Jesus, teaching in the Temple, had answered the leading questions of the religious leaders. The questions they had asked Jesus were designed to reveal problems with Him and yet His answers revealed problems with them. And in the same way, God’s Word will point out things in our own lives that need change. Jesus answered the questions they spoke aloud. Now He is going to answer their unspoken questions.

Mark 12:35-37 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.

In the Hebrew scriptures, we see two pictures of the Messiah. We see the Suffering Servant and the Conquering King. The concept of the suffering servant Messiah existed at the time and could be found in some talmudic writing of the time but it wasn’t widely held. The religious leaders struggled with this and did not understand the need for two Messiah’s, so they focused on their preference … the conquering King Messiah. Yet there were not two … there was One who would fill both roles.

When we read the Bible we gain head knowledge but when we do the Bible we gain heart knowledge. And so these religious leaders who so loved the letter but so neglected the Spirit did not understand Jesus when He taught that He must first suffer. Remember, their current situation was that they were in the grips of Roman rule and so the idea of a Conquering King Messiah was very appealing. It was in the year of Jesus’ birth that Israel’s ability to self govern was taken away by Rome, in fulfillment of what was written thousands of years before, in Genesis 49:10, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.” The removal of the scepter meant the removal of Israel’s governing autonomy … which happened, again, the year Jesus was born. So the leaders of Israel were looking for a conquering King to reclaim what had been taken and to overthrow Rome. Jesus didn’t seem to fit with that line of thought. In fact in most of His earthly ministry, He appeared to be weak. Yet, there was certainly no lack of strength and power in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus.

The very scriptures that the religious leaders of the time studied revealed exactly what Jesus was doing. Genesis 22, a remarkable chapter where a Father takes His only beloved son to Mt. Moriah at the command of God to sacrifice him. Then, when sparing Abraham’s son, Isaac, God revealed that He would provide Himself an offering. The gospel is all throughout the OT … from the Torah (the law) to the Navi’im (prophets) to the Devarim (writings) … it’s spelled out.

Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

The religious leaders of the time had a very high opinion of King David and they taught that the Messiah would be a descendent of David. And while that was true, it was not the whole truth. So Jesus now poses a problem to all of those who were listening, including the Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees and Herodians as well as the common people. In Psalm 100, David spoke by the influence of the Holy Spirit that the Messiah was both David’s Son and Lord. So the question now was, how could that be the case? How could the Messiah be both David’s Son and his Lord at the same time? The answer is clear to us today and it was unfolding for them that day … as David’s son, He is fully man. As David’s Lord he is God. Jesus would first suffer … as He pointed out in His teaching, He must first die for our sins and be raised from the dead before He would return to conquer His enemies. He would be both suffering Servant and Conquering King … something clearly indicated in the scriptures they studied.

The conflict was not in the scriptures. The conflict was in the hearts of the religious leaders. Their own words revealed this conflict within them.

Matthew 22:16 And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men.

They themselves admitted that His teaching was true and that He taught the way of God without bending His message to accommodate opinions. In order to receive His teaching, which they admitted is true, they had to accept Jesus as the Messiah, Who is True. And it’s the same today. There are those who will say that Jesus’ teachings were true, but that His Lordship is false. You can’t have it both ways. Either Jesus is Lord and what He taught is truth or He was not and what He taught was a lie. But Jesus didn’t leave room for us to accept His teachings but not His Lordship.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

The gospel of Matthew says that they quit pursuing Jesus. How sad. Had they kept asking questions, they may have soon accepted the Answer. The Answer is Jesus.

Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.

God is OK with a two way conversation. He’s not offended by questions. And He will answer questions. What questions do you have for Him today? Perhaps the first one you need to ask is will You forgive me? Yes, says God, yet you do not have because you don’t ask, so why not pray to Jesus right now and ask?

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

It’s hard for those who are wise in their own eyes to receive this message of salvation through Jesus, which is why so many of us who rejected Jesus so sure of our own understanding later received Him from a state of brokenness.