Matthew 22:41-46
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.
This may seem like an odd turn in the conversation. The Pharisees, chief priests, elders, and Sadducees have all been taking turns trying to stump Jesus, to trap him in his own words, to put him in a corner, and generally to discredit him. And suddenly Jesus responds with this odd change of topic on King David’s relationship to the Messiah.
Except that, to Matthew’s community, it wouldn’t have been that odd. The Messiah, you see, was expected to come from David’s royal line. He was to be an heir of David and, indeed, to restore David’s kingdom and the fortunes of the nation David helped establish. Given this, it was natural for people to think about the Messiah as not just a descendant of David but also, in a very real way, as “another David.” But you can see even from the way that expectation is framed that the temptation will be to view the Messiah as like, but not quite even to, David; as, in a sense, a “little” David.
Which is where Jesus’ question comes into play. He suggests that the Messiah, addressed in this passage of Scripture as “Lord,” is not simply an heir of David but also, because of his status as God’s Messiah (and not simply David’s descendant) was before David, existing eternally in fellowship with God, and so actually superior to David.
This would have meant at least two things to Matthew’s early Christian church. First, it would have reminded them that, indeed, Jesus is the true Messiah as a descendant of David, and that the hardship they had experienced for their faith was justified. Second, it also would have established Jesus as greater even than David and reflected how the notion of “Messiah” was completely transformed by Jesus. In Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, Messiah looks and feels different. Why? Because no one expected the Messiah to come and suffer and die. No one expected God to reach out to humanity in such a profound, personal, and poignant way. No one expected the Messiah, in short, to look and act like Jesus did.
And so, in a sense, we return to the question of authority? Why should Matthew’s community – and we! – follow Jesus? Because he is God’s anointed, a descendant of David who came before David, a Messiah who is also the Son of God, a savior who redeems through vulnerability and offers his followers not simply earthly riches but eternal life.
Prayer: Dear God, let us see and hear in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection your invitation to life abundant. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Post image: Gerard van Honthorst – “King David Playing the Harp” (1622).
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