Whose Son Is the Christ?
Matthew 22: 41-46, 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 (Holy) Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,
44“‘The Lord (God the Father or kurios) said to my Lord (God the Son or kurios), “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”’?
45 If then David calls him Lord (kurios), 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.
In the context of these six verses, Jesus completely answers who He is, in more ways than one.
First, by Jesus using David’s own words in Psalm 110:1, Jesus is clearly declaring Himself to be eternal. For how could David call Jesus Lord, if He wasn’t born till many decades later?
Secondly, as I input in the passage, Jesus is quoting the words of David in Psalm 110:1, of the Hebrew Scriptures in verse forty-four. In the Greek (which was the common language of Jesus’ day), the word He uses for Lord both times is kurios which means: Absolute sovereign master. Was Jesus blaspheming the title for Almighty God? Was Jesus claiming to be someone that He is not? The only way to know for sure is to look at the original Hebrew language, in the Hebrew Scriptures. When we look at Psalm 110:1, it is clearly read, Yahweh (meaning the covenant Lord) said to my Adonai (meaning my Master). As we can see, both these definitions mean virtually the same thing. Whether we say Lord, or Master, we are saying that God has complete control and ownership over we His people. On top of that, these are two VERY common names or titles in the Old Testament, when addressing Almighty God.
Is David a false prophet, who worships a false God here? We had better be very carful how we answer that question. Pay close attention that in verse forty-three, Jesus declares that David was writing those words under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So, it was really the Holy Spirit who was speaking those words. And if we are to call David a false prophet, we in turn are calling the Holy Spirit a false spirit.
Has David broken the first commandment? Exodus 20:3“You shall have no other gods before me.” Now, this Hebrew word for before is AL, and mean: besides, ranking above, or in the presence of. That understanding would eliminate anything that one would hold in higher esteem than God Himself. Is David, the man who God said, “David in a man after my own heart,” guilty of idol worship here? If so, he’s in grave danger. Let’s look at a couple other passages in order to see just how much danger he would be in. Isaiah 42: 8 I am the LORD (Yahweh); that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Hosea 13: 4 I have been the LORD your God ever since you came out of Egypt. You shall acknowledge no God but me, no Savior except me. Together with these other verses, it should be extremely clear that we as God’s people are to honor or worship NO other gods, besides the One True God, yet that’s exactly what David is doing.
And in case you missed it back in Psalm 110:1, God the Father or Yahweh is giving honor to Adonai or God the Son. For to sit at a Kings right hand, is the seat of highest honor. Also, if someone were to seat at God’s right hand, they would be in His presence, which goes against the definition of the Hebrew word before. Well, according to the Ten Commandments and both Isaiah and Hosea verses, God would be going against His own command for His people. As well as creating a biblical contradiction. Does all this mean that God cannot be trusted or that He lies? By no means. What we have here is the age-old question “Who is Jesus Christ?” When we read all of Psalm 110, never once does God or Yahweh confront any sin in David declaring Jesus to be his Lord. The reason is, what the Holy Spirit is writing through David is a Messianic Psalm. A passage that extents all the way back to the foundational promise of Genesis 3:15 (which we will discuss in a minute). But, the best way to put our finger on what all these passages mean in truth is to look at the Hebrew word GOD.
The Hebrew word for God (and perhaps the most used name) is Elohim, which means All powerful, all knowing, one true Creator God. But don’t be fooled by that word ONE in the definition. Elohim is the plural form of the word EL for God. This is a biblical fact and the name that God used for Himself from the very beginning. Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God (Elohim or Gods) created the heavens and the earth. As the chapter continues, this become drastically clear.Genesis 1: 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God (or the Holy Spirit) was hovering over the face of the waters. Genesis 1: 26 Then God (Elohim or Gods) said, “Let us (plural) make man in our (plural) image, after our (plural) likeness. The name Elohim is used 29 times in chapter one of Genesis, driving home the plural name of God. Which means that there is more than one figure that makes up the Godhead, and that is consistent throughout the Scripture. God is a tri-unity (or trinity), which makes up one God. So, when God the Father gives honor and glory to God the Son, or God the Spirit honors God the Son, or vise-versa, that is to glorify Himself, because the other persons within the Godhead make up Elohim. Therefore, there is NO fault in God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit, or David for that matter.
Lastly, Jesus, speaking of Himself in Matthew 22:44, using this Messianic Psalm (110:1) to inform His crowd that He is indeed the Messiah that His Father spoke of in the foundational promise of Genesis 3: 15 I (God the Father) will put enmity (hostility, hatred, and separation) between you (Satan) and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he (God the Son) shall crush your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” We can see the similar speech in these verses, so there can be no doubt that this foundational promise is speaking of Jesus being the long-awaited Messiah. It was upon this passage that Old Testament saints believed in faith and were saved. With faith, they looked forward to the day when the Savior would put an end to Satan and sin. And that is exactly what Christ did on the cross, as He defeated death, which is the wages of sin. Praise be to the sole Savior of His people, Jesus Christ.
So then, in short, what Jesus was relaying in our passage in Matthew is that He is the eternal Son of the eternal Father, the long-awaited Savior, and God very God.