#166 Lu. 20:39-44 JESUS QUESTIONING THE PHARISEES Introduction: The scribes and Pharisees have repeatedly come to Jesus as He taught in the temple at Jerusalem asking Him questions. Their questions were designed to trap Him and get Him to say something that they could use against Him to get Him arrested and put to death. They failed miserably in each instance. In our previous text the Sadducees decided to ty their hand. They came and asked Him a question about the resurrection. The motive of the Sadducees was not as vicious as that of the scribes and Pharisees. There is little doubt that they disliked Him and would be pleased if they could embarrass Jesus before the people, but they were chiefly interested in using Him to prove their point that there will be no resurrection and embarrass the Pharisees before the people. They, too, failed miserably. Instead, Jesus showed before all that the Sadducees were wrong and that there will most certainly be a resurrection. Jesus withstood all their questions well and in our text today He turned the tide against them. In this text it is Jesus who asks the questions. I. Jesus commended by the scribes and Pharisees However, before Jesus presents His questions, Luke tells us that He receives more commendation from the scribes and Pharisees. V. 39, "Then certain of the scribes answering said, Master, thou hast well said." Luke said that it was the scribes who commended Him. Mattahew said that they were Pharisees. There is no contradiction. They were Pharisees by religion and scribes by trade. It seems so strange to me that the scribes and Pharisees would commend Jesus about anything. At least, it seems strange they would be sincere in any commendation. But here they did commend Him and apparently they were very sincere in this commendation. The Sadducees had tried to embarrass both Jesus and the Pharisees with their question about the resurrection. They thought that Jesus would acknowledge before the people that there will be no resurrection. They thought He would prove themselves to be right and the Pharisees wrong. Instead Jesus affirmed that there will be a resurrection and proved before all that the Sadducees are wrong and, at least on this one issue, the Pharisees were right. So that is why the Pharisees here commend Jesus on the answer that He had given to the Sadducees. He had publicly exonerated their position on the resurrection. This does not at all mean that the Pharisees think any more of Jesus now than they ever did. To the contrary. We will see that they are more determined than ever to find a way to put him to death. But, at least on this one issue---the issue of the resurrection---they commend Him because He has saved them from being embarrassed by the Sadducees before the great multitude of people. II. No more trick questions for Jesus V. 40, "And after that they durst not ask him any question at all." The scribes and Pharisees are just as much embittered against Jesus as ever, but they did not dare to come back to Him in the presence of the great crowds of people with any more questions. Every time they tried it, they just got embarrassed before the crowd and the crowd liked Jesus all the more. Even the Sadducees had been embarrassed by Him. Every time anybody tried to trap Jesus, they would be the one to be embarrassed. So now they all just quit coming to Him with trick questions. They were not smart enough to entrap Him, but they were smart enough to stop asking questions that put themselves in the trap. III. The questions asked by Jesus So now that they have stopped asking Jesus questions, Jesus has a question for them. V. 41, "And he said unto them, How say they that Christ is David's son?" According to both Matthew and Mark, Jesus first asked them directly whose son the Christ is and they said answered and said that Jesus is the son of David. Then Jesus proceeded to ask them how they could say that Jesus is the son of David. Now let me point out to you that Jesus does not say that they are wrong. Jesus does not say that the Christ is not the son of David. He merely asks them how they can say this. The idea is, how can they say that He is the son of David in view of what David said about the Christ. David said that the Christ is his lord. Jesus cites to them Psalm 110:1. V. 42-43, "And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Till I make thine enemies thy footstool." Then He again presses the question again to them. V. 44, Luke 20:44 David therefore calleth him Lord, how is he then his son?" The passage which Jesus quotes is a prophecy written by King David about the Christ. In the prophecy David said, "The Lord said unto my lord..." The expression "The Lord" in this verse refers to God the Father in heaven. The expression "my Lord" in this verse refers to the Christ. So David says that "the Lord," God the Father, says to his lord, the Christ, that the Christ is to sit at the right hand of God the Father until the Father makes all enemies His footstool. This is simply a way of saying that the time will come when the Christ will return to this earth and God will make of His enemies to be in subjection to Him. He is going to subdue them and rule over them and make them all to be in subjection to Him. But that prophecy about the enemies of Christ being made His footstool is not the point that Jesus is making right here. The point that Jesus is making is the David called the Christ "my lord." The scribes and Pharisees acknowledged that the Christ is the son of David. They did not mean that He would be born in the immediate family of David. They meant that the Christ would be born a descendant of David. He would be born in the family lineage of David. According to all Jewish family traditions, the younger is always in subjection to the elder. Yet in speaking of the Christ, David did not speak of the Christ as being in subjection to him. Rather, he spoke of himself being in subjection to the Christ. He called the Christ "my Lord." Jesus asked: How can this be? How can the Christ be David's descendant and also be his lord? In this statement, David revealed two important things about the Christ. First, note that David did not say that the Christ would become his lord. Rather he was saying that the Christ is already his Lord. Thus, he revealed that the Christ was already in existence in his day. The Christ would have to exist in his day if the Christ was his lord in his day. The Christ had not even been born at that time. He would not be born for many generations. How could the Christ be David's son if He was already David's lord in David's day? This is what Jesus was asking the Pharisees. The answer to the question is that the Christ is David's son in that He was born physically as a descendant of David. He was already existing in David's day and was David's lord because He is the Second Person of the Godhead. He is the very Son of God. He was Lord long before David was even born. He was Lord before the world was created. IV. Where the Pharisees were wrong The Pharisees were not wrong in saying that the Christ is the son of David. As a man, He would be born in the family of David as the prophets of old had declared. He was, indeed, a descendant of David physically. On the other hand, the Pharisees were wrong in not recognizing that the Christ is more than just a mere man. He is David's Lord because He is Deity God. Furthermore, the Pharisees were wrong in not recognizing the man, Jesus, as being the Christ. They had every reason to recognize that Jesus is the Christ. Old Testament prophets had foretold that the Christ would be a descendant of David. Jesus was a descendant of David. Of course, that alone would not be enough to identify Him as the Christ. There were many others who descended from David. But it should have caused them to consider that He might be the Christ. Also Old Testament prophets had foretold that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem of Judah. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. That would narrow the prospects down considerable because Bethlehem was a very small place and not many men were born there. Yet even that would not be sufficient to identify Jesus as the Christ because there were other men born there. But since the field is greatly narrowed down, that means that Jesus should have been one of the prime candidates to be the Christ. Old Testament prophets also foretold that the Christ would come to Palestine from Egypt. Jesus did come from Egypt. He was carried there at an early age and was later brought back to Palestine. This, along with the other prophecies, should have almost been conclusive. They should have been almost certain that Jesus is the Christ. At the very least, He should have had serious consideration. In addition to this, Old Testament prophets had said foretold that the Christ would perform certain miracles. He would give sight to the blind, He would cause the lame to walk and He would cause the dumb to speak. These are miracles were given to specifically identify the Christ. Jesus did all three. He gave sight to the blind, He caused the lame to walk and He caused the dumb to speak. If those Pharisees had not been so blind, they would have surely known that Jesus is the Christ. Furthermore, Jesus just a few days prior to this questioning Jesus had raised Lazarus from the grave over at Bethany. This was just about two miles back down the road. The Pharisees surely knew about this. They surely should have known that no ordinary man could do this. They should have surely known that Jesus is the Christ. There was also John the Baptist. God had sent John the Baptist to identify Jesus to the nation of Israel as the Christ. John did that very thing. John identified Jesus as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. John identified Jesus as the Son of God. He identified Him as the Christ. If those Pharisees had only believed God's prophet, they would have known that Jesus is the Christ. Then, too, Old Testament prophets had foretold that the Christ would ride into Jerusalem on a colt, the foal of an ass. Right after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt the foal of an ass. He road down Mt. Olives with thousands upon thousands of people shouting to the tops of their voices that Jesus is the Christ. Why could not the scribes and Pharisees see that Jesus is the Christ? Yet even now, in our day, why is it that men have such a hard time understanding that Jesus is the Christ. The Biblee clearly proclaims Him to be the Son of David, the promised Christ. He is the Lord of David. He is the Son of God. He is the coming King of Kings who will rule the world and judge the world. He is the One who right now sits at the right hand of God the Father in heaven and will sit there until God puts all His enemies under His footstool. God will put all men in subjection to Him. Jesus is the Savior of men, who died on the cross that He might save those who are lost in sin. Today God sends the gospel message out to all the world that every man, woman, boy and girl can have an opportunity to be saved. Conclusion: The Pharisees had their opportunity to be saved, their opportunity is gone. Today is your opportunity to be saved. Won't you come and trust Jesus today? Won't you who are saved, come and present to Him to serve Him? Come and acknowledge Him to be your Lord and let Him have His way with your life.