Then he put a question to them: “How is it that they say that the Messiah is David’s son? In the Book of Psalms, David clearly says, God said to my Master, “Sit here at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.” David here designates the Messiah as ‘my Master’–so how can the Messiah also be his ‘son’?”
Luke 20:41-45
Now that His opponents are silent, Jesus goes on the offensive. Although I hasten to add I don’t think Jesus goes on the offensive like you and I might. It is a matter of helping them to see the truth rather than belittling or humiliating them. Perhaps the response of the scribes gave some hope that there might be some openness there in their hearts. Although I still stand by what I said yesterday. I think they are playing word games rather than expressing the truth of their heart.
This statement of Jesus raises a number of questions. Have a read of it and see what questions you can come up with. Allow me to leave you with two questions to start you off.
The first question that arises is: how is this question meant? We can’t hear the tone in Jesus voice. There are two possibilities.
- [Pos] can either mean “In what sense” is Messiah David’s son? It is either a rhetorical question expressing denial that Messiah could be David’s son.
- Or it could mean “How is it possible that Messiah is David’s son?” That is seeking explanation as to how Messiah can be both David’s son and David’s Lord?
Jesus is challenging “them” with a hard question.
- How would you answer it?
- Which of these two alternatives is meant?
- The second question: who is the “they” of “they say”?
- Who is “they” referring to?
Now there is a nice short Gems for this morning . Use all the resources you can gather.
The shell must break before the bird can fly.
Alfred Lord Tennyson
The only way to know strong FAITH is to work through hard questions (with apologies to Ribka Yusuf Wijaya).
Ian Vail
Some days you must push yourself, other days you must pace yourself: Wisdom is knowing which to do when!
Rick Godwin
People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges.
Joseph F. Newton