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Suggested Texts for Sunday, November 10th - Proper 27

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Whose Son is the Christ?

35 While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, "How is it that the teachers of the law say that the Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: " 'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet." ' 37 David himself calls him 'Lord.' How then can he be his son?" The large crowd listened to him with delight.

38 As he taught, Jesus said, "Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, 39 and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely."


Overview and Insights

Jesus asks the teachers of the law (scribes) this question: why do the scribes say the Christ is David’s son when David calls him “Lord”? Jesus isn’t denying that Messiah is the Son of David, but he is adding that Messiah is more than that. In the line, “The LORD (Yahweh) says to my lord (adonai)” in Psalm 110:1, the first “LORD” refers to God and the second originally referred to the king of Israel. At the king’s coronation, God was charging the king to become his assistant ruler. Later, when the monarchy ceased to exist, the rights and responsibilities of the king were transferred to the Messiah. As a divine figure, the Messiah’s kingdom would endure forever.

The scribes who love religious garb, pious greetings, and the most important seats are also the ones who devour widows’ houses and pray for show. Hypocrites! Their punishment will be severe.

The Baker Bible Handbook by , Baker Publishing Group, 2016

Baker Commentary

“From then on,” notes Mark, “no one dared ask [Jesus] any more questions” (12:34). Jesus has survived interrogation from Sanhedrin (11:27–33), Pharisees (12:13–17), Sadducees (12:18–27), and scribes (12:28–34)—and prevailed over them. Now, at the end of the day, Jesus asks the question of the day. Why do the scribes say that “the Messiah is the son of David?” (12:35). As in the parable of the vineyard (12:1–12), Jesus chooses to raise the question of “the Son [of God]” at the heart of Israel and before the authorities of Israel. The issue of identity, which Jesus raised privately on the way to Caesarea Philippi, he now raises publicly in the precincts of the temple. Behind Jesus’s question lay the common assumption that the Messiah would be a descendant of King David. Jesus challenges this assumption by quoting Psalm 110:1, “The Lord said to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand’ ” (12:36). If David was the author of this psalm (as was widely accepted in Jesus’s day), and if “Lord” refers to God and “my Lord” to the Messiah, then the Messiah is not David’s descendant but his Lord and master. “How then can [the Messiah] be [David’s] son?” asks Jesus (12:37). The Messiah is not an extension of David but his superior; not the fruit of David but the root of David (Rev. 22:16). The Messiah is not David’s son, after all; he is God’s Son!

The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary by Gary M. Burge, Baker Publishing Group, 2016

Dictionary Terms

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Doctrine
Marketplace
Messiah
Widow

Secondary Matches

The following suggestions occured because Mark 12:35-40 is mentioned in the definition.
Gestures
Hell
Messias
Welfare Programs