Psalm 110 (part 2)

Psalm 110 part 2

Now I want no cheating! No peeking! Who can tell me what the verse on the front of the bulletin is? See, we hand them out, now I am checking whether you read them?! There it is: [P] [Matthew 16:15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”] It is a very good question. Jesus Himself asked it of His disciples. We are His disciples; it is a good question for us! In fact, it is a vital question – the destiny of each and every person who ever lived will be determined by their own personal response to that question: [P] “WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?” There are many opinions as to who Jesus is. Jesus’ disciples had just told Him a few of the current ones: a prophet, Elijah, John the Baptist, Jeremiah – there were a lot of theories doing the rounds. But the issue is not what other people think but who do you yourself say?! I mean, in some ways it makes no difference what you say or what I say – Jesus is who He is, no matter what you say. But you have to come to your own personal conclusion. You cannot depend on the theory or opinion of someone else. You cannot hook onto the coattails of someone else – Oh, I accept what the church says, or this particular teacher or that theologian. No, you have to sort it out for yourself. Your very eternal fate depends on this question! There were various opinions in Jesus day: a prophet, a carpenter, someone risen from the dead, a man of God, a teacher, a rabbi. Some were even wondering whether He was the Messiah, this anointed one “מָשִׁיחַ” which is what the Greek “Χριστός” or “Christ” means – anointed to be king. There was this prophetic hope of the royal line of David being restored. Israel again having its own king. One of David’s line anointed as King to restore Israel to its former glory. Many Jews, even today, are still looking for the coming of the Messiah. There are messianic believers in Israel. Some even believe that Jesus was the Messiah. We think: fantastic! They have come to believe in Jesus. But they, sometimes, are just thinking of a human descendant from the royal line of David – just a man. Yes, a special and significant man, but just a man. In fact, Evan Thomas fudges on this issue in order to try and preserve unity amongst messianic believers. In our own day you will not find many who think that Jesus didn’t actually exist – the question is: who is He? – who do you say that I am? Some think that He was an itinerant rabbi, others a good teacher, a fine example, a leader and champion of the common people. And some have come to the conclusion that He is the Messiah. As I said, some were thinking the same thing in Jesus day. There was this hope, a looking for the anointed one. They were under occupation by a foreign power – they wanted a deliverer to restore the nation and its independence and glory. But just who is this anointed one? Let’s turn to Matthew 22. [P] The religious Jews of Jesus day were looking for the Messiah, they had their doctrine thoroughly thought through, they had all the correct answers, their messianic theology sorted. Jesus had a big confrontation with the religious leaders of the day in the temple [P]. They disputed Jesus’ authority and assaulted Him with a myriad of questions, trying to trap Jesus, catch Him out. Jesus eluded every trap, answered every question until they dared not question Him anymore. [P] When they had finished all their questions, all of which were answered; Jesus then asked them just one question: [Matthew 22:41–46 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: [P] “What do you think (there’s that question again!) about the Christ, (that is the Messiah) whose son is He?” [P] They said to Him, “The son of David.” (were they correct?) [P] He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet”’? “If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” [P] No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.] Now, you can ask questions for various reasons: I can ask “Where is Dion and Chariz’s new house?” That is a question to find out an answer; I don’t know where it is and want to find out. That is not the type of question that is being asked here. In a few years’ time I might ask Nathaniel: “What is two and two?” Now, I actually know what two and two is – it is not a question to find out the answer but to test if he knows; Hannah will be asked a few questions in her exams, to find out what she knows – that is the type of question being asked here. The Pharisees weren’t asking questions to find out, they knew all the answers already. And let me tell you, if you already know the answers, you won’t learn anything. They were testing Jesus. Now Jesus is testing them – and they knew it. They wanted to be sure that they gave the correct answer. It was test time! [P] Jesus asked them whose son the Messiah was. Now this was not a hard question, there was no trick. It was straightforward – everyone knew that the Messiah was of David’s line – the royal line. [P] He would restore the Davidic dynasty. Scripture clearly stated this. For instance: [Isaiah 9:7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of יהוה of armies will accomplish this. Isaiah 11:1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, (David’s father) and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. 2 Samuel 7:13–14 (יהוה spoke to David) He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.] And there are many more passages. Did the Pharisees have the correct answer? Yes, they were Biblically correct – but their answer was not complete. And I fear that we can be the same – we are concerned with being correct; and may well be so; but are we complete? Being correct is good; but correct, is not the truth. We don’t get into heaven by getting 10 ticks on a doctrinal questionnaire! Now Jesus’ question, His use of Scripture, His argument and exposition are all very logical and reasoned. He clearly and carefully establishes the facts. First, He got them to admit from their own mouths, was that the Messiah is the Son of David. He had established the first essential point for His argument. The next question is “how come David addresses the Messiah as “Lord”?” Jesus got the Pharisees to admit the first fact; but they would not admit to this second fact. So, Jesus is careful to establish it beyond all question. How do you do that? Jesus cited Scripture. The Scripture is true! Jesus Himself, on an earlier occasion, in establishing a truth from Scripture stated: [P] [John 10:35 the Scripture cannot be broken!] These Jews held to Scripture, claimed to accept its authority. So, Jesus quoted Scripture; in fact, He quoted the Psalm that we looked at last time: [P] Psalm 110. Just the first verse: [Psalm 110:1 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”] That’s the first verse; but that is not how the Psalm starts! How does it start? There is that bit that we never read! But it is part of the inspired text: “A Psalm of David.” And Jesus made this an essential part of His argument. Scripture itself establishes that [P] David wrote this Psalm. That is vital to the logic of Jesus’ exposition. The bit that we ignore, Jesus didn’t; He drew a theological truth from it! So, this Psalm had David, a man, a human as its author. But it is more than that! This is Scripture! This is not just David writing some nice thoughts that came into his head. Oh, no, no, no! Jesus said: [P] “David was in the Spirit” – this is not mere human authorship, this is from the Spirit of God, this is inspired, this is God speaking: [2 Peter 1:20–21 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.] Jesus clearly establishes that this is God speaking, that this is true. David was not making some fallible remark – having some burst of human inspiration and coming out with a fine sounding line but without realizing its implications. It is not a human getting his doctrine mixed up, saying things that are not quite right, No, this is God speaking. This cannot be broken; it is unalterably true. The Pharisees could not deny what David was saying here because he was speaking “in the Spirit”. Yes, David was the human author, but this is God speaking! This cannot be gainsaid; this cannot be spoken against! This is true! Having established the authorship and emphasized the absolute veracity of the quote, Jesus then cites the verse. But before quoting the verse He says: “David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord” – the verse is going to be His proof. But who is this “Him”? Jesus is speaking about “the Christ”, the Messiah. This is a point that He does not prove – everybody accepted it without question, as a given: that this verse is speaking about the Messiah. [P] The Jews never questioned that, nor did Jesus. Indisputably, this Psalm is about the Messiah. Jesus quotes the whole of verse one; but the point that He makes comes from just the first three words! [P]

)נְאֻ֤ם יְהוָ֨ה לַֽאדֹנִ֗י(

Well, it is six words in English: “The Lord said to my Lord” – Jesus bases His point just on that! I put up the Hebrew, not because you need to read it or have to understand Hebrew; but to show: firstly, that it is just three words. We sometimes get concerned about taking a verse in isolation, or a part of a verse. But Jesus is making a vital important point from the Psalm before it even seems to have got started or actually said anything. Yes, Jesus interpreted the Bible in detail down to specific words. Jesus believed in verbal inspiration not just inspiration of ideas. The other reason why I put the Hebrew up is, even you can’t read Hebrew, you can see that those three words are different; yet the bit Jesus makes His point on is: [P] “the Lord said to my Lord” which does have the word “lord” repeated – well, what on earth does that even mean? It sounds like someone is talking to themselves! But although your Bible reads “the Lord said to my Lord”, and that is what Jesus said; the verse that it was quoting in Psalm 110 actually said: [P] “יהוה said to my Lord”. Come Jesus’ day, they no longer said the Divine Name, they replaced it with the word “Lord”. But in the Psalm it is not a person talking to themselves; no, it is יהוה speaking to someone. יהוה is a name, a personal name. “Lord” is a title – an address of honour – a bit like we would use, “boss”, “master” or “sir”. When I was at high school, my Dad was a teacher there, he taught me maths. Back in those days when I went to school, teachers still were required to be respected – we called them “sir”. When I was in class, I called Dad “sir”. It is not name. When I was out of school, I called him “Dad”. There is a difference – one is a personal form of address, the other is a title of honour. Now, the most wonderful thing is that God, who is above all, who has a title of honour above all others; has made Himself known by Name: [Exodus 3:15 God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘יהוה, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.] יהוה hadn’t made Himself known by that personal name before: [Exodus 6:2–3 God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am יהוה; and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, יהוה, I did not make Myself known to them.] But now He was letting them know Him personally by name. [P] This is a NAME – it is personal; but this [P] is a title, a term of honour. This is someone who is Lord, someone who is over, superior, one who you are subject to – and that is key to what Jesus goes on to say. If I said: “John said to my boss” – you get the difference. Someone I know personally (John) spoke to someone who was over and superior to me (my boss): “יהוה said to my Lord”. So, David is quoting the words of יהוה Himself! These are the words of God Himself! יהוה Himself is speaking directly! And who is יהוה speaking to?: “my Lord” (“לַֽאדֹנִ֗י”). It is יהוה who is speaking; but He is not speaking to David; rather, David heard Him speak to someone whom he refers to as “my Lord” (“לַֽאדֹנִ֗י”). Who is this enigmatic person to whom יהוה was speaking? It is clear that it is not David. They all agreed that David was talking about the Christ, the anointed one. [P] It was accepted that this Psalm was messianic – the person, whom יהוה was addressing and whom David called “my Lord” (“לַֽאדֹנִ֗י”) was, in fact, the Messiah. So, Jesus established through this Scripture, that David refers to the Messiah as “my Lord” (“לַֽאדֹנִ֗י”). There is much more in this verse, but this is the point from the verse that Jesus focuses on; [P] So, “my Lord” is the Christ, the Messiah. So, this statement is saying that, in this Psalm, God, יהוה, was speaking to the Messiah. This is the point that Jesus draws from the first three words of this Psalm: that David referred to the Christ as “Lord”. That is the fact that Jesus wants to establish as infallible, from Scripture. You cannot deny this. This is under Divine inspiration! You only call someone “Lord”, when they are over you, superior to you. [P] You are subject to them and inferior to them. David was confessing that the Messiah was greater than he was, the Christ was superior to him. So, having followed Jesus’ undeniable logical steps; Jesus delivers His devastating question: [P] “How is the Christ David’s son?!” Look, I love Nathaniel and think that he is pretty neat; but I do not call him “sir”! That is totally inappropriate. By-the-by so is it for a three month year old to be ruling the home, determining what time he is fed! The father has the authority, not the son. The father has more honour and respect than the son. The son looks up to the father. The son has come from the father, he is less than him. That which is descended is less than the one from whom it originated [Hebrews 7:9–10 And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.] Levi was just part of Abraham. The one descended from him was just a subset of the one from whom he came. David’s sons were less than he was – under Solomon the kingdom expanded and prospered but he was not a man after יהוה’s own heart, godly, as his father was. Solomon descended into polygamy and idolatry. Further, Rehoboam, David’s grandson, was not the king that Solomon, his father, was. Come 28 generations, by the time of Joseph, the descendant of David is no longer king; he is in the back-blocks of Galilee, a village carpenter – a nobody! David would not have called Joseph “my Lord”! And the Messiah was Joseph’s son! A father does not call his son: “sir”; rather, it is the son who calls his father: “sir”. Now the implications of this Scripture Jesus quoted are MASSIVE – the Pharisees would have difficulty accepting them, it would blow all their preconceptions out of the water! Maybe we need a dose of that! That is why Jesus has been so careful to make a watertight logical deduction from Scripture. David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit calls the Messiah “Lord” (“κύριον”) – he was speaking the unalterable truth! How then, can He be his son? Jesus confronted the Pharisees with the unalterable truth of Scripture! And they were floored. “No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.” They had no answer! Jesus confronted them with plain truth that shattered all their accepted dogma. Jesus had asked: “How does David call Him “Lord”?” in (v.43); now He asks: “How is He his son?” – the Messiah is either David’s son, or He is his “Lord”; his son cannot be his “Lord”, and his “Lord” cannot be his son. There is a problem here! There was a problem with their interpretation of Scripture! And Jesus exposed it! They had no answer! Was their interpretation wrong? Not so much wrong, as incomplete. Scripture did indicate that the Messiah was the son of David. Was then Scripture contradictory, inconsistent? NEVER! The Pharisees had no explanation for this seeming inconsistency, this contradiction. Was Jesus trying to show that Scripture was contradictory? Of course not! Was He trying to prove the Pharisees wrong, shut them up, show them up, score theological points and victory in rabbinical argument? I don’t think so. Jesus was trying to get them to see who He really is, to expand their concept of the Messiah. They had their preconceived ideas about the Messiah; but their knowledge was INCOMPLETE! They had not gone far enough. [P] The Messiah had to be greater than they had ever thought! Could this also be the case with us? We have out theologically neat and tidy explanations but have our preconceptions blinded us to the truth? Could it be that Jesus is far greater than our minds have conceived Him to be?! We must appreciate that no Scripture is of human interpretation – if we do not have the Holy Spirit’s revelation into Scripture, our understanding will be incomplete. Was Jesus saying that the Messiah was not the son of David? No, He was leading them to see that the Messiah was more than merely the son of David. He was stretching their conceptions, their nice water-tight doctrines. The Pharisees, and many Jews still, look for the Messiah – a human deliverer, saviour, king, who will restore greatness to Israel, establish the nation and rule it – the son of David. But the Messiah is no mere man! Hallelujah! The Pharisees said that the Messiah was “the son of David”. They knew the Scripture – but the truth in Scripture comes by revelation! The Messsiah was way more than the son of David! Vastly superior! One to whom David bowed the knee! This was not a mere human descendant of David! The Messiah was way greater than they had ever conceived! The Pharisees knew the Scripture but Peter knew the truth! It was revealed to him byיהוה Himself! It came by Divine revelation. Jesus said: [Matthew 16:17 “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.] Revelation of the truth comes from God; not from careful human analysis of Scripture. The truth came by revelation; and it was way beyond what anyone had dared to conceive! What was the revelation?: [P] [Matthew 16:16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, (the Messiah, but more than just some human king) the Son of the living God!”] Yes, the Messiah was descended from David, according to the flesh; but He is no mere descendant of David, He is the Son of God! Praise His Name! That is why David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit calls Him: “my Lord” (“לַֽאדֹנִ֗י”). Yes, the son of David; but far more than that the Son of the Living God!! Hallelujah! This was way beyond the Jews had conceived. Jesus had made claims which put Himself on par with God. The Pharisees regarded it as blasphemy, they wanted to execute Him for it. But now, here was Jesus demonstrating irrefutably from Scripture that the Messiah was far more than they had every conceived – Psalm 110, the first three words point to the divinity of the Messiah! Now, I asked you to read Psalm 110 for homework. Did any of you see that when you read Psalm 110? I never did! But Jesus did! He opens our hearts to see Himself in the Scriptures! These things speak of Me! I would never have seen it, if hadn’t been for Jesus revealing it. The Pharisees were gob-smacked. They couldn’t deny or argue against what Jesus said, they were left speechless! They dared not ask another question! Yes, the Scriptures indicated that the Messiah was David’s son, of the Davidic lineage; but there had to be more to it. He could not simply be a descendant of David, He had to be greater than David: David’s Lord. The Messiah had to be more than David’s son. And indeed He is! Hallelujah! Glory to His Name! He is the Son of God!! Far greater than a mere human, the Messiah is God in human form – Human, son of David, but also God, Son of God. This is God become man! Oh glorious mystery! [1 Timothy 3:16 By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. Romans 1:3–4 speaks of the Gospel: concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, (yes, He is the son of Davdi) who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, Galatians 4:4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, (Divine!) born of a woman, (yet man) born under the Law, Philippians 2:6–8 says Jesus existed in the form of God, (He is God!) did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.] A massive mystery! Emmanuel: God living among us as one of us! This is GOD! No wonder that David called the Messiah “Lord”! This is God Himself! Living among us!! Jesus wanted to lead these Pharisees on in their understanding – they revered and studied the Scripture; He gave them the pointers whereby they could get far greater insight into who the Messiah was. [P] The Scriptures indicated that there was more than their limited view perceived – but all they were concerned with was being able to give a clever answer, rather than discover the truth. To admit they didn’t know, to ask what the explanation was; would be to be to lose face, acknowledged that they didn’t know. So, they just kept quiet – that’s what it says in (v.46). How often this same pride afflicts us: we want to be able to have and give the right answers, show that we know. Be seen as having our doctrine correct. But all the time we say that we know, we are not in a position to learn! It is only when we humbly admit “I don’t know, what is the answer?”; that we will be given revelation and understanding. [P] The truth only comes through revelation! And [P] Only the humble can learn, only those who acknowledge that they do not know. Jesus posed a question that they could not answer – they did not know. But they did not want the answer. They were more concerned with being correct than in knowing the truth. Oh Lord, deliver us from this curse! No one was able to answer (v.46); but there was an answer – the truth is there if we humbly seek it, seek revelation and not rely on our own understanding. Jesus actually asked them two questions: not only: “Whose son is he?” But also: “What do you reckon about the Christ?” Jesus was asking for their “opinion” (“δοκεῖ”) – how it seemed to them. [P[ “Who do you say that I am?!” I was brought up in a Christian home, I knew my Bible, read it every day, my doctrine was sound, possibly correct. Then one day God spoke to me! I had a personal encounter! He spoke to me as clear as if it were audible: “Paul, do you love Me?” Then He asked me to be baptized. When I obeyed, they prayed for me to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and there was a dramatic revelation, a life changing transformation, miraculous change. From knowing the facts, I came to know Him! Revelation, not doctrine! All the time I clung to my knowledge, I never learned. Ever since this book has burned in my heart – vital! Living! May יהוה Himself grant you that personal revelation of Jesus, the Messiah, that He gave to Peter so many years ago: [P] “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!” Until you have had that imprinted on your spirit by the Holy Spirit, until you have encountered Him as He really is; then you may have the correct answers, but you do not know Him! You do not know the truth! The One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The one whom to know, is life eternal.