The Christ is Lord

Intro

Over the past couple of weeks, we have been looking at a conversation that has been taking place between Jesus and the religious leaders in the Temple. They consist of chief priests, Sadducees, and scribes. They have come at Jesus with different question in order to trap Him and prove Him to be a fraud. They have asked by what authority He teaches, whether they should pay taxes, and what will happen to married people in the resurrection. Each time Jesus has answered them with such wisdom that they no longer dare to ask Him anything else. He has shown Himself to be wiser than they are and so to avoid humiliation they stop asking questions. In today’s passage, Jesus takes the opportunity to ask them a question and offer some teaching.

Luke 20:41–21:4 ESV

41 But he said to them, “How can they say that the Christ is David’s son? 42 For David himself says in the Book of Psalms, “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, 43 until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’ 44 David thus calls him Lord, so how is he his son?” 45 And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, 46 “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 47 who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” 1 Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, 2 and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. 3 And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. 4 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

V 41-44

The Christ is God and Man

41

Jesus starts off by asking them, how can they say that the Christ is David’s son? This question is directed at the scribes, the ones who just complimented Him on His response to the Sadducees. This question would seem a little ridiculous to the Jews because they all knew the promise that God had made to David. Psalm 89:35–36 “35 Once for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David. 36 His offspring shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before me.” God made a covenant with David that one of his offspring would rule forever. The Jews understood that this king would be the Christ predicted by the prophets. The Messiah would be from the line of David, his son according to the Old Testament. We also see in the beginning of Luke that Jesus is announced as the Son of David when He is born. The expectation was a Messiah from the Davidic line because that is what God promised. With this in mind, it seems a little absurd to ask why they say the Christ will be David’s son.

42-43

Jesus then gives His reasoning for the question by quoting Psalm 110:1 “1 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”” This Psalm is written by king David, and in it, David records a conversation he witnessed between the Lord and his Lord. In it, God, Yaweh promises that David’s Lord will sit at His right hand. To sit at the right hand of God is to be made equal in power and authority with God. This conversation that David witnesses shows the Triune nature of God. This also shows that the Christ to come is not merely David’s son as many kings who came before were. A long list of kings came from David, but the Christ will not be like the others. The Christ is Lord. The Christ is God. Jesus is not saying that He is not from the line of David, because He is. Instead, He is making the point that He, the Christ is not merely a son of David. In fact, by David’s own mouth we see that the Christ is David’s Lord. So while the scribes got it right that the Messiah would come from the line of David, they missed the fact that the Christ is God in flesh. The scribes and many others also missed the reason for the Christ’s coming. They believed that the Messiah would come to deliver them from their oppressors, those who occupied the holy land. They believed that a king was coming from the line of David to lead a revolution and rule in Israel. Jesus is telling them that this is not the case. He has been telling them that this is not the case for the entirety of His ministry. Because many people do not understand the identity of Jesus, they also miss His mission. Jesus the Christ was both Son of man and Son of God. Only a man could pay the penalty for the sins of men. Actually, only a perfect man could do so. And only God can save sinners. How can both of these be true and salvation be accomplished? Jesus, Lord God became a man. He lived a perfect life, keeping God’s law down to the smallest detail. He laid down His life, dying on a cross, taking on Himself the punishment meant for sinners so that by faith in Him they could be saved. Only an eternal God could take an eternal punishment in someone else’s place. Only Jesus the God man could do this. He then rose from the grave three days later in victory over sin and death and proved that He indeed is Lord. So how can He be called David’s son? He really can’t be because He is God. He did come from the line of David according to God’s plan, but that wasn’t because David was so great, but because the God of David is so great. God did what He said He would do. God did not lie. He has brought a king to sit on the throne forever, His name is Jesus.

44

Just days away from His crucifixion, He is still teaching them about the mystery of the divine man. Jesus knows the hearts of those listening, He knows what is coming, yet He is still instructing those willing to listen on who He is. He is telling them that the Messiah is greater than they could imagine as He is Lord even of the greatest king of Israel. Though he has been teaching, though he has shown his superior wisdom and understanding of Scripture, many are still harboring evil in their hearts. Although the scribes know the Scriptures well, they fail to be changed by them, and so Jesus warns...

V 45-47

Those who trust in idols will be condemned

Jesus speaks out against the scribes. These men are a part of the religious leaders of the Jews. They would have been esteemed as some of the most godly of Israel, but Jesus shows through His warning that they are seeking their own glory over God’s. These men walk around in long robes in order to make a display for others to see. They wanted to draw attention to themselves and set themselves apart for praise. They loved greetings in the market. They wanted the best seats and places of honor. All this made them feel superior to those around them. It fed their selfish desire for glory. The money they had was not enough so they would take from those who had the least. Widows were supposed to be cared for by their leaders but instead they were taken advantage of. To top it all off, these men would make long prayers, articulating spiritual and theological thought while being deeply hypocritical. These men only cared about outward appearance, and so were defiled on the inside. Jesus shows that these men were not truly serving God but were serving themselves. Not only were these men destroying their own souls, but they were leading others astray. These men would lead themselves and their nation to destruction as they reject their Messiah and Lord to serve themselves. Because of their rejection and leadership they will receive a greater condemnation. James 3:1 “1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” Because of the position and authority leaders and teachers are given, they will be judged more strictly. Those who teach falsely will face a greater condemnation. It is also true that all who reject Jesus as Lord will face condemnation. The scribes made idols of pleasure, comfort, and the praise of man. Because of this they will be condemned for their sin. They will be punished for choosing to serve something other than God. But there is hope.

V 1-4

Salvation for those who trust in God alone

While all who trust in creation will be punished, those who trust in God will be rewarded. In this next scene, Jesus observes those making their offerings. The rich come and are likely putting in large amounts of money. These gifts would be impressive to bystanders. Then a widow comes and puts in two small copper coins. This amount is worth less then a penny today. We might even ask the question if it is worth giving because it is such a small and insignificant amount. But Jesus next words tell us otherwise. He says that this woman has given more than all the rich because they give out of their abundant wealth but she has given all she has. The point Jesus is making is that the lives of the rich can remain unaffected by their gifts to the temple. They have so much money that they do not have to trust in God even though they have given. Though they give, they do not have to trust in God because they have much money to trust in. The widow on the other hand has to be dependent on God because she has given all that she has. She has no money to depend on for food, clothing, shelter. She has no family to depend on because she is a widow. A true widow in Jewish culture not only had no husband but no sons to care for her financial needs. Her only hope for daily basic needs being met was God. By her giving her last two copper coins she is showing that her trust is only in God. She is showing that she has cast aside all other things and put her hope in God alone. Jesus said earlier Luke 14:33 “33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” She has proven that she is a disciple of Christ. This is what Jesus is teaching, that our hope, our trust, must be in God alone. He is not teaching that everyone one of you must give all that you physically posses to the church in order to be His disciple. He is teaching that you must not trust in any other thing besides Him. We must not find our sense of security in anything else. We cannot find it in our significant other, in our children, in our money, in our friends, in entertainment, in houses, in cars, etc. We must not look to anyone or anything to provide for our needs other than God. We cannot depend on money in the bank to keep us safe. We cannot depend on the family or friends we have. Our trust, our hope must be in God. All things are from Him and He can take all things away if He chooses. If our hope is in God and we lose all that belongs to us on earth, we have lost nothing because we still posses our hope in God. If our hope is money and we lose it, we have lost everything that matters to us. When our faith is in God, we will not lose hope even if our situation changes for the worst. This is hard. This is something I wrestle with often. Especially now that we have a son on the way, I struggle with this. Soon Liz will not be working and I will be the bread winner. For a time, this was causing me to be anxious, but as I prayed about it and studied Scripture, I was reminded that it is God who provides. I am called to work, but it is God who provides. My trust cannot be in money or work, it must be in God. This is something that I have to be reminded of daily because if I am not, I am likely to grow self-confident and fall. I am learning that if it God who provides all I need. And just as we cannot trust in things created to help us through today, we cannot trust in things created to help us through eternity. One day judgement will come. One day, each of us will stand before the throne of God and we will have to answer for our lives. If we live for money, pleasure, comfort, praise, we will be judged accordingly. But if we live like the widow, letting go of earthly possessions, acknowledging that all things come from God, trusting in Him alone, we will be saved. We can also learn that it is not about the grandeur of what we give to God, but it is about our heart. The widow did not receive any praise from men, but God knew her heart and what she gave was more than the rich. It doesn’t matter what gifts you have, how great they are in human terms, but it matters if you give them back to the Lord in faith. All is from God and so we should offer it all back to Him.

Jesus is Lord. Whether we choose to acknowledge it now or not, a time will come when we will stand before Him. Are you trusting in the ruler of the universe or are you trusting in something else. Examine your life. What does it say about your heart. Are you truly trusting In Jesus, or are there things you need to let go of? My desire is that each of us will continue to grow in our obedience and submission to Jesus as Lord. He is a real man who died and rose again for our sins. He gave His life for us, may we give our lives to Him for His glory. Let’s pray.