July 18 Father to Son

Luke 20:41-44 Then Jesus said to them, “How is it that they say the Christ is the Son of David? 42 David himself declares in the Book of Psalms: ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand 43 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’ 44 David calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?”
 
OUR Lord Jesus has been teaching the evidence of eternal life to the Sadducees, who do not believe mankind possesses an eternal soul. The Living Word has used Moses’ words to prove his truth. Now he uses more evidence from Scripture with David’s words. Jesus wisely quotes two prophets all Jews hold in highest esteem. He goes to their earthly authorities to confirm the heavenly eternity.
    The Jews would clearly understand Jesus’ quote from David, prophesied the Messiah in Psalms 110: The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” To us, this language can be a bit confusing. How can the Lord speak to the Lord?
    David was using two meanings of “Lord”. Some Bible versions write it as “The LORD said to my Lord.” “LORD” is the English form of the Hebrew language to say God’s name, “Jehovah”. We have referred to Jehovah in Jesus’ other teachings as the name the Jews gave to “I AM”. This is the name by which the eternal LORD identified himself to Moses in Exodus 6. Then, as we have seen, “Lord” in the lower case is a title for the Messiah. Thus, you could also read this, “Jehovah said to Messiah.” Or “The Father said to the Son, sit at my right hand.”
    How then could the Messiah be merely a man if the eternal “I AM” commanded the Messiah to sit at his right hand? And how could this Messiah, born of a woman 800 years after David, be David’s Messiah, too, if there were no eternal life? Moses, David and all the anointed prophets were given a glimpse of eternal life. Such men and women taught with the eternal view in mind.
    The Sadducees first inquired of Jesus regarding a ridiculous marriage scenario to confuse the issue of eternal life. Jesus responded to their fanciful question with factual reality. Sadly, though, the Sadducees would refuse this truth. They held, instead, to their limited view of God. Perhaps some changed when they saw the resurrected Jesus.
    Let’s be persistent to seek the Lord, humble to listen, submissive to remove our opinions and grateful to respond lovingly to his truth.    
 
Prayer: I pray, LORD, I desire your eternal wisdom and listen to what you say. In the Lord’s name I pray, amen.