Matthew 22:41–46

Our Lord asked His question in the temple, at the close of a day of questioning. The Herodians came with their political query, the Sadducees with their doctrinal quibble, and the Pharisees with their legal question. The Saviour silenced them one after another. It was the last of their questioning. From that day on, no one dared to ask Him any more questions. His time had now come.

They gathered together in a group, but no one can suggest a new question, another test. Everything they tried had proven useless. The Lord now approaches them. He has a question for them. The Pharisees never touched on the question of the Messiah, His person, and it was after all the most important. The Lord has a question for them about Himself. Unlike the Pharisees, He uses Scripture, quoting from His own Word.

Now it was the Lord's turn to ask them the question of questions — not only for a Pharisee, but for any soul: "What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?" He was David's son — that was true. But was this truth the whole truth? … How was He both David's Son and David's Lord? It was the key to all Scripture — the way, the truth, the life — the explanation of His position, the only hope for theirs. But they were speechless.

He asked, "What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?" They answered, "The son of David." This, as far as it went, was quite true. So the blessed Lord went on: "How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord ... If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?" This is and always has been the difficult problem for man to solve. How could Jesus be both David's Son and David's Lord? The answer is simple enough. As David's Lord, He was the Creator of David, for God created all things by His Son. But He was born of Mary, who came from the house and family line of David, so He was also David's Son.

The Lord then asked them His great question, based on Psalm 110. Matthew records that no one was able to answer Him a word. No answer was possible except to the faith that saw the divine glory of the Christ, and they had no faith. They were silent in stubborn unbelief. Answer His question they could not; ask Him any further question they dared not.

Everything depended on their answer to that question. Suppose they had believed the prophecies of the Old Testament about Him. Suppose they had replied that He was Son of God, though born of the line of David and Abraham. Then only one course would have been open to them: to fall at His feet in worship, owning Him God revealed in flesh, the true hope of Israel. The crown and the kingdom would then have been His, instead of the cross and the grave.

There is no greater question in the whole Book. The Lord Himself raised it with the unbelieving men of His day: "What do you think about the Christ?" (Matt. 22:42). In these few short words He set before them the pivotal point on which everything turns. The deepest foundations of the faith lie here. Any error or fault here is sure to make its influence felt through the whole building.

The self-appointed shepherds of Israel all made an assault against the Son of God. The Herodians were the political party in Israel. The Sadducees trusted human reason, and the Pharisees kept the rituals. Politicians, reasoners and ritual-keepers all joined together against the concentrated truth of God, shown in the person of the Son of God. They asked Him questions to trap Him, but they could not trap Him. Then He asked them a question: "What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?"

They are still gathered together. He has answered all their clever questions and left them embarrassed. Now He asks them a question of the greatest possible importance. This is a matter that should have held their deepest interest and concern, because the Old Testament scriptures were full of prophecies about Israel's expected Messiah. Yet in pathetic ignorance all they can answer is, "the son of David."

And now the Lord appeals to them as they are gathered there before Him about what was now for them the question of questions: what do they think of Christ? "Whose son is He?" To that they readily reply, "The son of David." This was the truth, and they knew He would not deny it: it was in fact a question which any child among them could have answered.

Now it was the Lord's turn to ask them the question of questions — a question not only for a Pharisee, but for any soul: "What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is He?" He was David's son — most true. But was this truth the whole truth? "How then does David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying, 'The Lord said to my Lord'?" How was He both David's Son and David's Lord? It was the key to all Scripture — the way, the truth, the life — the explanation of His position, the only hope for theirs. But they had nothing to say.

In Matthew 1:1, He is the Son of David. As such the government shall be on His shoulder, and from Zion He will send out the rod of His strength, ordering the earth according to God. But in Matthew 22:41-46, He emphasises the fact that David's Son is David's Lord. The complex glory of His Person is here before us. A Man — yes, truly a Man — but more, He is God.

In this title divine and human glories unite. Jesus is David's Lord and David's Son. This is the great test for every person. No one has a right to the name Christian if he denies either one or the other… They were silent and had no answer to this great mystery. It is a mystery to us also, for we cannot explain it. But what we cannot explain we can believe, and in the Person of Jesus we see God and Man, the Root and the Offspring of David.

If they had understood that Psalm, they would have understood all the ways of God with His Son — and this at the very time they were going to reject Him. So these discourses closed by showing the true position of Christ. He is the Son of David, yet He must go up on high to receive the kingdom. While He waits for it, He sits at the right hand of God, as the rights of His glorious Person require — David's Lord, as well as David's Son.

The Lord used this great saying against the Pharisees as a challenge and a warning. It gave them a chance to see who He was and to repent of their hatred of Him. The words declare His Deity, for they tell us He was David's Lord. They also proclaim His exaltation, which followed His humiliation and rejection by men.

The test question for that day is the test question for this day also. Everything depends upon the answer that our souls give to it. The Word of God supplies us with the answer, and every heart that values the Word and bows to its authority is satisfied with what God has said there.

All really depends on the heart's estimate of Christ. Like a great moral indicator, it reveals a person's true state, character, direction and aim in all things. It is not merely a question of his outward life, or of his profession of faith. His life may be blameless, and his stated faith may be orthodox. But if underneath all that blameless morality and orthodox profession there is not one true beat of the heart for Christ… then all the morality and the orthodoxy are only fine clothes that a guilty sinner wears to look good in front of others.

These men knew this Psalm and held that it spoke of the Messiah. Yet they would not acknowledge their Messiah... So the very truth that belonged to their own religious creed condemned them and shut their mouths. They were unhappy, miserable, and had turned away from God. After all their efforts to condemn the Lord of glory, they stood silent — condemned, but still not subdued.

The Lord stated it as fact: the Holy Spirit guided David as he wrote the Psalms... We have the Lord's testimony, and we have the testimony of common sense too. What did those words mean to David as an ordinary human being? Nothing at all. But if they are inspired, the statement is a perfectly ordinary one.

The Lord recognizes David as an inspired prophet in this very verse, and He quotes the Psalms as prophecy again and again.

They could not understand, and would not believe, that Jesus was the Lord spoken of in Psalm 110:1. The truth lay in the incarnation of the Son of God, who was God's Anointed One... Jesus was David's Lord, and that affirms His deity. He was also a Son of David, and that shows His true humanity. Notice that Jesus never hinted that He was not from David's line. He knew He was. The question He put to the Pharisees was a test, and they failed it.

This is the turning point of unbelief at all times, now as then. It is the constant theme of the Holy Spirit's testimony, and man's usual stumbling block. Man is never so foolish as when he wants to be wisest. He either tries to work out the mystery of Christ's Person by his own cleverness — a mystery no mind can reach — or he denies that there is any mystery in it at all.

He asks the Pharisees to fit two titles together: Son of David, and the Lord — the title David himself gave Him. He ties this to the ascension of this same Christ, to sit at God's right hand until God has made all His enemies His footstool... In fact, to understand that Psalm would have been to understand all God's ways with His Son — and that at the very time they were going to reject Him.

Jesus is David's Lord and David's Son. And this is the great test for every man, for no man has a right to the name of Christian who denies either one or the other... They were dumb and had no answer to this great mystery. It is a mystery to us also, for we cannot explain it. But what we cannot explain we can believe.

In the opening words of this psalm, the first "LORD" is printed in capital letters. When it is printed that way, it usually means Jehovah. So we may read the verse as, "Jehovah said to my Lord" — that is, Jehovah said to Christ… How could Jesus be both David's Son and David's Lord? The answer is simple enough. As David's Lord, He was the Creator of David, for God created all things by His Son. But as born of Mary, who was of the house and family of David, He was David's Son.

In the King James Version, the name LORD in capitals stands for God's personal name, Jehovah, and "my Lord" means my Master. So there are two Persons. The God of Israel addressed the Messianic King "Sit at my right hand".

He was David's son — most true. But was this truth the whole truth? How was He both David's Son and David's Lord? It was the key to all Scripture — the way, the truth, the life — the explanation of His position, and the only hope for theirs. But they had nothing to say.

He turns on them with a question that goes to the bottom of the whole dispute: the question of His Person, of the true glory of Christ. Was He only David's Son? Why then did David, speaking by the Spirit, call Him "Lord"?… No answer was possible that did not admit His higher nature.

The "right hand" speaks of authority, power, and eminence. According to Exodus 15:6, the power to rescue and to subdue belongs to the right hand… Acts 2:32-36 hails His exaltation. It shows God's approval of Him, and at the same time it reverses man's judgment.

He asks the Pharisees to square the title Son of David with the title Lord, which David himself gave Him. And He does it in connection with the ascension of this same Christ, to sit at the right hand of God until God had made all His enemies His footstool… To understand that Psalm would have been to understand all the ways of God with His Son at the very time they were going to reject Him.

The Holy Spirit points straight to the last clause of this verse. In Hebrews 10:13 He speaks of the ascended Messiah as now "waiting until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet." The power that will do this is the same power that raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory. It does not say "until they are made," but "until I make."

This is the time when He is sitting there — doing nothing for Israel, though He is their great High Priest within… This is not the time when He is making His enemies His footstool. He is gathering the joint-heirs while He sits on the throne of God.

Jehovah acknowledges Him as Lord and places Him at His right hand — but it is "until…" Something lies ahead of Him. The seat He is to take is very high, yet it is only for a time, until what lies ahead comes. The day of His poverty is over. The day of His patience has begun.

The scribes were quite clear that the Messiah was to be the Son of David; yet here is David speaking of Him as his Lord. Among men in those days, a father never spoke to his son like that. It was the other way round: the son called his father lord. How could the Christ then be Son of David? Were the scribes wrong in what they asserted? Or could they explain it?

Man assumes he is competent to judge the things of God. One question still confounds him: "If then David calls Him Lord, how is He his son?" The Deity of the Son is the only answer. He is David's Lord as Creator; He is David's Son as having miraculously become man through Mary. In this way Scripture elsewhere calls Him "the root and offspring of David." It also calls Him "the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David." Who but the Son could truly say, "Before Abraham was, I am"?

To be David's offspring not even an unbelieving Jew could deny to the Christ. But how could He be David's root when He was born more than a thousand years after David? Yet He says so, which is enough; as the Old Testament scriptures said the same, centuries before. Yes, He was David's root just as surely as, if more wonderfully than, He was David's offspring — the Son of David as well as David's Lord.

They were — indeed, they are — critical questions: If the Christ is David's Son, how is He David's Lord? If He is David's Lord, how is He David's Son? This is the turning point of unbelief at all times, now as then. It is the continual theme of the Holy Spirit's testimony, and the habitual stumbling-block of man. Man is never so vain as when he wants to be wisest. He either tries to sound out the unfathomable mystery of Christ's person by his own wit, or he denies that there is any mystery in it at all.

He asks the Pharisees to reconcile the title Son of David with the title Lord, which David himself gave Him. And He ties this to the ascension of this same Christ, who sits at the right hand of God until God has made all His enemies His footstool and has established His throne in Zion. Now this was the whole of Christ's position at that moment. In fact, to understand that Psalm would have been to understand all the ways of God with respect to His Son at the time they were going to reject Him.

The Lord used this great saying in His conflict with the Pharisees. It was a challenge and a warning. By it He gave them a chance to see who He was and to repent of their hostility towards Him. The words declare His Deity, for they tell us that He was David's Lord. They also proclaim His exaltation, which followed His humiliation and rejection by men. Peter takes them up in this way in his appeal to the nation at Pentecost, and his appeal was most powerful. He set two ways before his hearers. One was to surrender to Him whom God had set at His right hand. The other, for those who refused, was to be crushed beneath His victorious feet. And it must be one or the other for every soul of man.

Jesus is David's Lord and David's Son. And this is the great test for every man, for no man has a right to the name of Christian who denies either one or the other... They were speechless before this great mystery. It is a mystery to us also, for we cannot explain it. But what we cannot explain we can believe, and in the Person of Jesus we see God and Man, the Root and the Offspring of David.

After this, no one dared ask the Lord any question. Representatives of all classes had come with their questions to test the Lord: priests, rulers, Pharisees, Herodians, Sadducees and lawyers. They all found themselves exposed and silenced. The Pharisee, who claimed to uphold religion, had not given to God the things that are God's. The Herodian, who claimed to defend the political interests of Caesar, had not given to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. The Sadducee, who boasted in intellect, was remarkable for his ignorance. And the scribe, who explained the law, had not kept the law. They were opposed to one another, yet they were all united in opposing Christ. Together they showed how completely man has failed in his responsibility.

Our Lord used this passage from the Psalms to silence the objecting Pharisees. David said, "The LORD says to my Lord: 'Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool'" (Psalm 110:1). One question still defeats man's assumed ability to judge the things of God: "If then David calls Him Lord, how is He his son?" The Deity of the Son is the only answer. He is David's Lord as Creator. He is David's Son because He miraculously became man through Mary.

The Lord then asked them His great question, based upon Psalm 110. Matthew records that no one was able to answer Him a word. No answer was possible except to the faith that perceived the divine glory of the Christ, and they had no faith. They were silent in stubborn unbelief. Answer His question they could not; ask Him any further question they dared not.

Now He puts a question to them that is serious and decisive for them. It is about the judgment they had formed about Christ, and so about His own person. He asks whose son the Christ is. They answer, David's. He then asks how David, in the Spirit, calls Him Lord and speaks of Him sitting at the LORD's right hand. That is what was going to happen. He was about to leave the position of Son of David on earth, the Heir of the promises made to the Jews. He was going to take His seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

By His question the Lord gave the key to what so many had not understood. But it was in vain. We do not read that it convinced one person. No Gospel writer tells us that it added a single new disciple to His followers... He had silenced His opponents, yet He did not only silence them. A spirited reply or a clever retort has crushed many a debater. The Lord's aim was to silence all and, at the same time, to help all who really wanted help. So He drew attention to that verse, whose meaning they had missed.

They claimed to be teachers of Israel, and still they did not understand the Scriptures... The passage teaches clearly who Messiah is. He is Jehovah incarnate, the Son of David and David's Lord. And the One asking the question is He Himself... They could give Him no answer. It was a solemn moment. No answer! No repentance! They are silenced, and when they open their lips again it is to cry "Crucify Him!" The end is now coming quickly. In the next chapter He speaks as Judge, and pronounces His judgment on the leaders of the nation.