May 25
18
Old Testament Reading: Psalm 110
“A PSALM OF DAVID. The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’ The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies! Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours. The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.’ The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.” (Psalm 110, ESV)
New Testament Reading: Luke 20:41-44
“But he said to them, ‘How can they say that the Christ is David’s son? For David himself says in the Book of Psalms, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’’ David thus calls him Lord, so how is he his son?” (Luke 20:41–44, ESV)
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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church, but without the benefit of proofreading.
Introduction
The passage open before us today is small but weighty.
To help us feel the weight of it, I think it is important to see this passage as the conclusion to the series of questions that the religious elite within Israel asked Jesus, beginning at Luke 20:1. Those questions, remember, all had to do with authority. Jesus claimed to have authority as the King of God’s eternal kingdom, and the religious elite questioned it so as to undermine it, because they were threatened by it.
Do not forget that Jesus had entered Jerusalem triumphantly. He entered riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey. This was to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, which says, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” You and I live in a representative democracy or republic, not a kingdom, so we might fail to appreciate the great power and authority that Kings have. Kingly authority is supreme. Kingly authority is unchecked. Do not forget that when Jesus entered Jerusalem, he was received as a King.
Luke tells us that “As [Jesus] was drawing near to [Jerusalem]… the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’” (Luke 19:37–38, ESV). Clearly, the disciples of Jesus regarded him to be the promised King of God’s kingdom. When his disciples shouted, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!”, the Pharisees in the crowd were greatly troubled by this. “Teacher, rebuke your disciples”, they said (Luke 19:39, ESV). But Jesus would not rebuke them. He answered the Pharisees, saying, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out” (Luke 19:40, ESV). The point is this: when Jesus entered Jerusalem, he entered with the authority of a King.
Furthermore, when Jesus drew near to the city of Jerusalem, he wept over it and, with the authority of a prophet, declared that it would soon be destroyed, saying, “For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:43–44, ESV).
Finally, after Jesus entered Jerusalem, he came to the temple and cleansed it. He cleansed it, as if he owned the place. He cleansed it with priestly authority as he drove out those who sold within its courts. After this, Jesus began to teach authoritatively within the temple.
We should not be surprised, therefore, that those with authority within Old Covenant Israel felt threatened by Jesus and came against him in an attempt to undermine his authority. First, “the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him, ‘Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority” (Luke 20:1–2, ESV). After this, “they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor” (Luke 20:20, ESV). These spies attempted to pit Jesus against the Roman authorities by asking him, “Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” (Luke 20:22, ESV). Finally, some from among the Sadducees attempted to gain an upper hand over Jesus by pitting him against the authority of Moses and the Holy Scriptures. If the resurrection is true, then how do you explain this text? This was their tactic. None of it worked as Jesus replied to their questions truthfully and winsomely. In Luke 20:39-40, we read, “Then some of the scribes answered, ‘Teacher, you have spoken well.’ For they no longer dared to ask him any question” (Luke 20:39–40, ESV).
Here in the text that is open before us today, it is finally Jesus who asks the questions. And as I have said before, I do believe it is important to see that Jesus’ questions have very much to do with the questions that were previously asked of him. In brief, those who came against Jesus questioned, One, the source of his authority. Two, they attempted to pit Jesus’ claimed authority against the governing authorities of this world to bring him into disfavor with them? Three, they attempted to pit Jesus’ claimed authority against the authority of Holy Scripture. Now, here in Luke 20:41-44, Jesus asks his opponents a question. And if they could only answer this one question correctly, then they would have the answer to all of the questions they had previously asked. I think you will see what I mean as we consider this small but mighty text together today.
Jesus’ Question
Let us now consider Jesus’ question. Really, he asks only one question, but it comes to us in three parts.
Our text begins with the words, “But he said to them…”
“Them” must refer to the scribes who were mentioned in verse 39, who will be mentioned again in verse 46. The scribes were considered expert interpreters of the Old Testament Scriptures. Now, when I say that Jesus spoke to the scribes, I do not mean to suggest that they were the only group present. I do believe that a great multitude stood around Jesus, including many of those who had questioned him previously. Jesus directed this question to the scribes in particular because they were regarded as expert interpreters of the Scriptures, and the question Jesus asks has to do with the interpretation of a very important text of Scripture, as we will soon see. So Jesus put this question to the scribes, but many others were there to witness this exchange and to be instructed by it.
The first part of Jesus’ question is this: “How can they say that the Christ is David’s son”
This was a commonly held view amongst the Jews in Jesus’ day. Most were looking forward to the arrival of the Christ, that is to say, the Messiah. “Christ” is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah”, which means “one who is anointed” (see John 1:41; 4:25). The Old Testament Scriptures are very clear. They revealed that one day, an anointed King would come who would bring salvation to God’s people. And the Old Testament Scriptures are clear that this Anointed King would be a descendant of King David. This is spoken of in multiple passages in the Old Testament, but the central passage is 2 Samuel 7. There, we are told about the covenant God made with King David. Among other things, God gave this promise to King David: “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Samuel 7:12–13, ESV). When this text is considered carefully, it is clear that this promise was not fulfilled in David’s son, Solomon, but would be fulfilled by another, greater son, namely, the Messiah. And so the people knew that when the Christ or Messiah finally arrived, he would have to be a descendant of King David.
It should be clear to all that when Jesus asked the question, “How can they say that the Christ is David’s son?, he was not disagreeing with this idea. No doubt, Jesus agreed that the Messiah would be David’s son. He begins his question like this, not because he disagrees, but because he is about to demonstrate that there is more to the Messiah than mere fleshly descent from King David. Would the Messiah be David’s? Yes, of course! But Jesus is about to demonstrate that there is more to say about the Messiah.
He demonstrates that there is more to the Messiah than fleshly descent from David by pointing to Psalm 110. Brothers and sisters, you should know that Psalm 110 is quoted or alluded to in the New Testament more than any other Old Testament text. That should tell you something about its importance. Psalm 110 is a very, very important passage as it pertains to the identity of the Messiah.
Jesus introduces his question with the words, “How can they say that the Christ is David’s son?”, but he did not end there. In the second portion of his question, he quotes Psalm 110 verse 1, saying, “For David himself says in the Book of Psalms, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool’” (Luke 20:42–43, ESV).
I want you to notice a few things about Psalm 110:1 and what Jesus has to say about it.
First of all, this Psalm was written by King David. It’s original and inspired title is, A PSALM OF DAVID. And Jesus clearly believed that this Psalm was written by David, for he says in our text, “For David himself says in the Book of Psalms, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool’” (Luke 20:42–43, ESV).
Secondly, notice that King David mentions two “Lords” in this Psalm. The first “LORD” has the Hebrew word YHWH behind it. There is no mystery here. This is an obvious reference to the one true God—the God who created the heavens and the earth, who redeemed Isarel from Egyptian bondage and entered into covenant with Isarel in the days of Moses. The identity of the second “Lord” was a bit more mysterious. It has the Hebrew word Adonai behind it. This word is often used as a title for God, but it can be used to refer to human lords as well. The question was, who is this second “Lord” (Adonai) of King David to whom the LORD (YHWH) speaks in this Psalm? Granted, this is no longer a mystery to us, for the proper interpretation of this Old Testament text has been clearly revealed by Christ and his Apostles and is now found in the New Testament. But it must have been a bit of a mystery to those who lived before the coming of the Christ. Who is this second Lord of King David to whom YHWH speaks? That is the question.
When I say that the meaning of this verse was a mystery before the arrival of the Christ, I do not mean to suggest that the true meaning was unknowable, for there are clues to its true meaning that could be easily observed even before Christ and his Apostles clarified the meaning of this text. .
For one, given that this Psalm was written by King David, the highest authority in Israel, it is clear that the second Lord (Adonai) of whom David speaks cannot refer to a human living during his reign. David the King would not have referred to anyone as Lord except for God and Christ, and that is the point, as we will soon see. Who had more authority than David? No one, except God and the Christ who would one day descend from him.
Two, Psalm 110 must be interpreted in light of the covenant that YHWH made with David beforehand. In that covenant, God made a promise to David that he would have a son who would be greater than him, whose kingdom would have no end. This covenant promise should have been in the minds of all who read Psalm 110 even before Jesus was born. Those who wished to know the true meaning of Psalm 110 should have said, I wonder if this second Lord of David is in fact the greater son who was promised to him in 2 Samuel 7. In other words, I wonder if this is a reference to the Messiah who is to come! In fact, if you were to read Jewish commentaries, some ancient and some modern, you would find that some Rabbis did interpret Psalm 110:1 as being about the Messiah. For those who are curious about this, John Gill quotes some of these Rabbis in his commentary on Matthew 22:44, which is a parallel passage to our text here in Luke 20:41-44. The point is this: This Psalm 110—this Psalm of David—must be interpreted with the promises that God made to David concerning a son who would have an everlasting kingdom in mind.
Three, when you read the rest of Psalm 110, you see that this second Lord of King David—the Lord to whom YHWH speaks— is a great King who will one day rule and judge the nations. We will look at Psalm 110 more closely in just a moment. For now, I am simply observing that interpreting Psalm 110 verse 1 as if it is about YHWH speaking to the Messiah, who is simultaneously the son and Lord of King David, is not at all a stretch. In fact, this interpretation is most reasonable and natural.
The third thing to notice about Psalm 110 verse 1 and Jesus’ remarks about it is that, whatever others thought about the meaning of this verse, Jesus clearly thought and taught that it is about the Messiah. Listen to the words of Jesus again: “But he said to them, ‘How can they say that the Christ is David’s son? For David himself says in the Book of Psalms, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’” Jesus then brings his question to a conclusion by saying, “David thus calls him Lord, so how is he his son?” (Luke 20:41–44, ESV). The words “him” and “he” in Luke 20:44 must refer back to “the Christ” mentioned in verse 41. So in brief, the question Jesus asked is this: In Psalm 110:1, King David calls the Christ or Messiah “Lord”, how then is the Christ his son?
This is a very important question. I hope you understand the significance and weight of it.
Do fathers typically call their sons “Lord”? No! A son may call his father Lord, but fathers do not refer to their sons as Lord, for fathers have authority over their sons. This is true of every father-son relationship, but it is especially true when the father is a King, as David was. So you can see that there is something unusual and even shocking going on here in Psalm 110:1, and Jesus drew attention to it. Again, the question is simply this: If it is true that the Messiah, the Anointed King of God’s Kingdom who was to come, would be the son of King David, why did King David call his son Lord?
The Implied Answer
Notice that Jesus did not provide an answer to the question. He asked the question and then he left it alone. The answer is implied, though, and it is not difficult to see. In brief, David called his son “Lord” because his son would be greater than him. The authority his son would possess would be much greater than his. And so it was right for King David, the greatest of the Kings of Israel, and the King from whom all of the other Kings of Israel would descend, to call this Son, Lord.
When Jesus drew attention to verse 1 of Psalm 110 and to the unusual features of this Messianic text, he was inviting the scribes, and all who listened in on his conversation with them, to go to Psalm 110 and to consider that weighty text anew and afresh. Who would the Messiah be, and what authority would he possess? And of course, everyone knew that Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah, the Son of David, who is also David’s Lord.
The Answer To This Question Answers Other Questions
In the introduction to this sermon, I suggested that the answer to the question that Jesus asked the scribes would answer other questions, too, specifically, the questions that were previously put to him. Stated differently, I do believe that a proper interpretation of Psalm 110 functions like a key that unlocks many mysteries and answers many questions about the identity and authority of the Messiah.
“The chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to [Jesus], ‘Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority” (Luke 20:1–2, ESV). Psalm 110 answers this question. If Jesus is the Messiah, who is David’s son and David’s Lord, then Psalm 110 reveals that his authority is from YHWH. For it was YHWH who had spoken to him in the eternal Covenant of Redemption and at his assension, saying, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool” (Psalm 110:1, ESV). It was YHWH who has sent “forth from Zion [his] mighty scepter.” And has decreed that he ”rule in the midst of [his] enemies!” (Psalm 110:2, ESV). By what authority did Jesus do these things? It was by God’s authority, for it was God the Father who, in eternity, decreed that the eternally begotten Son would become incarnate. Being born into the world as a son of Abraham and David, he would live a sinless life and die the death of a sinner for us and for our salvation. On the third day, he would rise. And after 40 days, he would ascend to heaven and, as the God man, he would sit down upon his throne at the Father’s right hand. By what authority did Christ do these things? It was by God’s authority, for it was God the Father who sent him, and he is the Son of God incarnate, the one who is anointed by God the Holy Spirit to do his work.
A proper interpretation of Psalm 110 also helps to explain the answer Jesus gave to the spies who attempted to pit Jesus against the Roman authorities by asking, “Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” (Luke 20:22, ESV). What did Jesus say? “He said to them… ‘render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Luke 20:25, ESV). In other words, for now, those in the kingdom of Christ will have to tolerate those who have worldly authority and give them their due, taxes to whom taxes are due, and respect to whom respect is due. Psalm 110 reveals why this is so, for it teaches that the kingdom of Christ would come progressively. “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool’” (Psalm 110:1, ESV). So then, the Christ would first be seated on his heavenly throne, and after that his enemies would progressively be subdued.
Paul speaks of this progression in 1 Corinthians 15:24-26, saying, “Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1 Corinthians 15:24–26, ESV)
Psalm 110 reveals even more about this progression when it says that the Christ will, for a time, “Rule in the midst of [his] enemies!” (Psalm 110:2, ESV). Is that not what he is currently doing? He rules and reigns now, but his enemies are not yet fully and finally judged. And it is during this time—the time wherein the kingdom of the Messiah is inaugurated but not yet consummated— his “people… offer themselves freely on the day of [his] power, in holy garments…” (Psalm 110:3, ESV). Christ has enemies now, but he also has his people. They are those who have freely bowed the knee to him to confess him as Lord. They are those who trust in him and obey him. Christ the King does not force or coerce his people to “offer themselves” up to him. No, he makes the able and willing to come to him by his grace and by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit as the word of Christ is preached.
Psalm 110 also reveals that Christ is not only the King of God’s kingdom, but he is also the High Priest, for “The LORD has sworn [to him] and will not change his mind, [saying] “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:4, ESV). No wonder Christ cleansed the temple and taught within its courts. He is the priest of God’s end times temple—a temple, not made of stone, but of living stones built upon the foundation of Christ, the Apostles, and Prophets.
When will it be that God’s people will no longer have to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s”? When Christ returns to judge and to consummate his kingdom. It will be then that his enemies will be made his footstool (Psalm 110:1). It will be then that “he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth” (Psalm 110:5–6, ESV).
Finally, some from among the Sadducees attempted to gain an upper hand over Jesus by pitting him against the authority of the Holy Scriptures. By pointing to this key text and raising questions about it, Jesus implied that, far from being at odds with the Scriptures, he was the fulfillment of them, being the very Christ and Lord of whom they spoke.
Conclusion
As I have said, this passage is all about authority, authority, authority—the supreme authority of Christ the King.
Is he your Lord and King? That is the question.
To have him as Savior, you must have him as Lord and King, and Kings are to be obeyed.
And what a marvelous King Jesus is. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. All authority in heaven and earth has been given to him. Other kings may sit on earthly thrones, but he, having accomplished our redemption, is seated at the Father’s right hand in heaven, “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come” (Ephesians 1:21, ESV). There he will rule and reign until all his enemies are subdued under his feet. Then, he will judge the nations with a rod of iron. But to his people whom he has redeemed by his shed blood, he is gentle, kind, and compassionate. He provides for his people and protects them as he leads them into their eternal home—a home that he has prepared for them.
Dear friends, you must learn to think of Jesus as the greatest of all kings and as the King of the greatest of all kingdoms, for his power is supreme and his rule and reign will have no end. If you have not yet renounced your allegiance to sin, Satan, and his kingdom of darkness and bowed the knee to King Jesus instead, today is the day to do it. And if you have already pledged your allegiance to King Jesus, I urge, brothers and sisters, surrender to him more and more. Offer yourself freely to him in holy garments” (Psalm 110:3, ESV). Do this to the glory of Christ and for your good.
