35 And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared, “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.” ’ 37 David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” And the great throng heard him gladly.

By this point in Mark, it is clear that Jesus is at odds with the religious leaders -- and they are certainly at odds with him! And, in our previous studies, we've watched Jesus dismantle the best arguments they could muster in their attempts to thwart his mission. By the end, "no one dared to ask him any more questions" (Mark 12:34).

But Jesus was not done. He had a question and a critique left for the religious leaders before he went into hiding until his arrest in Gethsemane.

The Son of David

The religious leaders had asked all their questions. What about taxes? What about the resurrection? What is the greatest commandment?

Now Jesus asks his question: How can you say that the Christ is the son of David? What does this question mean?

First, we must remember that "the Christ" was not a proper name at that time. When we say "the Christ," we mean "Jesus Christ." But when they said "the Christ," they meant "the Messiah," the one who would deliver them from all foreign powers and reestablish David's throne on earth. The idea of a Davidic Messiah was firmly entrenched in the minds of first-century Jews, so to speak of the "Son of David" was to speak of "the Christ."

So Jesus asked how the scribes could teach that the Messiah, the Christ, that figure, would be the son of David. Right there, in their temple, Jesus challenged their understanding of this coming figure.

Now, Jesus was not debating that the Christ would be a descendant of David. The Old Testament promises and prophecies had made that abundantly clear. And Jesus, in His humanity, was a descendant of David through both Mary and Joseph.

Jesus was challenging the idea that the Christ was only a descendant of David. He wanted them to see how the Messiah would not only be the son of David but the Son of God.

The Lord Said to My Lord

To make this point, Jesus quoted from David's own writing, Psalm 110 (36). The New Testament cites this passage more than any other section of the Old Testament. The crux of the quotation is the first line: David wrote, "The Lord said to my Lord" (36).

David goes on to describe the future Messianic reign -- God's deliverance of his people through the Christ-Messiah -- when he quotes God as saying to the Christ, "Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet" (36).

But, again, the crux of the quote is the first line: "The Lord said to my Lord" (36). And Jesus latched onto this phrase when he said, "David himself calls him (the Christ) Lord. So how is he his son?" (37).

In other words, David thought of the coming Christ, the Messiah through whom God would establish a forever kingdom, as his Lord. The Christ is David's Lord. But the Bible said the Christ would be David's son. And a father would never call his son his Lord. So what gives?

Well, in his humanity, Jesus is the son of David. But, in his divinity, he is the Son of God, making him the Lord of David. The Messiah would be a man. The Messiah would be God. Again, the two complete natures of Jesus Christ are highlighted in this passage. Fully God, fully man.

The Divinity of Jesus

And Scripture affirms this time and time again. Jesus is called the Son of God forty times, which makes him equal with God (John 5:18). He is referred to as the only begotten Son, rather than one of many sons. He is called the First and the Last, a title only God could bear (Revelation 1:17, Isaiah 41:4, 44:6). He is called the Alpha and Omega (or the A to Z), another title only God could bear (Revelation 1:8, 22:12, 13, 16). He is called the Holy One in Acts, the Lord of Glory in 1 Corinthians, and the Everlasting Father in Isaiah 9. And he is called God in Hebrew 1, John 20, Matthew 1, Titus 2, and Romans 9.

But Jesus also bears the attributes of God. He revealed his omnipotence when he healed, calmed storms, cast out demons, and raised the dead. He revealed his omniscience when he declared the Samaritan woman's sin, what the scribes were thinking when he forgave the paralytic, which one of his disciples would betray him, and when he told Nathaniel he had previously been sitting under a fig tree. He revealed his omnipresence when he said he would be with us always, when he said he'd be where two or three are gathered, and when the Bible says he will dwell in us (John 14:20). As God, he is eternal in that he came from everlasting (Micah 5:2), was present at the beginning of all things (John 1:1), is the "Everlasting Father" (Isaiah 9:6), and had glory before he came to earth (John 17:5). To quote him, "Before Abraham was, I AM" (John 8:58).

And Jesus' question of the scribes was designed to get them -- and us -- thinking about the Christ's true identity. They didn't understand that yes, he would be the son of David, but also the eternal Son of God.