Theme: Jesus: Son of David, Son of God
This weeks lesson proves the authenticity of Scripture as it proclaims Jesus as Lord and King,
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 22:43-45
“He said to them, How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him Lord? For he says,
The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies under your feet.” If then David calls him Lord, how can he be his son”
LESSON
When Jesus asked the Pharisees his question he was referring to Psalm 110:1, of course. And he was establishing a pattern for interpreting the Old Testament that his disciples picked up on enthusiastically. The disciples loved to quote this psalm. In fact, they used it so often that it became the psalm most quoted in the New Testament, and verse 1 became the verse most quoted. By my count, Psalm 110:1 is cited directly or alluded to indirectly at least twenty-seven times.
Why should Psalm 110 have been so important to the New Testament writers and the church? The answer is that Psalm 110 is the greatest and clearest of all the messianic psalms.
There are not a large number of messianic psalms. They include Psalms 2, 22, 45, 72 and 110, plus a few others. But these mostly contain only messianic elements while other parts of them are apparently about the earthly king who was reigning at that time. By contrast, Psalm 110 is about a divine king entirely, a king who has been placed at the right hand of God in heaven and who is presently engaged in extending his spiritual rule throughout the whole earth. Significantly, it also teaches that this divine figure is to be a priest, performing priestly functions, and that additionally he is to be a judge who, at the end of time, will pronounce a final judgment on the nations and peoples of this earth.
Edward Reynolds (1599-1676) was one of the great expositors of Psalm 110, though he lived long ago, and he wrote that “this psalm is one of the fullest and most compendious prophecies of the person and offices of Christ in the whole Old Testament.” He felt that “there are few, if any, of the articles of that creed which we all generally profess, which are not plainly expressed, or by most evident implication couched in this little model.” Reynolds saw this psalm as teaching the doctrines of the divine Trinity; the incarnation, sufferings, resurrection, ascension, and intercession of Jesus Christ; the communion of saints; the last judgment; the remission of sins; and the life everlasting.1
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the great Baptist preacher of the nineteenth century, taught that Psalm 110 is exclusively about Jesus Christ. “David is not the subject of it even in the smallest degree,” he wrote.2
1 Cited at length by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, vol, 2b, Psalms 88-110 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1966), pp. 464-465.
2 Ibid, p. 460.
STUDY QUESTIONS
What is unique about Psalm 110? What all does it encompass?
How is Jesus our priest, judge, and king?
FURTHER STUDY
List the doctrines which Edward Reynolds mentions as being evident in Psalm 110. Use a study Bible, commentary or Bible dictionary to define each.
