Lord Son

Did you ever ask a question to make someone look stupid?

Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: "What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?" They said to him, "The son of David." He said to them, "How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet"'? If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?" No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions. - Matt. 22:41-46

Jesus may be showing his frustration here.  He asks a question that he knows will trap the Pharisees into silence.

Why would David call the Messiah Lord if he is David's son?

Good question, though not one we would grapple with today.  We do use the name Lord to represent Jesus or God, and it would have had that meaning in Jesus's day as well.

It was a way of referring to God without saying His name.

So, Jesus is asking why David would call his son God.

Now Matthew begins his Gospel with a genealogy tracing Jesus back to David, so Matthew has already set the stage for this conversation.

We know Jesus is the Son of David and is Lord, so there is an answer to the question Jesus posed, but they don't get it.

One could be the Messiah, the Lord, and the Son.

As Christians, we don't worry about reconciling Jesus to tradition, since the Hebrew traditions are not ours, but we need to remember that these were the people Jesus was trying to save.

He saw them as lost because their beliefs and rules created a fog through which they could not see the truth.

Today, we live in harmony with other faiths, because we respect their choices, but we live with the belief that they are still lost.

Maybe this one question is enough to leave with them.  Then we can focus on all those who have no faith.

They are truly lost and in need of hearing the Good News of Christ.

More to come...