While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus questioned them, 42 saying, “What is your opinion about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They replied, “David’s.” 43 He said to them, “How, then, does David, inspired by the Spirit, call him ‘lord,’ saying: ’44 The Lord said to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies under your feet”’? 45 If David calls him ‘lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46 No one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
Jesus asked the Pharisees to tell him about the Messiah’s lineage since there was no universally agreed-upon understanding among the Jews about the Messiah. Various Jewish sects had different expectations about the Messiah. They immediately replied that the Messiah would be from the line of David as the prophets taught (Is. 11:1; Jer. 23:5; Ez. 34:23). Jesus, knowing that the Pharisees accepted David as the author of the Psalms, quoted from Psalm 110:1 to show that even David, “inspired the spirit (v. 43),” acknowledged someone superior as a ‘lord’ who could not have been his descendant.
Jesus in his humanity was a descendant inferior to David, but in his divinity as the Son of God was superior to David. His response (v. 45) implied that the Messiah would not be a political figure but more like the “Son of Man” coming with the clouds of heaven as described in Daniel 7:13-14. In challenging the Pharisees' understanding of the nature and identity of the Messiah, Jesus created more tension between his teaching and the OT teaching as understood by the scribes and Pharisees The Pharisees were unable to respond to Jesus’ question (v. 45) and did not attempt to question him further.
Almighty God, help us to seek a deeper understanding of Christ, our eternal Lord and Savior, and open our hearts to the mysteries of faith. Grant us the wisdom to grasp the spiritual truths contained in your Word and the teachings of Jesus that transcend human knowledge. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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