Nature of the Messiah in Light of the Scriptures

Mt. 22: 41-46
KV 22:43; He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’?

Who is Jesus? God or man? The daunting question occupied the minds of many Christians during the early centuries. The most vivid conflict was the debates between Arianism and Trinitarianism, with the extreme case being Gnosticism. It had taken a millennium for the Catholic Church to settle with Trinitarianism through the Fourth Lateran Council held in 1215. In this passage in Matthew 22, Jesus addresses the core issue on Christology. He resorts to the Scriptures regarding his own nature.

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Messiah? (Mt. 22:41, 42)” The Jesus' question was on the Messiah. Everyone in Israel was aware of the Messiah. The Messiah was on everyone’s mind. Everyone waited for him. Yet everyone had his own opinion on the Messiah. The Pharisees were well versed in the Scriptures. In fact they memorized the entire Scriptures from an early age. They read the Scriptures and found much about the Messiah. They collectively built up their view on the Messiah. They were supposed to have a better picture of the Messiah than anybody else among the Jews. Their view of the Messiah carried weight in the community because of their prestige and learning. In some respects they had the final say whether anyone was the Messiah who had made such claim. Although they had many high priests and noble people among them, nobody claimed to be the Messiah. They understood that even their high priests did not meet the expectation for the Messiah they had known. According to their study of the Scriptures, they found many things about the Messiah. Among them, they put their highest mark on the ability to perform a miracle like Moses. They were looking for someone who could part the Red Sea, feed them at least for forty years in an environment like desert, and establish a mighty system that would cast out all their enemies including the Romans. Although Jesus performed miracles, they discounted his power due to their own expectations and kept asking him for more signs (Mt. 12:38). They were sure that they would be able to discern and acknowledge the Messiah when he came. Since they selectively picked up verses and passages about the Messiah, their view of the Messiah was incomplete and even biased.

When Jesus opened up this huge topic, Jesus did not wait for them to answer. Rather he right away moved on to the second question. Jesus knew that the conversation would have gone nowhere if he had left the topic open. It would have taken years to cover the topic on the Messiah. Jesus quickly narrowed the topic down to one aspect, “Whose son is he?” The Pharisees were delighted to answer, “The Son of David. (Mt. 22:42)” There was no doubt on this. This goes all the way back to his tribal ancestor Judah (Gen. 49: 8, 9). Moses was aware of this. Although he was from Levites, he did not claim that the Messiah would come out of his tribe. Rather he acknowledged that the Messiah would come out of the tribe of Judah. King David was from the tribe of Judah. David was a man after God's own heart. After he became the king of Israel, his utmost interest was to bring the ark of God to Jerusalem and build a temple for it. When he did, God was pleased with David and made a promise that his house and his kingdom would endure forever (1 Sam. 7:1-16). In fact, his line became a dynasty. When the eleven tribes turned away from God and worshipped idols, Judah remained faithful to God. Although the kingdom of Judah was finally conquered by Babylon and everyone was exiled (2 Kings 25) the Israelites kept God's promise through King David in the foreign land. After they were returned, Israel was never restored to the glory and power of the time of King David. Yet the Israelites kept the promise for the Messiah who would be the descendant of David and restore his kingdom. Later, Micah prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). At the time of Jesus, this prophesy was known by all the people that even the blind beggars on the street knew and held the promise (Mt. 20:30). The Messiah would be the Son of David.

Jesus said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” (Mt. 22:43-45) Here, Jesus cited Psalm 110:1 showing how King David was full of the Spirit. He saw the vision where God was going to raise one of his sons as the Messiah. David did not know who this son would be and when it would happen. But David was sure of it. After seeing the vision, David called him "Lord," not his son. David never used this term to any of his sons while he was alive. After he established Solomon as his successor, he advised Solomon with many words (1 Kings 2:1-12). David did not call him Lord although Solomon was a great man of wisdom and built one of the seven wonders of the world— the Jerusalem temple. Nonetheless, David was sure that one of his descendants would be his Lord, implying his nature would be fundamentally different. So Jesus posed a very keen question, which was based on the Scriptures. His question itself was a riddle (Mt. 22:45). Jesus did not deny that the Messiah would be the son of David, but he addressed another aspect that the Messiah would be the Lord of David at the same time. No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions (Mt. 22:46). The Pharisees were dumbfound. They were familiar with the verses, but could not comprehend the contradiction. Their understanding of the Messiah was limited.

Jesus did not answer the question he posed. Jesus left it open to us. Yet Jesus came across the most important part on the Messiah. It is his existence before the creation. This was one of the heated debates in the early church even among Christians. After Jesus was proclaimed as the Messiah (Christ in Greek), many strived to understand who he was. The gospel of Mark, the story of Jesus by Mark, was written first among all the gospels. Mark begins his gospel from the story of John the Baptist. Jesus' ministry started from his baptism by John, when God proclaimed Jesus as his son (Mk. 1:11). If we have only this gospel, nobody would have objected that Jesus is the Son of God by adoption. Later, Matthew and Luke wrote the gospels using Mark as a basis. Both of them, however, included the birth of Jesus and traced his origin. Yet, it did not say clearly if Jesus had existed before his birth, not to mention before the creation of the world. If we compare the story with other great men in the history, we find many similar stories. When one great man was born, his star appeared in heaven prophesying his great achievement for his nation or community. When he died, his star disappeared. But those stories do not claim that such great men existed before the birth. Paul wrote many letters. Unlike other apostles, he never met Jesus on earth and spent time with him in real life. Nonetheless he had the revelation from God and touched on the nature of Jesus more than the three gospel authors. In a number of places, he mentioned that Jesus was God in his nature (Php. 2:6). He also embraced Jesus' humanity in full at the same time (Col. 3:9). Among the books in the New Testament, John's gospel was one of the latest. He was fully aware of this issue and made a clear statement: In the beginning was the Word (Jn 1:1). He proclaimed, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (Jn 1:14)." Needless to say, it corroborated that Jesus existed before his birth, especially at the beginning before the creation of the world. It took four hundred years to establish this Logos Christology: Jesus is fully God and man. (Ref. Trinity of the Church Fathers in Wikipedia)

At the time of Jesus, many leading scholars grappled with the nature of the Messiah. The Scriptures talked much about the Messiah in a number of places. But it was not easy to piece them together and build a consistent portrait of the Messiah. Not only the Pharisees, but also Jesus' disciples were also in confusion. When they confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, their best dream was for the Messiah to restore the kingdom of Israel (Acts 1:6). Their best portrait of Jesus was King David who expanded the kingdom of Israel and made her most strong and prosperous ever in nation's history. Nobody thought about his existence before the creation. Nobody imagined that David would recognize the Messiah as his Lord. Yet, Jesus had such an insight. His insight was not a revelation whose origin might remain mysterious, but was based wholly on the Scriptures and a verse from a Psalm written by King David.