this question,
42 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”
The answer was very simple according to the contemporary thought of that day. The expectations of a Messiah had two qualifications: 1. He was to be from the lineage of David; and 2. He was to be a warrior king.
So the Jews answered this by saying, "The son of David."
This title was used by the crowds during Jesus' triumphal entry. They said,
"Hosanna to the son of David!"
Jesus accepted this title as legitimate, he did not correct anybody.
So already the Jewish leaders know that Jesus considers himself to be the son of David, the Messiah. They know that here, finally, Jesus is talking about his authority and where it comes from.
Yet it is interesting that Jesus seems to be the one that is questioning whether the title, "son of David" is correct or not. He is the one asking, "Whose son is he?, and even in vs. 46 he says, "If then David calls him 'Lord', now can he be his son?"
Jesus' argument isn't that this title is wrong, per se, but that it is inadequate. The Messiah is MORE than just the son of David, he is LORD.
That is why he quotes this very famous Messianic Passage from the Old Testament. This passage was recognized by the majority of Rabbis to be referring to the Messiah. This is what it says:
43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,
44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet.”’
45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Jesus is making a statement about who he is, where his authority comes from. But he is doing in such a way as to imply it, not make a specific, direct claim. He did this because the situation was very tense. He had been shaming the Jewish leaders all day by telling stories about them, answering all their questions and even silencing them to where they looked like third grade boys getting dumbfounded by the smart fifth grader.
They were very upset, and to top it all off, Jesus wants to answer their question about where his authority comes from. So he asks them this question,
42 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”
The answer was very simple according to the contemporary thought of that day. The expectations of a Messiah had two qualifications: 1. He was to be from the lineage of David; and 2. He was to be a warrior king.
So the Jews answered this by saying, "The son of David."
This title was used by the crowds during Jesus' triumphal entry. They said,
"Hosanna to the son of David!"
Jesus accepted this title as legitimate, he did not correct anybody.
So already the Jewish leaders know that Jesus considers himself to be the son of David, the Messiah. They know that here, finally, Jesus is talking about his authority and where it comes from.
Yet it is interesting that Jesus seems to be the one that is questioning whether the title, "son of David" is correct or not. He is the one asking, "Whose son is he?, and even in vs. 46 he says, "If then David calls him 'Lord', now can he be his son?"
Jesus' argument isn't that this title is wrong, per se, but that it is inadequate. The Messiah is MORE than just the son of David, he is LORD.
That is why he quotes this very famous Messianic Passage from the Old Testament. This passage was recognized by the majority of Rabbis to be referring to the Messiah. This is what it says:
43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,
44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet.”’
“Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet.”’
David was the writer of this Psalm, and he says the Lord said to my Lord.
What does this mean?
In English, we see the same word, "Lord" and "Lord". But in the Hebrew, in which this Psalm was first written by David, it is two very different words. The first Lord, is the name of God, Yahweh. The second Lord, is another word used for God, Adonai.
Literally it reads, "The Lord (Yahweh) said to my (David) Lord (Adonai)".
The implications of this psalm is that God the Father said to the Master, or Lord of David to "sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."
The Messiah was not JUST the son of David, he was GREATER than David, he was his LORD.
This is what Jesus is saying to the Jewish leaders, "Your idea of who the Messiah is supposed to be is not adequate. I am the Messiah and not only am I greater than David, I am on the same level as God himself."
It is amazing that Jesus was not stoned on the spot.
This is definitely what Jesus was implying, but it is not what he directly said. If Jesus would have directly said this, he would have been killed on the spot. So he had to answer the question about his authority in kind of a roundabout way.
And with this answer, he stunned the Jewish leaders. Matthew says:
46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Jesus' answer to the question about his authority and where it comes from is this, "My authority comes from God, for I am God myself." He is making a claim about his deity, about the fact that he is Adonai, sitting at the right hand of God.
And this means, he is our God as well. Jesus' authority comes from who he is and what he does for us by dying on the cross and rising again. We can either accept that and submit ourselves to his authority, or reject it like the Jewish leaders.
This question lies at the foundation of your life.
Have you submitted your entire life to authority of Jesus? Or are you like the Jewish leaders? Have you rejected Jesus and rebelled against God?
The time is now to repent and change that.
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