While fairly
straight-forward, these three verses about "David's Son" are
somewhat dense? What is the point Jesus wants to make? Is he just trying to be
witty, clever and entertaining? Why is the recollected event positioned at this
point in MARK?
Did
You Know...?
The first
and shortest of the canonical gospels was written by Mark who was the apostle Peter's
interpreter and companion ("Mark, my
son" -- 1 Peter 5:13). Mark
had spent time with the apostle Paul, too. Since Mark was not an actual hearer
of Jesus, in writing his gospel Mark relied upon the eyewitness account of
Peter, as well as the stories and memories of others.
Slight
differences of this particular story exist between the accounts told in Mark, Matthew
22:41-46 and Luke
20:41-44:
* MATTHEW
mentions the Pharisees were gathered together when Jesus spoke; neither MARK or
LUKE make mention of this;
* MARK
describes the crowd listening to Jesus with delight;
MATTHEW focuses on the reaction of the Pharisees -- "no one dared to ask him any more questions" (which had
been recorded earlier in MARK) -- with no mention of the crowd; LUKE doesn't
include the crowd's delight or the reaction of the Pharisees.
Let's
assume a large crowd is around Jesus. His teachings and how he's responded to
the tests of the Pharisees, Herodians and Sadducees, along with revealing which
commandment is first of all, has had a mesmerizing, inspiring effect on the
people. It has also infuriated the religious authorities and certainly caught
the attention of the Roman leaders.
The
opening question in MATTHEW (not in MARK) -- "What do you think of the Messiah?" -- sets the tone and serves
as a reminder. The Messiah had been considered to be the warrior king who will
right the wrongs committed against the Jews. Psalm
110, to which Jesus makes reference (verse 1), is considered Messianic. "He will shatter kings on the day of
his wrath." "He will execute judgments among the nations, filling
them with corpses." "He will shatter heads over the wide earth."
Does this
view of the Messiah match with what Jesus has been about? "Until I put your enemies under your feet"? With what
Jesus has shared -- in the Good News?
The
question posed by Jesus shines a light on the purpose for the telling, which in
turn will ultimately shine a light on his purpose.
"What do you think of the
Messiah?" He will
be "the son of David" -- which
is the most common title for the Messiah.
Does
Jesus deny he's the son of David? Does Jesus deny the Messiah is the son of
David? What does "son" mean in this context? To contemporaries,
"son" is considered in a direct, immediate line to one's parents -- but
"son" in connection to the Messiah meant being in the royal,
ancestral line of David. Jesus' genealogical connection with David is cited in
MATTHEW and LUKE.
Then
Jesus shares the first verse in Psalm 110 -- "The Lord said to my Lord,..."
Who is
the speaker of the verse in this Psalm? David himself. So if David made this
statement, as would've been understood by the scribes, who is "The Lord"? That would be God.
Who is "my Lord"? That
would be the Messiah. "God said to the Messiah (Christ), not David,..."
Jesus is
the Messiah and the Son of David, but
he's David's Lord.
Christ (Christos in Greek) and Messiah (Hebrew)
"both mean God's Anointed King,
the great one who is to come from God to save his people." [i] Save the people from whom?
The Romans? The Jewish authorities? Themselves? How much would the delighted people
and the irritated authorities accept this loving Jesus of Good News instead of
a conquering warrior king (Messiah)?
The
Gospel of Mark was written for gentile, Greek-speaking individuals in the vast
Roman Empire and made known most likely after 70 A.D -- the destruction of
Jerusalem. For those people being provided the Good News of Jesus, and for
those people who knew and dearly loved the apostle Peter -- the early Christian
leader and first bishop of Rome -- the clarification of Jesus as the Messiah
and the Son of David, while being David's Lord, was significant. The event was
positioned in MARK for emphasis.
To the
Gentiles and to anyone who would listen, it was imperative they understand
Jesus came to connect everyone to the love of God. To not only follow the Shema of loving God with all your heart,
soul, mind and strength, but to love your neighbor as yourself. The neighbor of
"old" would've been shunned and destroyed. The neighbor of "now"
would be welcomed and loved.
Jesus was
not the Messiah of old; he was the Messiah of new. Those with ears must hear
that David's Lord is different.
NEXT
Religious
pretenders, giving one's life, actions = beliefs
No comments:
Post a Comment