Luke 20:41

And he said unto them, How say they that the Christ is David's son? For David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet. David therefore calleth him Lord, and how is he his son? Parallels: Matthew 22:41-46; Mark 12:35-37.

V. Jesus himself asks his questioners a question.

As seen from the parallels, this is an abbreviation of a very significant question which Jesus' questioners were utterly unable to answer. Its importance merits some further study of it.

1. The question itself. This was simple enough. In Psalms 110:1, which Jesus quoted, David had referred to the coming Messiah as "My Lord," and, despite this, the most widely received title of the Messiah, and one used throughout Israel in those times, was that which entered into the first verse of the New Testament, "Jesus, the Son of David." This was the title used by the Syro-Phoenician woman, and the beggar at Jericho. Jesus, therefore, said to the religious leaders, "How can the Christ be BOTH the Lord of David and the Son of David at the same time?"

2. The true answer to the question. AS GOD, Jesus is the Lord of David; and in the flesh, he is the Son of David. In God's great promise of the Saviour coming into the world, the GOD-MAN who would save from sin, it was mandatory that the prophecies reveal both natures of the Holy One. Implicit in such a revelation was the built-in necessity of apparent contradiction, due to the antithetical natures of God and man. He who was BOTH would naturally possess antithetical attributes. It is this which led to the Old Testament prophecies that Jesus would be Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, etc., and, at the same time, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. This dual nature of the promised Messiah the Jewish leaders never understood. Their pride led them to dwell upon the more glorious qualifications of the Messiah revealed in prophecy and to rationalize the prophecies of Messiah's sufferings, rejection and death. They even projected two Messiahs, one the Conquering Hero and the other the Suffering Priest. This misunderstanding of holy prophecy was the undoing of Israel's leaders, for it led them to reject the Christ.

3. Jesus' purpose in bringing up this question was apparently that of finding one last means of breaking through their unbelief; but they would not consent to learn anything from him. Not knowing the answer to his question, they nevertheless did not ask him the meaning.

VI. Jesus' question which fingered the precise point of the leaders' ignorance was scorned by them as something they did not care to know; and in this their inherent evil was glaringly evident. There could be no divine accommodation with such willful and arrogant sinners. The Lord responded to their obduracy by giving the people a warning against them.