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Luke 20 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
Some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” 40 For they did not have courage to question Him any longer about anything.
Luke 20:39-40 NASB
The so-called “experts” of the Scriptures finally ran out of challenges to throw at Jesus. Did this mean that they were on his side? No. It just meant that they had made up their minds. They were done with Jesus and ready to have him framed and murdered. The end was drawing near, and they no longer had the energy to debate. They wanted him dead.
In the verses following, Luke records Jesus continuing to speak. In these verses, I believe Jesus pinpoints a huge stumbling block for the teachers of the law. Why couldn’t these “experts” look at Jesus and see the manifestation of Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in the flesh?
Then He said to them, “How is it that they say the Christ is David’s son? 42 “For David himself says in the book of Psalms, ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, 43 UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”‘ 44 “Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord,’ and how is He his son?”
Luke 20:41-44 NASB
In Matthew’s account of this story, the Pharisees directly say to Jesus that the Messiah is the son of David. This is, of course, correct… but incomplete. The Pharisees give the easy answer. It’s something they have learned for their entire life. It’s a faithless answer because it’s a well-known fact. It cost them nothing to define the Messiah as a son of David because no one around them would have challenged them on this opinion.
Jesus follows up by quoting Psalm 110:1 which puts them in quite a predicament. “The Lord (God) said to my Lord (Jesus), “Sit at my right hand…” There are two Lords there and obviously, none of them are David. Jesus says to them, “I am David’s Lord!” The Pharisees weren’t buying it. They didn’t have the faith to see the spiritual nature of Christ that walked before them. Furthermore, they had made up their minds that they would define The Messiah by their own factual ideas instead of what was written in the Word. Did you get that last part?
Today, you could ask 10 people on the street who they think Jesus was and get 10 different answers. Some would appeal to science because that is their god. Some would appeal to facts, or history, or good works. There are “Christian” denominations that have even altered the Scriptures to satisfy their denial of the deity of Jesus. It’s much easier that way.
How do you define Jesus? Do you trust the Holy Spirit-inspired Scriptures or have you made something else your god? Jesus was a man – the son of David, but He was also the pre-existent Son of God. To believe and live the former won’t cost you much. The latter will cost you your life.