41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. 43 He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, 44 The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? 45 If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? 46 And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. (Matthew 22:41-46 KJV)
Whose Son Is the Christ?
The Pharisees had often questioned Jesus, trying to trap him but only exposing themselves. Now, Christ asked them a question when they were gathered together (Mt 22:41), confronting them as a group to further confound them. God often baffles his enemies when they think they are strongest, giving them every advantage yet still prevailing.
He asked, “What think you of Christ? Whose Son is He?” They easily answered, “The Son of David,” as their scribes had taught from Ps 89:35-36, Isa 9:7, and Isa 11:1. If Christ (the Messiah) was the Son of David, he was truly Man. The Pharisees think the Christ is a secular prince descending from David, who should deliver them from the power of the Romans, and restore them to their civil rights. They had this notion of the Messiah, that he should be a man, the Son of David, and nothing more.
Christ then raised a difficulty they could not easily answer (Mt 22:43-45): “If Christ is David’s son, how does David, in spirit, call him Lord?” This was not to ensnare them but to reveal that the Messiah is God. David, inspired by the Holy Spirit (2Sa 23:1-2; 1Co 12:3), called Christ Lord in Ps 110:1, a passage the scribes understood as referring to the Messiah. This verse describes Christ’s exaltation: (1) sitting at God’s right hand, denoting honor and power (Heb 8:1; Php 2:9; Eph 1:20), and (2) subduing his enemies, either by conversion or judgment (Isa 41:2).
David calling the Messiah “Lord” challenges those who deny Christ’s divinity. A father would not typically call his son his Lord. If David calls him Lord, then Christ’s divine nature must be upheld alongside his human lineage. Scripture’s seeming contradictions not only harmonize but enhance its beauty.
The Old Testament gave abundant testimony about the Messiah being a spiritual redeemer (Isaiah 53), but the Pharisees, blinded by carnal prejudices, overlooked all that had been said of the Messiah and expected a mere man and a temporal deliverer instead of a divine and spiritual Redeemer.
The Pharisees were silenced (Mt 22:46). They could neither answer nor refute the truth that the Messiah is both David’s Lord and David’s Son—God and Man. Christ did not explain further at that moment, reserving the full revelation for after his resurrection (Re 22:16). Many, like these Pharisees, are convinced but not converted. Instead of asking what they must do to be saved, they ceased questioning him. Yet, all who oppose Christ will ultimately be silenced.