Just Who is this Messiah?
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning and welcome to Dishman Baptist Church. Please take your Bibles and turn in them with me to Mark 12, Mark 12. What a weekend it has been. Winter has come a little early here to Spokane Valley - much to my children’s delight. It is a blessing to be with you all this morning and to worship our Lord together. If you are new or you are just joining us online for the first time, please take a moment to fill out one of our contact cards in the seat back in front of you or if you’re on our website you can click on the plan your visit tab on our homepage and that will lead you to an online contact card. It is our desire here at Dishman to present every believer that we come into contact with mature in Christ and this is the first step in helping us get to know you and for you to get to know us. One thing we value very highly here is the expositional teaching of the Word of God.
We’ve been working our way through Mark and over the last few weeks have seen the confrontation that took place between Jesus and the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was made up of the Pharisees, the scribes and priests, the Sadducees and each of these groups had taken the chance to try and trap Jesus by asking Him loaded questions that would have gotten Him into trouble with one group or another. Most recently, last week, we saw a lone scribe that asked Him what seemed to be a legitimate question and that revealed that he was close to the Kingdom but hadn’t taken the most necessary step to enter into the Kingdom of God. Mark tells us that following that man’s question and response that no one dared ask Jesus another question. Now the tenor, the tone of the scene shifts a bit. Whether it is because He knows that He has them on the ropes or, out of His deep and abiding love for the lost, Jesus can’t help but reach out one final time, Christ now becomes the questioner. Matthew’s parallel account of this passage reveals that there is a bit more conversation than Mark records for us.
While the Pharisees were together, Jesus questioned them,
“What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They replied, “David’s.”
Mark picks up the scene from there and we will join him as we read our passage for this morning Mark 12:35-37
While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he asked, “How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David?
David himself says by the Holy Spirit: The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.’
David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How, then, can he be his son?” And the large crowd was listening to him with delight.
A wonderful pastor and preacher of the Word has said “The task of a pastor is to ensure that his congregation is anchored in the Word of God and grounded in the work of Christ.” And I would completely agree with him. In fact, for those of you who have been around Dishman for any length of time and to introduce those of you who may be new, I agree with him so wholeheartedly that I have that quote on the wall of my office right behind my desk as a reminder to me of what my purpose is. But I wonder if in grounding our people to the work of Christ that we often focus mainly on the work and maybe miss or lose the beauty, the grandeur and the majesty of the person.
So for the next 35 minutes or so I just want us to focus in on the person of Jesus Christ and who He was. This isn’t going to be a real practical sermon - meaning that you aren’t going to get three steps to a deeper faith and you may not even feel majorly convicted - but sometimes its good when the text allows to step back, to reorient our view and to remember that the person of Jesus Christ is what makes the work of Jesus Christ so extraordinary. And while we should certainly celebrate the work, we should cherish the person.
We’re going to examine this text under two headings today, so if you’re a note-taker here is your outline - first we’re going to see the Scribe’s Misconception, the scribe’s misconception and then we’re going to see David’s Perception, David’s perception. First, the Scribe’s misconception.
Scribe’s Misconception
Scribe’s Misconception
The concept of a messiah is not foreign to us in our modern context. There are all kinds of messiah’s today. In the days leading up to the 2008 election, former President, then presidential candidate Barak Obama was heralded among many in the media as a messiah or a messianic figure. A quick internet search for the term messiah revealed a woman in Florida who is known as the butterfly messiah for her work to support and care for Monarch butterflies. Possibly most interesting is the reference from a newspaper published in the Indian state of Karnataka stating “Never in history has mankind so desperately awaited a Messiah so unanimous that the arrival will be acceptable to all, irrespective of religion, nation, creed or caste - the Covid-19 vaccine messiah.”
As debatable as that statement might be, it just goes to show that we in the modern world are familiar with references to messianic figures. In the ancient world the situation was very different. In fact, there was only one culture that applied messianic terminology to a person. This is not to say that other cultures did not have humanly equivalent stories, but only the Jewish culture nurtured the concept of a Messiah. The word is christos and it meant smeared on or annointed. It was used thirty eight times in the Old Testament to refer to a person - most frequently to the king of Israel. In order for us to understand why the scribes missed it so badly I think it would be helpful to do a survey of the Old Testament concept of Messiah to see where it comes from.
The messianic idea comes from the expectation of a king who would come out of the Davidic lineage and would establish the kingdom of Israel as the dominant earthly kingdom and would reign over the nation forever in righteousness and justice. This idea primarily comes from the covenant known as the Davidic covenant that the Lord declares to David through the prophet Nathan when David seeks to build a house for the Lord.
“So now this is what you are to say to my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of Armies says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, to be ruler over my people Israel.
I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. I will make a great name for you like that of the greatest on the earth.
I will designate a place for my people Israel and plant them, so that they may live there and not be disturbed again. Evildoers will not continue to oppress them as they have done
ever since the day I ordered judges to be over my people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. “ ‘The Lord declares to you: The Lord himself will make a house for you.
When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.
He is the one who will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with a rod of men and blows from mortals.
But my faithful love will never leave him as it did when I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.
Your house and kingdom will endure before me forever, and your throne will be established forever.’ ”
Notice the play on words here - David seeks to build a house for the Lord, the Temple, but is refused. The Lord though seeks to build a house, a dynastic reign that will never end, for David. This promise is echoed to David through Psalm 89
‘I will establish your offspring forever and build up your throne for all generations.’ ” Selah
Lord, the heavens praise your wonders— your faithfulness also— in the assembly of the holy ones.
Several Psalms fit into the category of “royal” psalms along with Psalm 89 - Psalm 2, 21, 72 and 110 to name a few. Psalm 2 was probably used at the enthronement or coronation of a king and it promises God’s support for the king that He has put into place and provides hope for those who submit while promises judgement on those who do not.
Now while the 2 Samuel text establishes the Davidic Covenant, there are two texts from earlier in the Old Testament that promise the rise of a dynasty. In Genesis 49 as Jacob pronounces his blessings on his sons prior to his death his promise to Judah is
Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you.
Judah is a young lion— my son, you return from the kill. He crouches; he lies down like a lion or a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
The scepter will not depart from Judah or the staff from between his feet until he whose right it is comes and the obedience of the peoples belongs to him.
He ties his donkey to a vine, and the colt of his donkey to the choice vine. He washes his clothes in wine and his robes in the blood of grapes.
His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.
He portrays Judah as a young lion - the picture of a young king and says that the scepter will not depart from his hand promising the rise of a ruler from the tribe of Judah - and alludes to the perpetuation of the Davidic line as kings over Israel. Another reference is found in Balaam’s oracles. Brought by Balak to pronounce a curse on Israel, instead Balaam three times pronounces a blessing from the Lord over the nation. His third blessing is found in Numbers 24 and it contains this promise
I see him, but not now; I perceive him, but not near. A star will come from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will smash the forehead of Moab and strike down all the Shethites.
Pointing to the day when a king will arise from Jacob, and more specifically from Judah, with the implications of promising the rise of David’s line.
The line appeared to be broken after David and Solomon’s death but the prophets brought new hope as they continued to receive promises regarding the faithfulness of God to the promises He had made. Isaiah, in a pre-exilic prophecy, promises that while the picture may look bleak while Assyria is invading Israel there will come a day when the invaders will be turned away and justice will prevail
For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.
Isaiah 11 promises that this child will come from the stump of Jesse, David’s father
Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
and a contemporary of Isaiah, Micah not only predicts the place of his birth in a passage we should all be familiar with
Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; one will come from you to be ruler over Israel for me. His origin is from antiquity, from ancient times.
but also promises that His reign will be characterized by the repelling of invaders and an overall environment of peace
He will stand and shepherd them in the strength of the Lord, in the majestic name of the Lord his God. They will live securely, for then his greatness will extend to the ends of the earth.
He will be their peace. When Assyria invades our land, when it marches against our fortresses, we will raise against it seven shepherds, even eight leaders of men.
Jeremiah promises a new covenant but in no way abrogates the promises of the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant. Jeremiah 31:31 promises a new covenant
“Look, the days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
but he has also promised that there will be a branch from the house of David raised up
“Look, the days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration— “when I will raise up a Righteous Branch for David. He will reign wisely as king and administer justice and righteousness in the land.
In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. This is the name he will be called: The Lord Is Our Righteousness.
I think you get the picture now that the Old Testament is rife with pictures of a messianic figure from the house of David who will rise up, cast off the oppressors of his people and shepherd Israel back to global prominence and peace through domination.
Now what is important to also understand is that factoring in to the scribal understanding of these passages is their eschatological view of the resurrection. Eschatology is a theological term for the study of the end times. If you recall a few weeks ago when we looked at the question from the Sadducees regarding resurrection that the prevailing view of life after death during the time of Christ was that it was simply a continuation of the life you were already living. Even to the point that you would be raised from the dead in the same clothes that you died in. There is no I’ll fly away moment, no mansions in the sky, no promise of a better place but simply a continuation of what is happening now. So if that were the case we could understand couldn’t we a little of why the scribes would say that the Messiah was simply the son of David.
Because their look was temporal - their view was caught up in the continuation of this life into the afterlife and so it would be best if the kingdom were restored and that would perpetually run on into their next life. So the promise of the Messiah was solely about the here and now. And yet are we that much different at times? The scribe’s misconception is that the messiah was a physical king who would change their lives in the here and now, would cast off their oppressors and would establish his earthly kingdom providing them with peace and prosperity.
Earlier this week John Piper of desiringgod.org released and article and while I disagree with some of what he had to say, his final points speak specifically to this issue in the church today. This is a long quote but I think it is important to hear.
“May I suggest to pastors that in the quietness of your study you do this? Imagine that America collapses. First anarchy, then tyranny - from the right or the left. Imagine that religious freedom is gone. What remains for Christians is fines, prison, exile, and martyrdom. Then ask yourself this: has my preaching been developing real, radical Christians? Christians who can sing on the scaffold “Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also, the body they may kill, God’s truth abideth still, His kingdom is forever.” Christians who will act like the believers in Hebrews 10:34: “You joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.” Christians who will face hate and reviling and exclusion for Christ’s sake and yet rejoice in that day and leap fro joy, for behold their reward is great in heaven.
Have you been cultivating real Christians who see the beauty and the worth of the Son of God? Or have you neglected these greatest of all realities and repeatedly diverted their attention onto the strategies of politics? Have you inadvertently created the mindset that the greatest issue in life is saving America and its earthly benefits? Or have you shown your people that the greatest issue is exalting Christ with or without America? Have you shown them that the people who do the most good for the greatest number for the longest time are people who have the aroma of another world and another King?
Have we taken the view, especially in these days just prior to the election, that what needs preserved is America and our American values? Have we, inadvertently, put our hope in an earthly messiah who will save us from the liberal hordes and reestablish our nation as a bastion of righteousness and justice and pious people who know nothing of Christ? The real Christ? The One who Christ Himself points to in this passage? The scribes missed it, and woe be unto us if we as the church miss it again and put our hope anywhere else.
David’s Perception
David’s Perception
Jesus, affirming the plenary inspiration theory of the writing of Scripture, says that David by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit writes “The Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.” Quoting from Psalm 110:1 here Jesus is using a text that was understood by the scribes to be messianic in nature to reveal to them the truth about the Messiah that they had missed. How is it possible for the son to be referred to as David’s Lord?
This verse that Jesus quotes here is the most quoted Old Testament verse in all of the New Testament. In most cases the author’s emphasis is on the second part of the verse that the Messiah is to sit at the right hand of the Lord until I (the Lord) puts His enemies under His feet. But here Jesus emphasizes the first part of the verse “the Lord said to my Lord.” The words for Lord here in the Greek are both Kyrios the common word used to refer to God. But the Hebrew in Psalm 110 reveals that the first Lord is Yahweh, the Jewish name for God and the second Lord is the word adonai meaning an earthly king. But in this instance the reference is to so much more than simply an earthly king.
It is important for us here to note that David’s statement that the Messiah would be his Lord does not disallow for the Messiah to be a descendent of David - instead what it does is promise that He will be so much more than that. Jesus was fully human and thus could be referred to as David’s descendent - the genealogies at the beginnings of both Matthew and Luke affirm Jesus lineage and this was never a point of contention with the Jewish leadership - but He was also much more than that. Colossians affirms that He was the firstborn of all creation
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him.
The very image of God. John takes this further to say that He is the way that God has revealed Himself to us
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the Father’s side—he has revealed him.
Though He was equal with God, being preexistent to and present as the agent of creation, He is eternal in nature, preeminent in position and equal in all respects to God the Father, co-existent in the same essence as a truly divine being. But in order to fulfill the good and perfect purposes of the Father and to complete the plan for salvation, He set aside His divine prerogatives, submitting Himself to the role of a servant, submitting Himself to human limitations, being born of a virgin.
In so doing He united the divine nature with the human nature of His incarnation, each nature being distinct and separate yet coexistent in the same person. As truly God He was able to endure and fulfill the righteous requirements of the Law. As truly man He was able to fulfill a substitutionary role for all of mankind capable of paying the just penalty required for salvation. Through His death and resurrection, He imputed His righteousness providing salvation to those granted faith that leads to repentance. He is the final revelation of God's nature to mankind and now advocates on behalf of His people until the time for His second advent is complete.
The Gospel according to Mark The Question of the Day (12:35–37)
In Jesus’ preceding argument with the Sadducees (12:18–27) he asserted that the resurrection is not simply an extension of earthly existence; here in the question about David’s son he argues that the Messiah is not simply an extension of his Davidic precursor.
His beauty, His worth is about so much more than simply the here and now, the earthly, the temporal. Can you see His beauty. Can you sense the magnitude of it? Oh that I had adequate words to express this to you. Jesus demonstrates over and over again both His humanity and His divinity. He tires, thirsts, gets hungry and angry. But at the same time He is omnipotent, omniscient, benevolent, demonstrates His power over nature, the spiritual realm, even over death. How could we possibly sell Him so short as to view Him only to be a Messiah for the here and now. He is worth so much more than that.
who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited.
Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man,
he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross.
For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth—
and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
He came to fulfill the plan of God, to glorify His Father and to redeem for Himself a people. The scribes missed it - but their view was skewed from the beginning. What of ours today?
Conclusion
Conclusion
We should take warning from the crowds that sat and listened to Jesus that day - Mark tells us that they were listening to Him with delight. Delight. The same people who not more than 48 hours later would be calling for His death. See they didn’t get it either. They were still looking for an earthly messiah - because that is the human condition, to focus on the here and now, to focus on the temporal, to focus on ourselves and to desire a messiah that meets our needs. Have we, in this time of social upheaval and strife, where it looks like our country is about to rip apart, have we started to drift away from the eternal truths that we were visited by a man who was both God and man who provided for our eternal home and made us citizens of that home, have we drifted from our mission and do we see Him clearly, do we relish in Him, do we derive our joy from our Heavenly Messiah or are we trying to manufacture our joy from and earthly one?