Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Mark 12:35 - 12:37
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
David's Son and Lord.
v. 35. And Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the Temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the Son of David?
v. 36. For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand till I make Thine enemies Thy footstool.
v. 37. David therefore himself calleth Him Lord; and whence is He, then, his Son? And the common people heard Him gladly.
All the sects and organizations among the Jews had now had their tilt with the Lord, and in every case His word had prevailed. So thoroughly had He vanquished His enemies that no one dared to ask Him any more questions. But now His turn had come. He had a question to propose which is of prime importance, not only for the Jews, but for every person in the wide World to this day and hour: What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is He? The answer to this question has become so important that it may well be called the touchstone to determine a man's theology and faith. Jesus asks: How is it that the scribes call Christ the Son of David? With what right do they do that? The appellation "Son of David" for the expected Messiah was so common in that day that the two names were used as synonyms, Mat_1:1; Mat_15:22; Mat_20:30; Mat_22:42; Mat_9:27; Mat_12:23; Mat_21:9. And the scribes were right in calling the Messiah thus, for He was a true descendant of David, 2Sa_7:12-16. Incidentally, however, it was also true what David said in Psa_110:1-7, calling the Messiah his Lord. The Lord, the eternal God and Father, had, in that great everlasting today, said to David's Lord, to the only-begotten Son of His glory, Sit Thou on My right hand till I put Thine enemies below the footstool of Thy feet, till they are vanquished completely. Evidently the Messiah was here placed on an equality with God the Father. Now the question was how to reconcile the two statements, how to harmonize the apparent contradiction: David's Lord, yet David's Son. Note: Jesus expressly states that it was the Holy Ghost that inspired David to write these words as he did. Every believer has the answer ready and is firmly convinced of the truth of both statements: David's Son, true man, a descendant of David according to the flesh, through His mother Mary possessing the true human nature, is, at the same time, true God, the Lord over all, indued with the power of the deity from eternity, and now sitting at the right hand of the power of God, also according to His human nature. In Him, according to both natures, is our trust; through Him, and through Him alone, we hope to be saved, we have salvation. While therefore the Jewish chiefs, the religious leaders, silently withdrew from the scene, the great multitude, among whom were also many pilgrims, heard Him gladly. And many a soul, weary with the stones of the doctrine of works, may, in these last days, have learned to believe in the Savior.