Mark chapter number 12. I'm again reading in verse 35 where we left off last Sunday. Mark chapter 12 and verse number 35. It says, And as Jesus taught in the temple, He said, How can the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David? David himself in the Holy Spirit declared, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I have put your enemies under your feet. David himself calls him, that is Jesus, the Messiah, Lord. So how is he, his son, and the great throng heard him gladly? Last Sunday we considered the Great Commandment, where the scribe asked Jesus to put in some words what did he think the Great Commandment was. And somehow last Sunday I preached for 60 minutes, maybe just a tad more. And I want to say that when you're a preacher, time goes by fast, OK? Maybe not for you, but it does for me. Now, this Sunday, I'm not going to keep you 60 minutes, 55 tops, OK? But we only have this morning three verses to consider. Just three verses in Mark chapter number 12. But listen, though our passage is brief, I stand before you this morning with a profound sense of humility and a profound sense of awe of the fact that just because there are only three verses that we're considering this morning, these three verses transcend mere human wisdom. These verses transcend human understanding, and they dive deeply into the mystery of Jesus Christ's identity, His true identity, as these verses reveal to us not only Christ's humanity as He is the Son of David, but also reveals to us His divinity. That Yahweh, God, calls Him Lord. And so this passage really holds layers of meaning that stretch far beyond what I could ever say in one sermon. And so because of that, we must have this morning attentive ears. And we must also have this morning an attentive heart. As we today must listen to God's Word, much like the crowd listened to Jesus speak on that day, they heard Jesus and heard Him gladly. Let's pray together. Our Father, Lord, we are grateful once again to meet in this place during this hour. Lord, to sing Your praises, to read and hear Your Word, And Father, we come to this point where we come before You humbly, acknowledging, Lord, the depth of Your Word. And we pray, Lord, this morning, that You would give us understanding, that You would teach us. I pray, Lord, that You would hide me behind the cross. I pray, Father, for those that are here that have never come For Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ in salvation, I pray that You would draw them through the Holy Spirit today. And Lord, I pray for every believer that is here. I pray that they are fed. I pray that they would be edified and built up in Your Word, for it is precious and we are grateful for it. Lord, we love You and we ask all these things in Christ's name. And all of God's people said, Amen. There are two points I want us to consider this morning as we look at these three verses of Scripture and as we think about the misunderstood Messiah. Because that is, in essence, what has happened along Jesus' earthly ministry, the misunderstood Messiah. The first thing I want you to notice with me this morning is this, is that Jesus' identity, Jesus Christ's identity, is greater than the religious leaders perceive. Jesus Christ's identity is greater than the religious leaders perceive. Now we've read how in our passage, how Jesus here, he turns the tables on his questioners. Jesus has been on the receiving end for some time of receiving questions. Remember earlier in this chapter, the Pharisees and the Herodians were asking Him and questioning Him about paying taxes in order to trap Jesus. Then the Sadducees were asking a question to Jesus about the resurrection of the dead. in order to trap Jesus. And last week we saw how the scribe asked Jesus what was the great commandment. And so Jesus has been on the receiving end of all these questions, but now the table is turning. It's as if Jesus is saying, hey, I have answered your questions. Now let me ask you a question. And so he poses a question that really shifts the focus to his true identity, who he truly is. I don't think it would be a stretch at all. And I would agree, as one commentator said, that this is the question of the ages. And I say this because it is a question of the true identity of the Messiah, the true identity of who Jesus Christ is. And notice what our Lord asked His disciples privately in Mark chapter 8. Remember Jesus, He privately gathered His disciples and He asked them, who do people say that I am? And remember the response He received. The disciples said, well, some say that you're Elijah. Some say that you're John the Baptist. And then Jesus pinpointed that question even closer. He asked His disciples, He said, hey, who do you say that I am? And in that passage, you have that great confession of Peter who said to Jesus, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Well, that question that he asked his disciples privately, he, in essence, asked this question publicly. He knows that the stakes are high. Jesus also knows that the cross of Calvary is only three days away from this point. So this is really a moment of truth. And we see this again in verse 35. And as Jesus taught in the temple, He said, how can the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David? It's a very intriguing question. I want you to understand this morning that while the phrase son of David was not commonly used as a messianic title in the Old Testament, the concept that he was, that Christ was a son of David was well known to the average Jew in that day. You see, the Jews understood that the coming Messiah, the coming Christ, would be a descendant from the great king, David. And by the time we get to the first century, the title had gained a lot of traction. As we have seen this title used over and over again in the Gospels, you recall blind Bartimaeus as he was sitting there at the highway side begging and he saw or he didn't see Jesus at that point. He knew Jesus was passing by and he cried out, Jesus, thou son of David. have mercy on me. So though it was not a very well-known phrase in the Old Testament, it had come to be a well-known phrase in the first century. However, by Jesus raising this question, by Jesus raising this question that the Jews, He knew that the Jews had a misunderstanding surrounding the title, Son of David. He knew their interpretation had, in time, become very narrow. He knew that their interpretation of that title, Son of David, had become politically charged. They expected the Messiah to be a powerful political leader. They expected the Messiah to be a powerful military leader who would overthrow Roman rule and who would establish Israel's sovereignty. Well, then notice, beloved, Jesus then moves to the heart of the issue in verse 36. David himself, Jesus says, in the Holy Spirit. As he was moved by the Holy Spirit, David himself declared, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand. until I put your enemies under your feet." Now we know that Jesus here is quoting from Psalm 110. Psalm 110 verse 1 says this, The Lord, Yahweh, said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion, Rule in the midst of your enemies. Now, it's very important that you see in the opening verse of Psalm 110, verse 1, you see three different characters. Three different characters in the first part of that verse. Number one, you see the Lord, capital L-O-R-D. That speaks of Yahweh. And then we have the other character that is seen there, is seen in that possessive pronoun, my. which is speaking of David. And so the Lord, Yahweh, says to David's... Then the third character we see is the word Adonai, Lord, speaking of the Messiah. So in other words, we see God calls the coming Messiah, Lord. Yahweh calls the coming Messiah, Lord. In other words, God elevates the Messiah far above any earthly king, including David. Speaking of Christ's divine authority, speaking of His divinity. But it's very interesting that God the Father calls the Messiah, His Son, Lord. One commentator said this, no father calls his son Lord. This would be especially true in the hierarchical Greco-Roman world where Lord and son were near opposites. the Father being, so to speak, the Lord of the Son. Even in our own day, no parent would think of their child, much less refer to their child, as Lord. Yet here, God calls the Messiah Lord. Alright, now Jesus then poses the question in Mark chapter 12, verse 37, David himself calls him Lord. David himself calls him. Who is the him? That is the coming Messiah. That is the son of David. David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son? Now, we need to understand what Jesus is saying here rightly. We need to understand what Jesus is saying here correctly. Listen, please know that Jesus does not and He is not rejecting the title Son of David. That's not what Jesus is doing at all. Rather, He is pointing out that the religious leaders have become too comfortable with this title and then reducing the true character of the Messiah to something that they want Him to be. That's the key. And so the title son of David is not wrong. Okay. It's just incomplete. It's just insufficient. What was happening here is that Jesus knew that the Jews were guilty of what we would call reductionism, as it related to the coming Messiah, based on a misunderstanding of the title, Son of David. Again, first of all, they call Jesus Son of David. And again, this title is not inherently bad. It's just incomplete. It is insufficient. But however, next they interpreted this title, Son of David, politically, expecting the Messiah to restore Israel's government and establish a righteous rule over the Jews and the world. And so they believed, the Jews believed, that the Messiah would bring a liberation by force, much like King David had done in his military conquest. They were looking for a military conqueror, a military leader. And then finally, they also imported their own prejudices, expecting this just rule to mean casting out all of the Gentile Romans and rejecting all Gentiles together. So this was the mindset of the average Jew in Jesus' day. To them, the title, Son of David, had come to mean the Messiah would sit on a physical throne, He would protect Israel, and He would then expel every Gentile from amongst them. Now, essentially, they envisioned then the Messiah as an ultimate politician or an ultimate military leader. And here is what they did. They had whittled down the coming Messiah down to fit their own image. That's what they did. And Jesus knows this, and this is why Jesus counters this fallacious view by pointing out that according to Psalm 110, the coming Messiah, listen, is more than just a man. The coming Christ is more than just a politician. He is more than just a political leader. God, Yahweh, refers to him as Lord. So Jesus, his identity was far greater than the religious leaders imagined. And indeed, the coming Messiah was to have a righteous rule. but not in the way that the Jews of that day expected. He was greater. Christ was greater. He is greater than they ever imagined. Listen, no mere human is called Lord, yet God the Father calls the Messiah who is to come Lord. Now listen, here's the issue. The religious leaders, those who were most familiar with the Old Testament scripture, they failed to recognize who Jesus Christ was. Their misunderstanding and their lack of recognition of Jesus and his true identity serve as really a profound example of how even those who possess knowledge of Scripture, those who even possess knowledge of the Word of God, can miss the deeper truths that are laid out right before them. Religious leaders of Jesus' day, such as the scribes, such as the Pharisees, listen, were well-versed in the Old Testament Scriptures. They knew the prophecies. They knew the Psalms. They knew the prophets. They had dedicated their lives to studying and teaching the law of Moses and the writings that pointed to the coming Messiah. Yet, despite the Pharisees and the scribes having an extensive knowledge, they failed to recognize Jesus as the ultimate fulfillment of these prophecies. And listen, this failure is not merely an intellectual failure on their part, okay? It's not that somehow that they were just not smart enough to figure out that Jesus was the ultimate fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah. No, this failure is not merely an intellectual oversight, but rather it was a spiritual problem. I mean, think about this. The religious leaders had access to the very same scriptures that Jesus used to reveal his identity. They read the same passages in the Old Testament, such as Isaiah chapter 53, which speaks of the suffering servant. They read the same passages, such as Micah chapter 5 and verse 2, which speaks of the place that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. They had the same scriptures that Jesus used, yet They clung to a preconceived notion of what the Messiah should be. What the Messiah should be according to their own expectations. And so this narrow expectation that they had blinded them to the true nature of Jesus' mission. And it blinded them to the fact of Jesus' true identity. But you see, beloved, listen. In a spiritual sense, the religious leader's misconception of the Messiah here reflect a broader human tendency that we all can have. And that broader human tendency is to create a God in our own image and likeness. Listen, this is a danger that persists even today in individuals. This is a danger that can happen even in religious circles, that though they may have access to the word of God, yet they miss the profound revelation of the true identity of who Christ is. Listen, we must not We must not reduce Jesus to fit our own preconceived notion. We must not be guilty of reducing Jesus to fit our own personal agendas. No, instead we are called to seek and to know the true identity of Jesus Christ, what the Bible declares of Him. Listen, Jesus is the divine person of the Trinity. He is the divine second person of the Trinity. He's reigning in glory and power. He has come to bring resurrection and life to those who will believe. So let me ask you a question this morning. Have you whittled down Jesus into your own image this morning? Have you forgotten that He is the great and mighty God who has come to us? Do not be guilty, Christian, of trying to fit Jesus into your little box. Jesus cannot and Jesus will not be lessened. Why? Because Jesus is Lord. And so therefore, because Jesus is Lord, we should honor him as Lord. Now, here's the second thing. Notice this. Jesus' work accomplishes more than the religious leaders think it will. His work will accomplish more than what the religious leaders think it will. And listen, this is very important because if one has a reduced understanding, of the person of Christ, if an individual has a reduced understanding of the true identity of Christ, it will lead that person inevitably to have a reduced understanding of Christ's work. Are you getting that? I pray that you understand that because, listen, if you do not have a biblical view of who Christ is, then you are not then going to understand biblically why He came to us and why He shed His life's blood for us. Now, the religious authorities fixated on their own limited perspective. They missed the full scope. They missed the full and true identity of what the Messiah was meant to accomplish. Now, let's read again verse 35 through verse 37. And as Jesus talked in the temple, he said, how can the scribe say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself in the Holy Spirit declared, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet. David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son? and the great throng heard him gladly." Now, at first glance, when you first read this passage of scripture, it might seem like this is just a simple question about the Messiah's lineage. However, Jesus is doing much more than just talking about his lineage here. He is challenging their incomplete understanding of the Messiah's identity, and he is also challenging then the misunderstanding of the Messiah's work. And he does this by quoting Psalm 110. Again, Jesus says, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand and I will put your enemies under your feet. But I want you to notice something. very carefully and notice that the exact phrasing he uses differs slightly from the original Psalm 110 verse 1. Psalm 110 verse 1 tells us, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. However, Jesus quotes it such as this, verse 36, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet. Now, while the phrase under your feet and under your footstool are very similar, they are not, however, identical. This distinction becomes even more significant when we recognize that Jesus is drawing here from another psalm. Psalm 8 and verse 6. Psalm 8 and verse 6, where it says, you have made him to have dominion over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet. Now, in the context of Psalm 8, this verse speaks about humanity's exalted position in creation, reflecting the honor and the responsibility given by God to man. But as we shall see in just a moment, the New Testament writers see a deeper fulfillment of this verse, Psalm 86, in Jesus Christ. Okay? And so by integrating Psalm 8 and verse 6 into Jesus' citation of Psalm 110 verse 1, Psalm 10 is a messianic psalm about the coming Messiah. Psalm 8 is an endemic psalm concerning the creation and dominion of humanity. Jesus is thereby declaring that the work of the Messiah encompasses more than just a national deliverance or an ethnic deliverance. No, listen, it was a universal, all-encompassing scope that impacts all humanity. And so in doing so, Jesus is identifying himself not only as the promised Davidic Messiah, but also as the second Adam. Notice this concept is seen clearly in 1 Corinthians 15. Paul writes and says, But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all should be made alive. But each one in his own order, Christ the firstfruits. Afterward, those who are Christ at his coming. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when he puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. Hallelujah. For He has put all things under His feet. But when He says all things are put under Him, it is evident that He who put all things under Him is expected Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all." And then notice Ephesians chapter 1. It also reflects this union of the messianic and ademic role that Jesus Christ has. Ephesians 1 verse 20, which He, Christ, which he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he put all things under his feet. and gave to him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." And then Peter says in 1 Peter 3, verse 22, it says this, "...who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to him." And so listen, beloved, these scriptures reveal that Jesus, the Messiah, is not just a national hero. He is not just a political deliverer for one ethnic group. No, listen, He, Jesus, is Lord over all creation. Jesus holds dominion over all things. He is the Savior for all who believe, Jew and Gentile alike. So Jesus' work, beloved, is far greater than what the religious authorities ever imagined. They saw a political liberator who would restore Israel, who would expel all of the Gentiles. But Jesus, however, listen, He did come to conquer, but not in the way that they were thinking. Listen, Jesus came and He conquered sin. Jesus came and He conquered death. Jesus came and He brings salvation to all who believe. Jesus calls us to recognize, beloved, His true identity. He calls us to recognize the full scope of His mission. He's Lord of all. He is reigning supreme. He's bringing life. He's bringing salvation to all that the Father has given Him. And so because of that, let us honor Jesus Christ as Lord. Because of that, this is why we must embrace the fullness of who He is. Do not be guilty of diminishing the fullness of who Jesus is. Jesus is not your glorified life coach. Jesus is not beloved, just some quick fix for your perceived problems. Listen, do not underestimate his identity. He is the great I am. He is the eternal and unchanging God. And as the second Adam, He will restore humanity to its original intended state, bringing us back to Eden's perfection. Oh, I love that. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God, which takes away the sins of the world. Offering now in the day of grace redemption, Jesus is not merely a man, although He did take on the form of a man. But He's not just merely a man. He's not merely just a descendant of David, although He is a descendant of David. Listen, Jesus is who He claims to be. Jesus the Christ. Jesus the Messiah. He has accomplished everything that he was set out to do. He laid down his life on the cross. triumphantly rose from the dead, conquering sin, death, and all the forces of evil, and he continues to work today. He continues to draw lost sinners unto himself through the work of the Holy Spirit. Not just having an intellectual knowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, but having a knowledge that humbles you to the point that you bow your heart to Jesus Christ and His Lordship. He's still working today. Is He calling you unto Himself? Have you trusted Christ today? As the passage of Scripture we read earlier in this service, There is coming a day that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Don't wait. Don't wait until the day that you meet Christ in your sin and you declare that. No, right now is the day, in this present day of grace, to meet the Lord. and to give him the honor that is due unto his name, his lordship. So let us give thanks. If you are a believer, if you are in Christ, you know that you have been born again. This is why we must worship him. As Jesus talked about last week previously, this is why we must worship him with all of our heart. with all of our soul, with all of our mind, and with all of our strength, because He is worthy and He is Lord. Let's pray together.