# 102 A Loaded Question About The Messiah - Matthew 22:41-46

Introduction: We have been studying the various loaded questions that the religious leaders presented to Jesus. In our passage today, the tables are turned — Jesus now asks them a loaded question. It is a question concerning the Messiah’s identity.

   I have read numerous articles written by liberal and secular scholars claiming that Jesus never directly stated Himself to be God.

   For instance, Bart Ehrman (an agnostic historian) penned, “During his lifetime, Jesus himself didn't call himself God and didn't consider himself God, and ... none of his disciples had any inkling at all that he was God. ...”

   Is that a true statement? Is it true that Jesus never claimed to be God? The answer is a resounding no!

   Here me – It is NOT what the liberal Bible teachers say that is important, but what does the inspired Word of God teach that is crucial. Here is what the Bible says:

Matthew 26:63–65 – When asked, “Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God,” Jesus answered, “You have said so. But I tell you… you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Mark 2:5–12 – “Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

John 1:1,14 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

John 5:17–18 – “My Father is working… and I am working.”

John 8:58 – “Before Abraham was, I Am.” (See Exodus 3:14.)

John 10:30–33 – “The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him… ‘because You, being a man, make Yourself God.’”

John 14:9 – “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”

John 20:28 – “My Lord and my God!”

Colossians 2:9 – “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”

Revelation 1:17–18 – “Fear not, I am the First and the Last, and the Living One. I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore.”

   Did Jesus claim to be God? Yes! Absolutely. And the passage before us today also reveals Jesus declaring Himself to be both the Son of David and the Son of God—fully man and fully divine.

   Leon Morris observes, “Jesus’ question in Matthew 22:41–46 is not a riddle to embarrass the Pharisees but a revelation to expose their inadequate view of the Messiah. They saw only a royal descendant; Jesus reveals the divine Redeemer.” (The Gospel According to Matthew, NICNT).

   Now allow me to set the scene.

   A Pharisee, a Sadducee, and a lawyer walk into a room… No, not a joke—but almost! In Matthew 22, these religious leaders did indeed come to Jesus to test Him. They questioned Him about taxes, about the resurrection, and about the greatest commandment. Their goal was to trap Him in His words. But it didn’t work—Jesus schooled them with Scripture.

   I like what one guy said about the Bible. He said, “The Bible is like a lion – it doesn’t need defending.” We must allow the Bible to speak for itself. Jeremiah wrote, “Is not My word like fire?” saith the LORD, “and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”  (Jeremiah 23:29). I love it! God’s word burns up the lies and breaks up hard hearts.

   Now, it’s Jesus’ turn to ask them a question – a deeply theological and profoundly revealing one. Their answer would expose their spiritual blindness and misunderstanding of who the Messiah truly is.

   As one author said, “Their answer exposed not ignorance of Scripture, but blindness to its Author.”

  William Barclay insightfully notes, “The Pharisees’ failure was not that they didn’t know the text, but that they didn’t know the Person to whom the text pointed. They had Scripture in their heads but not the Savior in their hearts.” (The Gospel of Matthew, Daily Study Bible).

   Let’s walk through this text together and see what we discover.

1. The Question About the Christ – 22:41–42

   41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” They said to Him, “The Son of David.”

   When I read the words “gathered together,” I picture them in a huddle—like players on a football field planning their next push forward.

   While they are in their huddle, Jesus asks them a question:

   “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”

   The word “Christ” means Anointed One or Messiah.

   This is a question every person must answer. Jesus asked it of the Pharisees, and He asks it of us today:

   “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”

   The Pharisees gave a natural, physical answer. They said, “The Son of David,” echoing the promise God made to David in 2 Samuel 7:12–14; Isaiah 11:1,10; Jeremiah 13:5, and reaffirmed in Isaiah 9:6–7—that the Messiah would come through David’s lineage.

  FYI – Seventeen verses in the New Testament speak of Jesus as “son of David.”

   There is a note in the Moody Bible Commentary that reads, “But the answer is deficient.”

   The words “Son of David” are important. David was Israel’s greatest king, and God promised that a future Son born through his line would rule forever. But the son would be more than just of human descent.

   Craig Blomberg adds, “The Pharisees were correct that the Messiah would be David’s descendant, but they failed to grasp that He would also be David’s Lord, preexistent and divine.” (Matthew, NAC).

   Theologian F. F. Bruce notes, “Jesus deliberately starts where the Pharisees’ expectations are strongest and then challenges them to think beyond them.”

2. The Question About David’s Statement – 22:43–44

  43 He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying: 44 ‘The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool”’?”

   The Pharisees’ answer was partly correct—but incomplete. So, Jesus presses them further.

   Jon Courson writes, “In Jewish culture, one would never call his offspring ‘Lord.’ Why then,” asked Jesus, “does David call his own descendant ‘Lord’? Truly David is referring to someone greater than himself. If Christ be merely the son of David, as you suppose, David would never have called Him Lord.”

   Notice that David spoke “in the Spirit.” This affirms the divine inspiration of Scripture. God’s Word always has the final authority. God said it – that settles it.

   Today mankind has only ONE book that claims Spirit inspiration – the Bible! (see Acts 4:25; Hebrews 3:7; 9:8; 10:15; 2 Peter 1:21). All other books pale compared to the Bible.

   Jesus quotes Psalm 110:1, one of the most frequently cited Old Testament verses in the New Testament – some 8-9 times.

   R. T. France points out, “Psalm 110:1 was universally regarded in Jewish tradition as Messianic. Jesus’ citation is therefore not random but a deliberate appeal to the most authoritative prophecy of the Messiah’s exaltation.” (The Gospel of Matthew, NICNT).

  We read,

   “The LORD said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.’”

   “In Hebrew, the first occurrence of LORD (the Hebrew word often transliterated YHWH or Yahweh) is a clear reference to God, but the second occurrence is a different word (’adoni), usually referring to human authorities (e.g., Gn 18:12; 40:1; but cf. Jos 5:14; Jdg 6:13, where it is used for the angel of the Lord). However, the LXX (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, ca. 200 BC) uses the same word (kyrios) for both God and for David’s Lord, suggesting that the translators saw ’adoni as a reference to a divine being.” (The Moody Bible Commentary Michael A. Rydelnik)

   Jesus did descend from David, but He was more than just a son.

   John Stott wrote, “The paradox of Psalm 110:1 is solved only in the incarnation. The Messiah is both David’s descendant and his divine sovereign.”

   Dr. John MacArthur comments, “Jesus confronts them with the highest authority—the Word of God itself. The Messiah is not just a man, but the eternal Son of God.”

3. The Question About Lord and Son – 22:45

   45 If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?”

   Jesus isn’t denying that the Messiah is David’s descendant. He’s revealing that the Messiah is greater than David. If David calls Him “Lord,” then the Messiah must be divine.

   The implication is profound: the Messiah is both David’s Son and God’s Son—the eternal Lord who took on flesh.

   We read in John 1:1-2,

   1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.

   And in John 1:14 we read,

   14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

   Dr. Warren Wiersbe writes, “Psalm 110:1 teaches the deity and humanity of the Messiah. He is David’s Lord and David’s son.”

   R. C. Sproul adds, “Here is the ultimate challenge to human reasoning: the Messiah’s identity transcends our expectations. He is both fully human and fully divine.”

   The Messiah was God in the flesh. The Pharisees missed this. They didn’t want to accept this. They refused to accept it.

4. All Questions Cease – 22:46

   46 And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.

   Once again, the religious elite are silenced—not by clever argumentation, but by divine truth they cannot refute.

   Jon Courson notes, “Using the written Word, Jesus Christ—the Living Word—had beaten them at their own game.”

   Jesus asserts the divine nature of the Messiah without saying, “I am the Christ,” but the implication is unmistakable.

   D. A. Carson observes, “Jesus uses Scripture like a sword, cutting through superficial debates and exposing the depth of God’s revelation.”

   Jesus silenced His opponents with Scripture.

Every trap they set failed.

Every argument collapsed.

Every mouth was stopped before the truth.

   Charles Spurgeon powerfully summarized this scene: “When Christ handles the Scriptures, the adversaries of truth are confounded. The Word of God in His mouth is the end of all controversy.” (The Treasury of David, Psalm 110).

Conclusion: All through Matthew 22, Jesus was confronted with loaded questions:

The Pharisees questioned Him about paying taxes.

The Sadducees questioned Him about the resurrection.

A lawyer questioned Him about the greatest commandment.

   But in the end, Jesus asked the only loaded question that truly matters. It is a question that is still being asked some 2,000 years later… and every person must give an answer.

   “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”

   J.C. Ryle said, “There is no question of greater importance to any soul than this. All hinges upon the right answer to it. Wrong here, and a man is wrong forever.” (Expository Thoughts on the Gospels).

   This is the climax of the chapter and the turning point of history. There is no question most important than this one.

   So, let’s make this personal:

1. Who do you say that the Christ is?

    This remains the central question of the gospel. Is Jesus merely a great teacher—or is He your Lord and God?

2. Do you limit Jesus to your expectations?

     Like the Pharisees, we often try to fit God into human categories. But Jesus is infinitely greater than our traditions and assumptions.

3. Do you let Scripture correct your understanding?

   Jesus used Scripture not as trivia, but as revelation. We too must let the Word of God, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, shape our view of Christ.

   The Pharisees thought they knew the Messiah, but their knowledge was head-deep, not heart-deep. Jesus showed that knowing Him requires humility, faith, and surrender.

   As this chapter closes, the questions cease—but the invitation remains open.

   Who is Jesus to you? You MUST provide an answer. If you answer like the Pharisees, then Jesus is…

· Merely the Son of David, his offspring.

· A good man.

· A moral example.

· But not God.

  But, if you answer like Jesus from Scripture, then…

· He the Son of God.

· He is your Savior, man’s Redeemer, and coming King.

· He is both 100% man and 100% God.

   When we finally see Him as both David’s Son and David’s Lord, we will do what the Pharisees would not do, and that is to bow down and worship Him and confess with Thomas,

   “My Lord and my God.” (John 20:28)