The Gospel of Mark: David's Son

While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David? David himself, by the Holy Spirit, declared,
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
    until I put your enemies under your feet.”’
David himself calls him Lord; so how can he be his son?” And the large crowd was listening to him with delight. ~ Mark 12:35-37


As Jesus has entered Jerusalem, he finally engages in the conversation about the Messiah.

Messiah = Chosen One. For the Hebrew people, the Messiah would come from the line of David

(btw fun fact: the Greek for that is "Christus." We get the name/title Jesus Christ from the transliteration of the Hebrew into Greek and then into English. If you want to say Jesus name/title in Hebrew, it is "Yeshua Hamashiach").

The Jewish people have been waiting for a long time for their Messiah, and that Messiah will be David's son, or so their tradition goes.

Jesus enters into a philosophical/theological debate as such here, and I don't think he is so much after the idea that the Jewish idea of the Messiah is wrong.

Just that they need to expand their understanding of who the Messiah is.

Whatever Jesus is getting at here, the thing that stands out most for me is that Jesus is able to use any argument needed as he teaches: ones grounded in emotion and caring, ones using stories as their thrust, but also ones grounded in reason and logic. 


Holy God, thank you for the gospel - the good news - of your Son. Open my mind and heart to this good news and enliven me with your Spirit of servanthood that I might share this good news with a world in need. Amen


Engagement Question:


What are the ways you've seen Jesus teach in scripture?

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