Matthew 22:41-46 "Jesus Questions The Pharisees"

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,  “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”
“The son of David,” they replied.
He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
 “Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet.”’
If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?”  No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions. 


The Saducees and the Pharisees had been asking Jesus questions -not legitimate questions, wanting to know truth; rather, tricky questions trying to embarrass Jesus publicly.  Now, Jesus asks them a tricky question.  Jesus knows (as He had already told the Saducees) that they didn't really know or understand either Scripture or the power of God.

The question Jesus asks is fairly simple -If the Messiah is a son (descendant) of King David, why did David prophetically call Him Lord?  The Pharisees chose to walk away rather than answer.  You see, people were increasingly believing that Jesus was the Messiah, and Jesus instead of denying it was increasingly proving it to be true.  So, when Jesus asks this, many of the people listening believed He was speaking of Himself.  The dilemma for the Pharisees is that the only possible answer to this question is that David was prophesying that his descendant Messiah would be more than just a human sent by God and used by God -that the Messiah would be Divine.  This is not something they wanted to state publicly in front of people who were believing Jesus was the Messiah.  In fact, their plan was to execute Jesus for blasphemy for implying that He was, indeed, the Messiah and that He was, indeed, Divine.  The last thing they wanted was Scriptural proof.

It is not hard to see why the Pharisees came to the conclusions they had come to.  They had a very long history of religious traditions and paradigms and already knew (or at least thought they knew) how Scripture ought to be interpreted.  Their main problem was simply that their interpretations did not match God's interpretations, and their spiritual reality was not God's spiritual reality.  I believe that we are always in danger of falling into the same trap.  Just as with the Pharisees, it is easier for us to rely on our denominational and theological traditions and teachings than it is to enter into authentic and intimate relationship with God.  We are sometimes more concerned with what men say than what God says.  God has a habit of rocking the boat.