Way back in my college days, in the dusty land of Lubbock, Texas, we went to church with a gentleman who had an interesting perception of children. He seriously, I think he was serious, wanted to have children so that he could have live in servants. His expectation was that when he had children he would just tell them what they had to do and they would do it and he, himself, wouldn’t have to do anything anymore. Well, hmmm. If this gentleman eventually had children, I hope that his expectations crumbled and blew away like the dust in the panhandle of Texas. I hope that his perception of children became something so much better than little servants.
Luke 20:41-44 is about shattered messianic expectations. So, let’s begin with the Jewish expectation. There were many Old Testament passages that spoke of the descendant of David whose throne would last forever. It begins in 2 Samuel 7:12-16. This is picked up in Psalm 132:11-12. It becomes a matter of prophesy in Isaiah 11:1 and Jeremiah 23:5. The Jewish expectation was that a son (descendant) of David would rise up and through him God would establish Kingdom; Kingdom that would last forever. But their expectation was tied down by the whole descendant of David thing. Their eyes reached no higher than a Davidic kingdom.
So, in the midst of this messianic expectation, which was most likely reaching a pitch with the presence of Jesus, Jesus asked them, “How is it that they say the Christ is David’s son?” The “them” is not identified. In Matthew’s account, Jesus is addressing the Pharisees. The closest antecedent in our passage would be the Sadducees or the scribes. The overall text in Luke is that of Jesus teaching the people in the temple. All of these groups had the same expectation; the same Davidic limitation. I’m not sure we need to limit the audience here to any one group. The question is for everyone who is expecting a son of David to sit on the throne that will last forever.
Interestingly, Jesus, who had just dealt with a reductio ad absurdum argument about the resurrection uses the same technic here. If you are expecting a Davidic kingdom, doesn’t Psalm 110:1 render your expectation absurd? Psalm 110 has the title “Psalm of David.” Seventy-three of the psalms carry this title. The evidence suggests that these titles were added later and that the term can mean a collection of psalms collected under David’s name. It is not necessarily a claim to authorship. Having said that, there is no reason to doubt Davidic authorship of Psalm 110. And Jesus does ascribe the psalm to David. That David wrote, or that the people accepted that David wrote, this psalm is central to Jesus’ argument.
In the Hebrew the psalm has “Yahweh said to my Adonai.” In the Greek, both words are “lord.” The phrase “my Lord” is an honorific given to a king. Jesus picks this up and applies it to the Messiah. According to Nolland, there is no good evidence that this psalm was considered messianic by the Jews. The early Christians certainly viewed it as messianic. It is quoted in the New Testament more than any other psalm. This psalm speaks of this lord as also being a priest after the order of Melchizedek. So, Jesus takes up this psalm and argues that if the Messiah is to be David’s son, how could it make sense that David would call the Messiah “my Lord.” And the quote goes on with Yahweh calling this Lord to sit at this right hand. An honor not given to David. And this Lord is to sit at the right hand of God until all of his enemies are vanquished. How can the son be greater than the progenitor? In their culture, this would sound absurd.
Okay. But we believe in the Davidic line of the Messiah. The gospel writers took great pains to trace his heritage back to David. The birth narrative of this gospel takes place in the city of David. So, what exactly is Jesus doing here? He is shattering their limited expectations. They are focusing on the human descendancy; the physical throne and kingdom. Their eyes are not reaching high enough in their expectations. Yes, Jesus descended from David and fulfilled prophesy. But he will not be limited to the physical implications here. His kingdom is so much more than what they hoped for. He is also the son of God. He is also “My Adonai!” He has been exalted and sits at the right hand of God, busy subjecting all enemies. Don’t let your expectations limit your understanding and your experience. Children can be; should be; so much more than servants. Jesus can be; absolutely is; more than the son of David! He is the Christ!