Christ: The Sovereign Lord Beyond David's Lineage

We’re still in chapter 12, and I will be reading from verse 35 through verse 37. That’s Mark 12:35 to 37, and I would ask the congregation to stand for the reading of the Word of God. “Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, ‘How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David? For David himself said by the Holy Spirit: “The LORD said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.’” Therefore David himself calls Him “Lord”; how is He then his Son?’ And the common people heard Him gladly.” [00:11:36]

Now most of these people were well aware of the manifold texts of the Old Testament that predicted that the coming Messiah would be from the line of David, that He would be a descendent of David, that He would be born in the city of David, that He would be of the seed of David. If you go back for a moment to the pages of the Old Testament, we realize that Israel’s most illustrious king was King David. [00:05:02]

And so the reign of David was considered by the Jews to be the golden age of Israel. And we know what happened upon the death of David where his kingdom was inherited by his son Solomon, that under that reign of Solomon with all of his wisdom and at times the lack of it, the golden age of Israel began to be tarnished a bit, and then by the next generation, the kingdom was divided between Jeroboam and Rehoboam, and that glorious golden era turned to rust. [00:06:50]

Let’s look at the beginning of this quotation, where Jesus said, “David himself said by the Holy Spirit.” Just in passing, let us notice the Lord Jesus Christ’s view of sacred Scripture. He did not regard the lyrical poetry of David the musician and literary giant of antiquity as a man just simply, uniquely gifted with what we call artistic inspiration, but when he quotes from the Psalm, He says that David said what he said and wrote what he wrote by the Holy Spirit. [00:08:41]

You may be surprised to learn that Psalm 110 is the most frequently quoted Old Testament text in the New Testament. To say it another way, there’s no other statement found in the Old Testament Scriptures quoted more often than the text of Psalm 110. Including direct quotations and allusions the New Testaments refers to Psalm 110 no less than thirty-three times. [00:12:07]

David himself said by the Holy Spirit, “The LORD said to my Lord.” There’s the first part of the conundrum. Here you have the LORD, and in the Old Testament it’s Yahweh having a conversation with someone who is given the title Adonai, or Lord, which is strange enough because in most cases in the Old Testament whenever the title Adonai is used, it is used to describe an office or a title that belongs to Yahweh. [00:13:57]

Now the most important Session of all time and of all place is the Session that is seated in heaven. And what Psalm 110 says is that Yahweh says to David’s Lord, “Sit at My right hand,” which means, “Be seated in the highest place of authority in the universe according to My delegation.” And the point that this prophecy gives to us is that the Messiah who is to come, after He finishes His labor in this world will be exalted into heaven, taken up into heaven in ascension, and enthroned at the right hand of God. [00:21:40]

It means that Christ has been enthroned in the highest seat of political power and authority in the universe. We pride ourselves in living in a democracy or a republic, but as Christians we do not reside in a democracy or a republic. We live in a kingdom, where we have a King who has been enthroned already, that He is the King of Kings. He is the Lord of Lords. And that reign is not something that’s going to take place in the distant future, but it has started already. Jesus is our King this morning. [00:23:33]

You see why I love that? As a metaphor for the church, our King is already seated on the right hand of God, but He’s gone to heaven temporarily. In the meantime, He looks to us, to His people to remain loyal to Him when the whole world goes for Prince John. But our King has been seated at the right hand of God. [00:27:28]

The author of Hebrews makes much of this when he writes of the supremacy of Jesus, where he says in chapter 1, the end of chapter 1 of the book of Hebrews, “But to which of the angels has He ever said: ‘Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.’?” Earlier in that same chapter, he cites elsewhere, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.” [00:27:28]

But the point is that yes, the Messiah will be the Son of David, but in Jewish categories, the son is always subordinate to his father. The son is never greater than the father. And so you would expect as marvelous as the Messiah would be, if He is David’s Son, He cannot be greater than David. But David himself Jesus says under the guidance of the Holy Ghost calls his Son, his Lord, so that Jesus is not simply the Son of David, He is David’s Sovereign. He is David’s Adonai. He is David’s King before whom even David must bow. Therefore David himself calls Him, “Lord.” [00:29:06]

Listen to Christian hymnody. Listen to the spiritual songs, the praise choruses, and they all celebrate the name of Jesus as the name that is above every name. No, no, no, no. Paul says at the name of Jesus every knee would bow and every tongue confess not that He is Jesus, but that He is Adonai, that He is “Kurios,” that He is Lord. That’s the supreme title. That’s the name that is above every name. The name that is reserved for God in the Old Testament is now given to His Son, who now is called “Kurios Kurion,” the Lord of the Lords, the Sovereign One whom God has seated at His right hand. [00:31:01]