Jesus turned on his questioners with a question of his own. If the Christ (the Messiah) is the Son of David … a descendant, how is it that David calls him Lord? How could this possibly be?
He was asking the chief priests, the Sadducees and the teachers of the Law to explain the character of the Messiah.
The answer simply is that the Messiah had to be something more than just David’s Son. He was descended from David, he was David’s son, but he was something more.
In Luke 11:31-32, Jesus explains that “something greater than Solomon is here.” The Messiah was more than just a human descendant of the greatest king of Israel.
In the Psalm that Jesus quotes from, there are two uses of the word Lord in that first sentence. (Psalm 110:1). The first – “The Lord” is ‘ho kyrios’ which often represents Yahweh or God’s sacred name. The second – ‘to my Lord’ is ‘adonai.’ While this was used as a substitute for God, it was a term of dignity and respect, much as later cultures had lords and ladies in the upper echelons of society. It was never used by rabbis to refer to the Messiah, but Jesus is transforming it as he refers to himself. He has declared that the Messiah is not only human, but divine.
Jesus has taken on the scribes, the Pharisees, the teachers of the law and won. He exerted authority over them, and their attempts to denounce him have failed. Their pride, their need to be seen and to be important is as bad as the fact that they take advantage of widows. They have misused their power and it is apparent to all who have witnessed the battle of wits, that they have no remorse.
While they may live in wealth and prosperity on earth, their judgment is coming and it will be severe.
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