His Word Today

¹⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.” (Matthew 23:15 (ESV)

 In the context of Matthew 23:13-36, Jesus heralded seven woes against the scribes and Pharisees. Luke 11:37-54 records an earlier lamentation of six woes. Rather than an oracle from a prophet of God, these woes are an oracle from the God of the prophets.

“A woe,” James M. Boice writes, “is a lament or wail concerning the final end for evil people.” 

“Woes are an important part of the Old Testament prophetic books; in many places the prophets declared oracles of woe from God that promised judgment for Israel’s sins (for example, Isa. 5:8–23; Amos 6:1–7). With His oracles of woe, Jesus stands as the judge of men, warning the impenitent of the fate that awaits them,” states Dr. R. C. Sproul.

In this second woe, Jesus condemned the scribes and Pharisees’ efforts to convert Gentiles to Judaism. The Lord recognized their zeal in traveling long distances to make a single proselyte. A proselyte (προσήλυτον; proselyton) is a non-Jew who is circumcised and adopts the Jewish religion.

“The second woe faults the Pharisees’ missionary outreach (23:15). Making converts per se is not condemned, the problem is the “truth” to which they convert people. Pharisaic teaching tends to produce zealous advocates of legalism and proponents of humanity’s ability to earn God’s favor, not messengers of grace. Since man cannot earn his own righteousness (Rom. 3:23), most converts to Pharisaism become children of hell, preachers of a false gospel,” explains Dr. Sproul.

Jesus’ condemnation was not in the religious leaders attempts to lead people to the One, True God of the Jews. This was a noble effort to bring pagans to biblical truth. However, the scribes and Pharisees efforts resulted in recent converts becoming twice as much a child of hell as these religious leaders.

“There were two kinds of proselytes in the synagogues. One was called ‘a proselyte of the gate.’ This was a Gentile who only attended the services. He now worshipped the true God, but he had not committed himself to full ritualistic and legalistic Judaism. Such proselytes are referred to in the Book of Acts as a person who was devout (Acts 10:2, 7; 13:20), as God-fearing (10:2, 22, 35; 17:4, 17), or as a worshiper of God (16:14; 18:7),” states Dr. John MacArthur.

“The other kind of proselyte was referred to as ‘a proselyte of righteousness’ so called because he became as religiously Jewish as a Gentile could become. They participated in all the ceremonies, rituals, and feasts. They observed all the cleansing and other rites, both biblical and traditional. Those converts were even given Jewish names in order to separate them as much as possible from their pagan past. Contrary to their popular appellation, however, they became anything but righteous. Like the scribes and Pharisees who instructed them, they became paragons of self-righteousness.”

Are you a spiritual soul-winner who leads people to Christ but also to Pharisaic legalism? Resolve to renounce any legalistic tendency you, and others, may possess.

Soli deo Gloria!

¹³ “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.” (Matthew 23:13–14 (ESV)

In the context of Matthew 23:13-36, Jesus heralded seven woes against the scribes and Pharisees. Luke 11:37-54 records an earlier lamentation of six woes. Rather than an oracle from a prophet of God, these woes are an oracle from the God of the prophets.

In the first woe, Jesus said, “For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.” Jesus reproved the Jewish religious leaders because while pretending to be door openers they actually shut the door, so to speak, in people’s faces.

The phrase kingdom of heaven refers to God’s rule and reign over the hearts and lives of individuals He saves by grace alone, through faith alone, in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone. Where once people sought to rule their own lives, they now acknowledge God to be their Lord and Master of whom they serve for His honor and glory.

To shut (κλείετε; kleiete) means to close, exclude or to cover so as not to be seen. The scribes and Pharisees metaphorically did this by turning people away from the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His righteousness. Instead, they paraded before people a legalistic religion exalting tradition above grace. They adhered to the letter of the Law but not its spirit. The tragedy is the religious leaders were as spiritually lost as the people.

The scribes and Pharisees influence over the people of their day did not overcome the providential sovereignty of God. They were not able to thwart God’s purpose or design of saving His people.

“What is probably meant is simply this, that these leaders, in addition to not themselves entering by accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior, are exerting a sinister influence on other men, resulting in apostasy from Christ, in the sense of John 6:66. They are deceivers of men, genuine followers of Satan (Gen. 3:1, 4, 5). They are false prophets. Cf. Num. 15:1, 2; 2 Chron. 18:15; Rev. 2:14, 15, 20,” states Dr. William Hendriksen.

“Specifically, the scribes and Pharisees fought Jesus by means of their teaching, that is, by proclaiming the doctrine of work-righteousness. Think of their many rules and regulations directly contrary to the doctrine of grace and freedom in Christ. By such teaching they took away from the people “the key of knowledge” (Luke 11:52; cf. Hos. 4:6). They also fought Jesus by means of b. their conduct. The result upon those who associated with them was as indicated in 1 Cor. 15:33.”

How many pastors and others today preach a doctrine of works-righteousness? They inflict legalistic rules and regulations upon church members and attendees in order to condemn and to make them conform to man-made rules of self-righteousness.  Enid Strict, unfortunately, is alive and well in many churches today.

“Though the church is not filled with hypocrites, there is no denying that hypocrisy is a sin that is not limited or restricted to New Testament Pharisees. It is a sin with which Christians must grapple. A high standard of spiritual and righteous behavior has been set for the church. We often are embarrassed by our failures to reach these high goals and are inclined to pretend that we have reached a higher plateau of righteousness than we’ve actually attained. When we do that, we put on the mask of the hypocrite and come under the judgment of God for that particular sin,” explains Dr. R. C. Sproul.

“When we find ourselves enmeshed in this type of pretense, an alarm bell should go off in our brains that we need to rush back to the cross and to Christ and to understand where our true righteousness resides. We have to find in Christ, not a mask that conceals our face, but an entire wardrobe of clothing, which is His righteousness. Indeed, it is only under the guise of the righteousness of Christ, received by faith, that any of us can ever have a hope of standing before a holy God. To wear the garments of Christ in faith is not an act of hypocrisy. It is an act of redemption.”  

Soli deo Gloria!

¹³ “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.” (Matthew 23:13–14 (ESV)

In the context of Matthew 23:13-36, Jesus heralded seven woes against the scribes and Pharisees. Luke 11:37-54 records an earlier lamentation of six woes. Rather than an oracle from a prophet of God, these woes are an oracle from the God of the prophets.

“This series of seven woes is a prophetic pronouncement, for it brings God’s lawsuit against His people and announces the imminent realization of the covenant curses (Isaiah 5:8-23; Hab. 2:6-20), especially against Israel’s unfaithful shepherds (Jeremiah 23:1-6; Ezekiel 34),” states Dr. R.C. Sproul. “Leaders of the covenant community are judged more strictly because their words and example influence so many others, for good or ill (James 3:1).”

Jesus began His oracle against the scribes and Pharisees with a recurring phrase; Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! The Lord invoked this phrase of lament six out of seven times against these religious leaders in this immediate context. In those six of the seven statements, Jesus called them hypocrites. What did He mean?

Hypocrites (ὑποκριταί; hypokritai) are individuals who pretends to be someone other than what they are. They are pretenders, duplicitous and insincere people. They say one thing but do the exact opposite. They make promises they don’t keep, and vows they don’t fulfill.

“The hypocrite is the man who pretends to be better than he really is. He is a fraud, a deceiver, a phony, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a snake in the grass,” explains Dr. William Hendriksen.

“The term hypocrite came from the world of Greek drama. It was used to describe the masks that the players used to dramatize certain roles. Even today, the theatre is symbolized by the twin masks of comedy and tragedy. In antiquity, certain players played more than one role, and they indicated their role by holding a mask in front of their face. That’s the origin of the concept of hypocrisy,” states Dr. Sproul.

If we are brutally honest with ourselves, all of us could, and should, confess our hypocrisy before the Lord and others. Even on our best days of walking with the Lord, we can be woefully inconsistent and filled with self-importance. We may pretend to be better than we really are. As I write this blog, the Holy Spirit is convicting me of my instances of hypocrisy. On the one hand, I am ashamed. On the other, I am grateful for God’s grace and forgiveness.  It is bad enough when an individual is guilty of hypocrisy. But what about a church? Dr. Sproul shares the following story regarding hypocrisy in the church.

“About thirty years ago, my close friend and colleague, Archie Parrish, who at that time led the Evangelism Explosion (EE) program in Fort Lauderdale, came to me with a request. He indicated that on the thousands of evangelistic visits the EE teams made, they kept a record of responses people made to discussions of the gospel. They collated the most frequent questions and objections people raised about the Christian faith and grouped these inquiries or objections into the ten most frequently encountered. Dr. Parrish asked if I would write a book answering those objections for evangelists to use in their outreach. That effort resulted in my book Objections Answered, now called Reason to Believe. Among the top ten objections raised was the objection that the church is filled with hypocrites. At that point in time, Dr. D. James Kennedy, pastor of the church, responded to this objection by replying, “Well, there’s always room for one more.” He cautioned people that if they found a perfect church, they ought not to join it, since that would ruin it.”

No believer in Christ is guiltless of hypocrisy. All of us falter and fail from time to time. The encouragement is the Lord continues to use us for His honor and His glory as He also continues to conform us to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Let us confess our hypocrisy to the Lord and resolve to be faithful in thought, speech and behavior. I encourage you to read Philippians 3:12-16. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!   

¹³ “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.” (Matthew 23:13–14 (ESV)

The Old Testament Prophet was a herald of God’s oral and written revelation. The prophet’s God given message was an oracle. An oracle contained a vision, a forewarning, a foreshadowing, and a declaration of truth. The prophet was not to be audience driven in telling the people what they wanted to hear from God (Jeremiah 6:13-15). Rather, he was to be obedience driven to faithfully herald what the people needed to hear from God (Jeremiah 6:16-30).  

The prophet of God had a two-fold message from God to the people. First, there was the oracle of weal. This was an oracle containing a blessing from God. The oracle of weal was always preceded by the word “blessed” (Psalm 1:1; Matthew 5:1-12). However, there was also a second type of oracle; the oracle of woe. It was an oracle containing judgment from God. The oracle of woe was always preceded by the word “woe.”

“The term woe has gone the way of other worn out exclamations like alas or alack or forsooth. The only language that has kept the expression in current usage is Yiddish. Modern Jews still declare their frustrations by exclaiming “Oy vay!” which is the shortened version of the full expression Oy Vay Is Mer. Ov Vay is Yiddish for “Oh woe,” an abbreviation for the full expression, “Oh woe is me,” explains Dr. R. C. Sproul.

In the context of Matthew 23:13-36, Jesus heralded seven woes against the scribes and Pharisees. Luke 11:37-54 records an earlier lamentation of six woes. Rather than an oracle from a prophet of God, these woes are an oracle from the God of the prophets.

“This series of seven woes is a prophetic pronouncement, for it brings God’s lawsuit against His people and announces the imminent realization of the covenant curses (Isaiah 5:8-23; Hab. 2:6-20), especially against Israel’s unfaithful shepherds (Jeremiah 23:1-6; Ezekiel 34),” states Dr. Sproul. “Leaders of the covenant community are judged more strictly because their words and example influence so many others, for good or ill (James 3:1).”

“Here begin The Seven Woes. Why did Jesus utter them? Probably because his soul was deeply stirred by the impenitence of so many of the scribes and Pharisees, and this in spite of all the evidences he had furnished of the fulfilment of Messianic prophecy in himself. Also, because he knew that they had so many followers among the people. His heart and mind were filled with sorrow when he thought of this. He knew that exposing his opponents was in the interest of the people. Add one more fact: this was going to be Christ’s final public address, hence his last opportunity personally to warn the people against these enemies of the truth. So he must make the best use of it,” states Dr. William Hendriksen.

May we who have ears to hear, let us hear what the Holy Spirit says in His Word. Have a blessed and God honoring day.

Soli deo Gloria!

⁸ “But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. ¹⁰ Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. ¹¹ The greatest among you shall be your servant. ¹² Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:8–12 (ESV)

Jesus announced to His disciples how they were to serve Him, in contrast to the behavior of the scribes and the Pharisees. The main takeaway from today’s text is disciples of Jesus are to be humble. This remains applicable for church leaders and disciples.

Jesus said, “But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.” The word Rabbi (Ῥαββί; rabbi) means teacher. Father (πατὴρ; pater) refers to a family patriarch or begetter.

Jesus was not meaning no believer in Christ should be void of titles. We all have them, whether they be dad, mom, son, daughter, brother, sister, boss, pastor, professor, etc. What He was warning against was having a prideful spirit about your title. Ultimately, God is our Father and Teacher and we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.

Regarding one’s title through education, it’s wise, as a pastor for example, to get your education, your degree and even your doctorate and then get over it. When asked what I would prefer people call me as I serve as an elder at my church, I reply, “Tom, works.”

“In contesting the pride many Pharisees take in their titles and honors, Jesus cannot mean that titles are wholly inappropriate or that there are no distinctions between Christians (Matt. 23:6–10). After all, titles like “apostle” and “teacher” are later given to some believers (Gal. 1:1; Eph. 4:11). Matthew 23:6–10 only means that because Christians have Jesus as their final teacher, no believer is inherently superior to another. We should not call attention to our titles and achievements, nor should we inordinately belittle them and so be guilty of false humility. Titles must never be used to demand unquestioned obedience to oneself,” explains Dr. R. C. Sproul

John Calvin writes that Christ’s “authority must remain entire, and that no mortal man ought to claim the smallest portion of it. Thus, he is the only Pastor.”

“Jesus condemns pride and pretense, not titles per se. Paul repeatedly speaks of “instructors” in the church, and even refers to himself as the Corinthians’ “father” (1 Cor. 4:15). Obviously, this does not forbid the showing of respect, either (cf. 1 Thess. 5:11–12; 1 Tim. 5:1). Christ is merely forbidding the use of such names as spiritual titles, or in an ostentatious sense that accords undue spiritual authority to a human being, as if he were the source of truth rather than God,” concludes Dr. John MacArthur.

Individuals who exalt themselves above others create an uncomfortable atmosphere; especially in a local church. A spirit of godly humility is required of godly leaders (Micah 6:8; I Peter 5:1-7).

Soli deo Gloria!

“Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ² “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, ³ so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. ⁴ They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. ⁵ They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, ⁶ and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues ⁷ and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.” (Matthew 23:1–7 (ESV)

In the immediate aftermath of Jesus’ discussion with the Pharisees and the Sadducees, He spoke to the crowds and His disciples. The masses may refer to unbelievers. Disciples refers not to only the twelve, but perhaps also to others who followed Him (Acts 1:12-15; I Cor. 15:1-7).

The Lord continued to confront the hypocritical Pharisees after dismantling their understanding of Psalm 110 (Matt. 22:41–45). Seeing that the people are intensely listening to Him (v. 46), Jesus began warning them, including His disciples, of Pharisaic hypocrisy. He set for the following principles as perpetual warnings for true believers against false teachers.

First, be observant of false teacher’s religious hypocrisy. Second, false teachers love to enslave people to their legalism. They establish rules and regulations beyond Scripture to determine and evaluate spirituality. Third, false teachers love the limelight. They love attention and honor. Their goal is self-exaltation and their opium is pride. Following Jesus’ initial condemnation of the Pharisees, He continued to diagnose their spiritual condition (vs. 5-7).

First, whatever they do is so people will see them and applaud their religiosity.  ^“They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long” (vs. 5).

“Phylacteries were leather boxes containing a parchment on which is written in four columns (Ex. 13:1–10, 11–16; Deut. 6:4–9; 11:13–21). These are worn by men during prayer—one on the middle of the forehead and one on the left arm just above the elbow. The use of phylacteries was based on an overly literal interpretation of passages like Ex. 13:9–10 and Deut. 6:8. Evidently the Pharisees would broaden the leather straps by which the phylacteries were bound to their arms and foreheads, in order to make the phylacteries more prominent,” explains Dr. John MacArthur.

“Jesus himself wore them (Matt. 9:20), so it was not the tassels themselves that he condemned, only the mentality that would lengthen the tassels to make it appear that one was especially spiritual.”

Second, they love places of honor and public recognition. “…and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues” (vs. 6).

“Vanity and ostentatious display go hand in hand. Jesus issued a warning against this very sin of seeking the best seat at a banquet or dinner (Luke 14:8). James condemned the sin of assigning the best seat in the meeting-place to the rich, while telling the poor man to stand or else to sit on the floor near someone’s footstool (2:2, 3),” explains Dr. William Hendriksen.

“The best seats in the synagogue were those in front of the raised platform, on which stood the prayer leader and the reader of the Scriptures. Thus seated, a person had the double advantage of being near the person reading or leading in prayer, and of facing the congregation and thus being able to see everybody. Besides, being ushered to such a seat was regarded as a mark of honor.”

Third, they love being seen in the marketplace among the people. “And they love… greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.”

“In contesting the pride many Pharisees take in their titles and honors, Jesus cannot mean that titles are wholly inappropriate or that there are no distinctions between Christians (Matt. 23:6–10). After all, titles like “apostle” and “teacher” are later given to some believers (Gal. 1:1; Eph. 4:11). Matthew 23:6–10 only means that because Christians have Jesus as their final teacher, no believer is inherently superior to another,” states Dr. R. C. Sproul.

“We should not call attention to our titles and achievements, nor should we inordinately belittle them and so be guilty of false humility. Titles must never be used to demand unquestioned obedience to oneself.”

John Calvin writes that Christ’s “authority must remain entire, and that no mortal man ought to claim the smallest portion of it. Thus he is the only Pastor.”

May each believer in Christ live lives Coram Deo (before the face of God), before a watching world and a sovereign God. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!

“Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ² “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, ³ so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. ⁴ They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. ⁵ They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, ⁶ and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues ⁷ and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.” (Matthew 23:1–7 (ESV)

In the immediate aftermath of Jesus’ discussion with the Pharisees and the Sadducees, He spoke to the crowds and His disciples. The masses may refer to unbelievers. Disciples refers not to only the twelve, but perhaps also to others who followed Him (Acts 1:12-15; I Cor. 15:1-7).

Most of the masses esteemed the Pharisees. Jesus knew the crowds faced condemnation if they followed these teachers and their behavior. Therefore, the Lord continued to confront the hypocritical Pharisees after dismantling their understanding of Psalm 110 (Matt. 22:41–45). Seeing that the people are intensely listening to Him (v. 46), Jesus began warning them, including His disciples, of Pharisaic hypocrisy. He set for the following principles as perpetual warnings for true believers against false teachers.

First, be observant of religious hypocrisy. False teachers may speak truth, but their behavior reveals their true character and standing with God. “²The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, ³so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.” True believers in Christ are to practice what they believe, insofar as it is in harmony with the Word of God. 

Second, false teachers love to enslave people to their legalism. They establish rules and regulations beyond Scripture to determine and evaluate spirituality. What you wear, where you go, what you do and not do are evaluated, and most likely condemned, by the religious leader. Ironically, the leader is never evaluated. He, or she, alone condemns. “⁴They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.”

Third, false teachers love the limelight. They love attention and honor. Their goal is self-exaltation and their opium is pride. They parade themselves, and their family, as examples of biblical behavior. More often then not, their religious façade falls like a house of cards. “⁵ They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, ⁶ and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues ⁷ and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.”  

“The rest of Matthew 23, Jesus plainly condemns the Pharisees for not practicing the laws that they preach. As legal experts, they should know to help their fellow Jews (Lev. 19:18), but many Pharisees are more concerned with appearances and will not aid those who fail in trying to keep the Pharisaic traditions (Matt. 23:4),” explains R. R. C. Sproul. “Why would they help people get back on the straight and narrow if others’ failures made the Pharisees look better in comparison?”

May each believer in Christ live lives Coram Deo (before the face of God), before a watching world and a sovereign God. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!

⁴¹ “Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, ⁴² saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son, is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” ⁴³ He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, ⁴⁴ “The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”? ⁴⁵ If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” ⁴⁶ And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.” (Matthew 22:41–46 (ESV)

The idiom “the tables are turned” or “turnabout is fair play” respectively refers to a role reversal in a situation or a shift in power. It also means to treat someone in the same way they have treated you. This is often a pejorative, or negative, expression of behavior where we seek to hurt someone who has hurt us. Or, “turnabout is fair play” may refer to the satisfaction we feel when someone receives the same negative treatment they have given to others.

However, Jesus embodied this behavior in righteous perfection. The Pharisees, Sadducees and other Jewish religious leaders repeatedly asked Him questions; for the purpose of accusing and condemning Him. Jesus, for the purpose of confronting the Pharisees, asked, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son, is he?” Jesus often used this phase, “What do you think” as a way of testing people (Matt. 17:25; 18:12; 21:28; 26:66).  

“Having confounded His questioners three times (Matt. 22:15–40), Jesus assumes the role of examiner, asking the Pharisees to name the Messiah’s father (vv. 41–42). This question is a no-brainer for the Pharisees, as well as every other Jewish sect of the day. The Sadducees, Herodians, Zealots, Pharisees, and so on do not agree on much, but all of them believe the Messiah will be David’s son. When the Pharisees admit as much to Christ, they are merely repeating truths revealed in 2 Samuel 7:1–17, as well as other parts of the old covenant revelation,” explains Dr. R. C. Sproul.

The Pharisees answered, “The Son of David.” Jesus then asked follow-up questions. He said to them, “⁴³How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, ⁴⁴ “The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”? ⁴⁵ If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”

“What do you think of the Christ?” In guiding the Jerusalem leaders to contemplate this question of eternal weight, Jesus turned to the authority of what is written “in the book of Psalms,” specifically Psalm 110 (Matt 22:41–46; Mark 12:35–37; Luke 20:40– 44), and asked a question childlike in both simplicity and profundity, the answer to which plunges one into the unfathomable wonder of the incarnation of God,” states commentator Michael Morales.

“How could David refer to his son as Lord? This probing question was but the application of what Jesus would later declare, that He Himself is the object of all the Scriptures of the Old Testament, summarizing their threefold division in Luke 24:44 as “the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms,” with the Psalms standing as the summary representative of the Writings.”

To prove the Messiah is David’s Lord as well as his Son, Jesus quoted Psalm 110, which the New Testament quotes more often than any other Old Testament text. Since Psalm 110 is Messianic, as most first-century Jews correctly believed, David’s son, the Messiah (“my Lord”), is greater than his father. Yahweh is the One greater than David, who was the most exalted king of ancient Israel.

“Christ is forcing the Pharisees to rethink their Christology and in effect asks of them the same thing He asked of Peter: “Who do you say that I am?” (Matt. 16:15–16). It is a question that He asks of us all,” concludes Dr. Sproul.

Matthew records the following conclusion. “And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.”

What is your answer? Of all the questions you may have asked about Jesus Christ, this is the question He asks of you. After all, turnabout is fair play. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!