45 | Mark 12:35–37 | The Lord of All

INTRODUCTION

Jesus reveals his own divinity by quoting Psalm 110.

Psalm 110 is the psalm is quoted over 33 times in the new testament …

… making it the most quoted psalm by far.

Today we will look closely at both this psalm and Jesus’ use of it to reveal himself to us.

PRAY

4:00

Throughout the book of Mark Jesus has shown himself to be master of many things.

Today we see him defeating the assaults of his opponents and showing himself to be master of the day.

JESUS MASTERS THE DAY

In chapter 12 Jesus has answered the three parties of the Sanhedrin:

The pharisees, scribes and sadducees have all come to him …

… and asked questions about taxes, marriage and the resurrection, and about which is God’s greatest commandment.

Each time they have sought to trap him.

But Jesus has overcome their efforts by a beautiful display …

… not only of wisdom, but of authority.

And this is where this whole episode began …

… with the sanhedrin questioning the authority of Jesus

He does not give them a direct answer because even their question about his authority was a trap …

… but by this point in their questioning

… it is clear that it is Jesus, and not the sanhedrin

… who has authority to reveal the things of God.

7:00

Mark 12:34 (ESV)

And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

(One commentator) James R. Edwards Jesus has bested the field and debate is closed. Jesus does not quit the field, however, but he takes it.

The questions are finished.

No one else will becoming with question.

The leader’s next approach will be to arrest him.

But Jesus is not done teaching the people …

… because Jesus is not done revealing himself and the gospel of his kingdom.

The leaders and the people can have questions for Jesus …

… but at some point our questions are exhausted.

But to truly know Jesus requires revelation.

We know him not because we know all the right questions to ask.

We know him because he has spoken …

… and as the Father has commanded us

… we have listened to him.

And so, let us listen as …

… Jesus now turns his own question in the direction of the scribes.

10:00

Read v35-36a

We pause here before Jesus quotes Psalm 110 because Jesus has already shown us something important.

JESUS AFFIRMS THE DIVINE SOURCE OF THE SCRIPTURES

King David - Who is he?

David is the second king of Israel (after King Saul).

He is the first in the Davidic line of kings … after Saul was rejected and removed by the Lord.

Not only first, but the greatest of the kings of Israel.

While his son, Solomon, was handed the kingdom at its height …

… and flourished in the midst of the people with great wealth and wisdom

… even by this point there were evidences of decline.

Soon after Solomon there was a breach in the kingdom and a longing for the restoration of the days of King David.

With this longing came reflection on the promises of God upon the line of King David …

… and further prophecy of a future king in the line of David

… that would establish his kingdom forever.

It is this David of whom Jesus speaks here.

13:00

David was not only a king, but a writer of psalms.

Many of these psalms are recorded for us in the scriptures.

We’ll look at this closer in a minute but in this passage we see…

… David look into the divine counsel of the heavenly places.

He is a prophet, revealing the hidden things of God.

But when you look at what David records in the psalm we ought be amazed!

It is a prophetic and poetic record of a conversation between the Father and the Son … the Lord God and David’s Lord.

C. H. Spurgeon How greatly should we prize the revelation of his private and solemn discourse with the Son, herein made public for the refreshing of his people!

David glimpses the Trinity at work.

And Jesus, as he quotes this psalm points us to the third member of the Trinity.

The psalm is not merely of David, but is inspired by the Holy Spirit of God himself.

And Jesus affirms the divine nature of Psalm 110.

APPLY

We are not merely reading Mark, we are reading the testimony of the Holy Spirit himself about the Son.

16:00

What is Jesus’ purpose in bringing up this question and quoting this psalm? …

JESUS IS MORE THAN THE SON OF DAVID

As I have mentioned …

Long history of Messianic expectation

messiah / christ = anointed one (a king or priest)

The people of God have long awaited a restoration of the kingdom of David …

… through the anointing of a king from David’s line.

This messianic expectation is a thread that runs throughout the prophecies of the Old Testament beginning with …

Lord speaking to David 2 Samuel 7:12–13 (ESV)

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.

You can here the Lord’s promise to maintain David’s kingdom …

… but more importantly to establish his kingdom forever.

18:00

Long after the kingdom is in decline from its height with King David Isaiah speaks of Jesse (David’s father)…

Isaiah 11:1 (ESV)

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

Someone is coming from the same family tree.

A child …

Isaiah 9:6 (ESV)

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

And the prophets continue to speak of this Messiah who is so closely linked to David …

Ezekiel 34:23 (ESV)

And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.

The Same Sort of Expectation is present surrounding the incarnation of Jesus.

Zechariah: Father the Baptist Luke 1:68–69 (ESV)

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,

By this time the kingdom isn’t just in decline:

It has weathered exile and return …

… the conflict of the rise and fall of many surrounding kingdoms

… and now suffers subjugation by the Roman empire.

You can see why the expectation of a Savior is so important!

Angel Gabriel to Mary Luke 1:32–33 (ESV)

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.

Now, finally, the long line of promises … the centuries old messianic expectation would be fulfilled.

THE CENTER of that expectation is that the messiah (this coming anointed one) would be a Son of David …

… a foreseen descendant of the greatest king of Israel.

22:00

Jesus’ Argument

The Christ is the “son of David”

That is, a descendant of David will bring about a great fulfillment of all prophetic expectations.

It would overstate Jesus’ case to say that he has any disagreement with this.

The Messiah a descendant of David, but he is more!

David himself declared …

“The Lord said to my Lord”

Yahweh said to Adonai

If you look up Psalm 110 you will see that the first “LORD” is in all capital letters.

This is to indicated that the word that is being written as LORD is originally the very name of God: Yahweh.

The second word “Lord” means simply “master”, but is most commonly used of God himself.

God said to my Master.

What is recorded next is the conversation of the Godhead itself.

24:00

The Lord God said to some otherwise unnamed Lord (that is David’s own master)

“Sit at my right hand”

This is a place of honor and authority.

“until I put your enemies under your feet.”

This is the covenant of grace in which Jesus will triumph over sin, death and the devil.

Again, I am amazed that we can listen into the internal dialogue of God’s own Trinitarian covenant.

27:00

Who is David calling Lord?

Read v37

Jesus isn’t arguing that the Messiah isn’t a descendant of David …

… only that he is more than that.

He was before David!

And he was David’s own Lord!

How could he be David’s superior if he is merely his own descendant.

The order of honor and authority is clear.

A father is greater than his son because he comes before him and has authority over him.

But what of a future descendant (that is, son) of David …

… who was also before him

… and whom David himself calls Lord?

The implication is clear:

The Messiah is not only the Son of David, but Son of God.

29:00

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In Mark …

Jesus is the Son of David

Mark 10:47 (ESV)

And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

test

Mark 11:10 (ESV)

Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”

test

Jesus is Messiah

Mark 14:61–62 (ESV)

But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

People have prophesied, angels have spoken, blind men and celebratory crowds have cried out …

… apostles have born witness

… and Jesus himself has unequivocally revealed

… Jesus is the Messiah, not merely from David, but from God!

The opening words of the book of Romans brings it all together:

Romans 1:1–4 (ESV)

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 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,

Jesus is descended from David …

… but the resurrection is the final authoritative display

… that Jesus is not merely a descendant of David in the flesh

… but the very Son of God.

Jesus Christ is Lord!

31:00

What does David’s Lord do?

What is the covenant between Father and Son.

The Lord sits down!

In theological terms this is called …

THE SESSION OF OUR LORD

session = “act of sitting” (Latin)

Apostles’ Creed

he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father

Philippians 2:9–11 (ESV)

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This is now the seat that Jesus occupies.

Jesus is Lord!

33:00

David Mathis: Director of Desiring God

Examines the promises of the Father for the Son in Psalm 110.

Because, with David, Jesus is our Lord by faith …

… these promises are the hope of all who follow after the Christ.

Verse 1: I will both defeat your enemies and put them under your feet, for your everlasting joy.

Verse 3: I will work in your people’s hearts to follow you gladly, not begrudgingly.

Verse 3: I will refresh you continually, not leave you languishing.

Verse 4: I am God and will not change my mind.

Verse 5: I will defeat leaders who oppose you.

Verse 6: I will repay unbelievers who threaten you.

Verse 6: I will destroy those who mean harm against you.

Verse 7: I will give you all you need to endure.

Verse 7: I will preserve you in what is coming upon you.

35:00

Friends, we live in uncertain times.

Around us there is so much in our culture that is shaken.

But this is the counsel and covenant of the throne room of heaven itself.

What of what we read in newspapers?

What of the rants of social media posts?

We have a greater promise and lasting hope!

It isn’t just David’s kingdom that quickly went into decline.

All kingdoms of this earth will fall …

… because all kingdoms of this world are ruled and filled with sinners like you and me.

And the wages of sin is death.

But this Messiah, David’s Lord, is unlike all rulers who came before him.

He is perfect in righteousness.

And yet, though he himself was without sin, …

… we will see the Messiah, Jesus, suffer on a cross until death.

He did this so that all who trust in him will have their sins forgiven.

And he rose from the dead, securing victory over sin, death and the devil …

… every enemy of his kingdom and his people.

The question for us today is this:

Is he you Lord?

He is David’s Lord.

He is David’s hope of salvation.

Is he yours?

37:00

APPLY

Read v37b

Do you hear him gladly?

38:00

APPLY

The Son of David is Lord of ALL!

What hope do you have since Jesus is Lord?

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