If David then calls Him "Lord," how is He his Son?

 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.  Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"  Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, "What do you think about the Christ?  Whose Son is He?"  They said to Him, "The Son of David."  He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying:t

'The LORD said to my Lord,
"Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool"'?

If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?"  And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.

- Matthew 22:34-46

In our current readings, it is the week of the final Passover of Jesus' life, the week that we commemorate as Holy Week.  Yesterday we read that the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?  For they all had her."  Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."  And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.  Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"  Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."  This question is no doubt an essential one for the Pharisees.  They had found 613 commandments in the Scriptures, and would debate about which one was central.  As usual, Jesus answers the question, not using the foundation set forth by His questioners, but His own basis for a correct answer.  He gives two commandments, not simply one.  The first is Deuteronomy 6:5, the second from Leviticus 19:18.  Together, in Jesus' teaching, they constitute the grand summary of the Law.  My study bible adds that although the lawyer has come with malice to test the Lord, we know from St. Mark's account that this man is converted by Christ's answer (Mark 12:28-34).   My study bible further elaborates that the second commandment here must be understood as written:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself, or even more clearly, "as being yourself."   Often, it says, this is misinterpreted as saying, "You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself," but this destroys the force of the statement.  How much we love ourselves isn't the standard by which Christ calls us to love others.  Instead, we are called to love our neighbor as being of the same nature as we ourselves are; that is, as being created in God's image and likeness  just as we are.  The patristic teaching is that we find our true self in loving our neighbor. 

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, "What do you think about the Christ?  Whose Son is He?"  They said to Him, "The Son of David."  He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying:  'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool"'?  If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?"  And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.  My study bible says that Jesus asks this question to lead the Pharisees to the only logical conclusion:  that He is God incarnate.  They believed the Messiah to be a mere man, and therefore they reply that the Messiah would be a Son of David.  David, as the king of Israel, could never and would never address another as "Lord" except God.  But in Psalm 110:1 (quoted here by Jesus), David refers to the Messiah as "Lord."  Therefore, the Messiah must be God.  The only possible conclusion, my study bible tells us, is that the Messiah is a descendant of David only according to the flesh, yet is also truly divine, sharing His Lordship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.  The Pharisees do not answer because they realize the implications and are afraid to confess Jesus to be the Son of God. 

On some level, we have to give the Pharisees credit.  Although Jesus points out the hypocrisy of many of the leadership, and also condemns some of their practices (virtually the whole of chapter 23 will consist of Jesus' scathing criticism of the scribes and Pharisees), there are Pharisees who believe in Him, and also who become His disciples (see John 3:1-20).  Here in today's reading, we see they are totally unable to answer Jesus' rational explanation of the Scriptures.  They cannot defy His word.  They recognize the power of His argument and what He is saying.  It is precisely for this understanding that Jesus will condemn them as hypocrites in the next chapter of Matthew, starting in tomorrow's reading.  Despite their understanding, they will seek to destroy and to condemn Him.   Their search for the greatest commandment of all is an interesting one, because it leads to Jesus' teaching.   If we take a closer look at Leviticus 19:18 (the second commandment Jesus names), we read, "You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord."  It's quite interesting that the first invocation is against vengeance, because this mirrors Jesus' teachings as well, in the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus elaborates on His explication of the Law when He says, "You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.  If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.  And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.  Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away."  This is in keeping with the second commandment in today's reading, as its first words give us a proscription against vengeance.  Altogether, the factors in today's reading give us a picture of the Man who is truly the great Teacher of the Law.  He silences the Pharisees with His clear understanding of Scripture, He sums up all the Law and the Prophets with the two greatest commandments.  We see the consistency of His teaching.  His understanding of the Law is not merely in its words and teachings, but rather in its depth, its intent, and origins, for He is the true Lawgiver.  He is the author of the Law, the Logos.  He is the One whom David calls "my Lord."