Sunday March 23 2025, Kings Shall Shut Their Mouths Matt 22 41-46
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Introduction
Introduction
The story of Hannah and my wedding cake. We were so focused on getting all the pretty details right (wedding colors), that we did not consider a few critical details: We didn’t have a knife to cut the cake. Hannah is very allergic to blue dye, and blue was one of our primary wedding colors.
Setting the Stage (22:41)
Setting the Stage (22:41)
41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question,
· The time of Jesus’s opponents is done, but Jesus is not done with them.
· Turning the tables on His opponents by asking the superior question.
o A question that they will be unable to answer. Not because they don’t know the truth, but because of their willful rejection of God and His Messiah.
· So far, the questions have been about issues of importance to His opponents…issues they considered the most important issues.
o Taxes (allegiance)
o Resurrection
o Priorities in the Law (obedience)
· But Jesus’s question will get at the most important issue of all: the identity of the Messiah.
o They have all been asking questions that are trying to get at who Jesus is.
· Jesus’s purpose here is not to win the debate (though He has) but to draw them to a conclusion about the Messiah (Him) from the Scripture.
o His desire, even now, is that they would come to recognize Him as the Lord’s Anointed.
· Jesus demonstrates His superior mastery of the Scripture once and for all.
o And by rejecting Him they will be without excuse.
· Interestingly, this entire confrontation is a fulfillment of Psalm 2:
Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Psalm 2:1–12 , ESV)
1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”
7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
· We will see this played out in real-time today and the command of this Psalm is just as applicable to us today as it was then.
o We will see the depth of their denial and hypocrisy.
§ The sad truth is that the Pharisees do not want Jesus to be the Messiah.
Proclaiming His Lineage (22:42)
Proclaiming His Lineage (22:42)
42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.”
· This is a simple question and one of great interest to every Jewish person.
· Israel was awaiting the Messiah, and they had been for hundreds of years.
· In fact, the promise of the Messiah had to do with someone would be very great indeed.
o A prophet greater than Moses:
“The Lordyour God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—” (Deuteronomy 18:15, ESV)
“The Lordyour God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—” (Deuteronomy 18:15 , ESV)
15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—
o A priest greater than Aaron:
The Lordhas sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” (Psalm 110:4 , ESV)
4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
o But most of all, they were expecting a great King.
· The Pharisees’ answer indicates this expectation:
o Perhaps the greatest expectation of the Messiah was the return of the Davidic kingdom.
o 1000 years previous, God had made a promise to Israel’s greatest King, David:
“When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. (2 Samuel 7:12–14 a, ESV)
12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.
13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.
· The promise of the eternal Davidic kingdom had come with some big promises.
o This king would possess the earth:
“Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.” (Psalm 2:8, ESV)
o King Solomon said He would have an endless dominion and that all the world would bow before Him and serve him:
“Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.” (Psalm 2:8 , ESV)
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.
“May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him!” (Psalm 72:11 , ESV)
11 May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him!
· But of all the 21 Davidic heirs we see in 2 Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, none had lived up to that promise…none had even filled David’s throne.
· Yet they waited in hope that the heir of David would one day come.
o The Psalms and the Prophets were full of the promises.
“Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lordof hosts will do this.” (Isaiah 9:7 , ESV)
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit… In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.” (Isaiah 11:1 , 10, ESV)
1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” (Jeremiah 23:5 , ESV)
5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
· So, the expectation was there.
· But what Jesus recognizes about His opponents is that they have a deficient view of the Messiah.
o They wanted a warrior king like David who would deliver them from the Roman Goliath.
· But Jesus was drawing them to see that He was the promised Davidic King…and that meant a lot more than simple descent from David by blood.
o It would need to be someone even greater than David.
Pointing Out His Divinity (22:43-45)
Pointing Out His Divinity (22:43-45)
43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, 44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”’? 45 If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”
· Jesus’s response indicates that the Pharisees’ answer, while correct, is insufficient.
· His evidence is masterful. He appeals to David himself, writing in Psalm 110.
o Jesus makes sure to draw the Pharisees’ attention to the fact that David is writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
““The Spirit of the Lordspeaks by me; his word is on my tongue.” (2 Samuel 23:2 , ESV)
2 “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; his word is on my tongue.
§ This means that David’s words are God’s as well, and therefore infallibly true.
· Psalm 110 is the most frequently quoted passages of Scripture in the NT.
· The text says this this:
“A Psalm of David. The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies! Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head. Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.” (Psalm 110 , ESV)
A Psalm of David.
1 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!
3 Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.
4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth.
7 He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.
· Jesus notes that David calls the Messiah his Lord, placing him in a place of superiority over David himself.
o Further, David says that the Messiah is exalted far above any place David ever sat; at the right hand of Yahweh.
o David proclaims that this Messiah will have the ultimate victory.
· But this Messiah, the future Davidic king would have a place no son of David could properly lay claim to alone.
o He would be a priest after the order of Melchizedek, the priest-king of Salem and the Most High God.
§ No son of Israel could be a priest accept the sons of Aaron.
§ And Melchizedek had no heirs.
All this indicates that the Messiah of David would be more than a human king ruling over Israel.
· So, Jesus is saying, how can the Messiah be both David’s son and his Lord?
· This is a powerful question because the First Commandment ran deep in the Jewish veins.
““You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3 , ESV)
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
o Yet David seems to say that there is a Lord beside God.
· Further, Matthew has been quite clear on who the Messiah is and how he knows it.
o Jesus’s baptism (Matthew 3:17 )
17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
o The Transfiguration (Matthew 17:5 )
5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
o Perhaps summing up this is the confession of Peter at Caesarea Philippi in Matthew 16:16:
16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16, ESV)
The answer to the question is that Jesus is both the son of David and the Son of God incarnate.
· This question is an effective trap for the Pharisees because they accept that David wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and that his words were God’s words.
o Yet it is gracious because there is a way out of this trap: confession.
· The only answer that the Pharisees can give is to acknowledge that reality and confess Jesus Christ is Lord as Peter did.
o And as Paul did:
“which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,” (Romans 1:2–4, ESV)
2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,
3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
· So, the Pharisees’ answer to the question illustrates their failure to understand what the Scripture about the Messiah said.
Pondering His Supremacy (22:46)
Pondering His Supremacy (22:46)
46 And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
· The Pharisees seem to have understood that Jesus was interpreting Ps. 110 to imply that the Messiah is the Son of God.
o Later, the seem to have reported it to the Sanhedrin.
o For when He was brought before them for interrogation, the High Priest asks Him directly:
“I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” (Matthew 26:63 b, ESV)
63 “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.”
· But in this moment, they can offer no objection.
· The sad truth is that the truth is not enough to move their hearts to confession and faith.
· They fulfilled the word of the Lord spoken through David in Psalm 2.
“Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” (Psalm 2:3, ESV)
3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”
· Paul spoke of this unfortunate state in Romans 1:28-32:
“And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” (Romans 1:28–32, ESV)
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,
30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
· Nevertheless, Jesus demonstrated His complete superiority over his opponents and ended every pretension to authority.
Conclusion
Conclusion
· We have much to learn from the Pharisees this morning.
· Jesus is Lord: He is David’s Lord and ours as well.
· So, like Peter, we must confess that He is Lord.
o Our lives depend on it.
o Paul says in Romans 10
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved…For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Romans 10:9,12–13, ESV)
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
If we answer Jesus’s question truly we will be set free.
· But, the warning in Psalm 2 is ours as well.
“Serve the Lordwith fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” (Psalm 2:11–12 , ESV)
11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
· So let us stand on the deity of Christ and proclaim that Jesus is the one and only Son of God.
o He is no mere human savior king.
· Freedom comes in acknowledging Him as our king and sovereign Lord.
o We need to think rightly of Him and see Him as he is today.
o Preacher James Montgomery Boice spoke to this ongoing need in our lives:
Most people’s image of Jesus is at best that of a baby in a manger. It is a sentimental picture best reserved for Christmas and other sentimental moments. Others picture him hanging on a cross. That too is sentimental, though it is sentimentality of a different, pious sort. Jesus is not in a manger today. That is past. Nor is he hanging on a cross. That too is past. Jesus came once to die and after that to ascend to heaven to share in the fullness of God’s power and great glory.[1]
o Psalm 110 shows King Jesus in His glory.
§ The victorious king who defeated evil (110:1-2)
1 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!
§ The Great High Priest who makes atonement for our sin (110:4)
4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
§ The righteous Judge (110:6 )
6 He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth.
· The Pharisees’ response is a warning that true confession is never a mere profession of the truth.
o They knew the truth and it did them no good because they still rejected the Son.
o Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21 , ESV)
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
· If you know that Jesus is the Lord, it must result in a change of heart and action.
But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? (James 2:18–20 , ESV)
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?
· So, let us kiss the Son. Let us love Him through obedience to Him and His way.
[1]Douglas Sean O’Donnell, Matthew: All Authority in Heaven and on Earth, ed. R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013), 669.
