I'd like us this morning to continue our study in the Gospel of Christ by Matthew, and in particular to look at these words that we have read together from the concluding section of chapter 22. If you have been at worship in this place the last few Sundays, you will recognise that questions and answers being posed between Jesus and various representatives of the religious community. It's not something that is peculiar to the verses that we have read together this morning, but is actually the culmination of a series of questions we've seen the chief priests and the elders coming first of all to challenge Jesus when the crowd seems to be almost out of control with their praises of him, by what authorities do you do these things? Or the Pharisees, at least the disciples of the Pharisees, along with the Herodians with their question about rendering taxes to Caesar. Or the Sadducees with their contrived question regarding the woman who was married to seven husbands and whose wife would she be in the resurrection We have, even in this particular portion, a question that is posed to Jesus about what is the great commandment. And it's a question which he is, perhaps you might even say, glad to answer. What is the chief commandment? It is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind. And the second one is like it, to love our neighbor as ourselves. Well, these are questions and answers that are set before us for us to reflect upon and to meditate upon. And indeed, it is my purpose to not really focus upon the twin answers that Jesus gives to the great commandment. Well, why not? because Dr. Troxell did that a couple of weeks ago and he stole my thunder and did it much better than I could do. So I'm just going to pass over and if you want to hear a sermon, it's available on Sermon Audio on this very text and we have contemplated as a congregation very recently. But I do want to see that in the context of what Jesus then goes on to say to his questioners is a question regarding the Messiah. How is it that David calls him Lord, seeing that he is his son? We have to understand what the question is, first of all, in order to get a grip on the answer that is given. The question is not really about how is it that a father can end up calling his son a lord. We could perhaps posit a set of circumstances where a king is deposed, and I'm sure if we trawled the history books it wouldn't take us just too long to find it, a king who is deposed and ends up having to call his son a lord. In fact, David himself really came very close to that in his experience when his son Absalom rebelled against him. if in the providence of God David had not succeeded through his armies in vanquishing his own son, it might have been that David would have been brought back to Jerusalem in chains and had to kneel before his son and call him Lord. But that really is not what the question is asking. It's not such a difficult question, if that's what we're thinking it is putting before us. The question that is being posed here is how is it possible for a son to be older than his father? How is it possible for a son to be older than his father? Now, if you're thinking about biological parents, you say, well, in order for a son to come into being, you have to have a father beforehand. And so, by absolute logical necessity, fathers are always older than their sons. But when Jesus poses the question, how is it that David says, The Lord said to my Lord. And in case you think that this is just a misrepresentation, perhaps you think it's, well, you know, the scriptures of the Old Testament, they were written a long time ago. We don't have the original manuscripts, and therefore there's some scribal error that has crept in over the centuries. Jesus makes it quite clear, David, writing in the Spirit, says this. Now we sang together Psalm 110 at the opening of our service. We sang those words and Jesus said, these are authentic. This is the Word of God. This is God's Word that you have been singing. So it's not a mistake. David didn't get it wrong. The scribes haven't made an error somewhere along the way. But Jesus puts this question, how is it possible for David to have a son who existed before him? How is it possible for David to have a son who existed before him? Well, if we think of it in those terms and have that clearer grasp of what's being said, then we do find ourselves, well, we can say, I understand why they were reduced to silence. There is no obvious way in which, in terms of our experience, and perhaps every one of us in this room, it would be strange if there's somebody who could say, I don't have any experience of what it means to say, I know what a father is and I know what a son is. But that very familiarity makes it difficult for us to grasp how is it possible for great David's greater son, to have existed before David himself. And those that came to question Jesus had no answer to give. But there's something else as we examine the Word of God. I'm as guilty of this as anyone else. It's not that I'm setting myself up as something different. We read the word of God and you engage in your daily devotions and you read it three things familiar and then you read through it. You've somewhat done your duty. You have had that experience in your reading of Scripture. You've done your duty, you've read your chapter, your two chapters, whatever it is that you set aside to read each day, and once you've done it, you close your Bible, you put it away, you think, I've been a faithful believer, I've been a faithful Christian, I've done my duty. But there isn't the meditation upon the Word of God that David speaks about. And so some of the questions that arise out of meditation, It never even occurred to us. So we're quite content we know what the Bible is saying because we haven't really stopped to think about it. If we're looking closely at Scripture, you see that there's what the New Testament professors call the Messianic Secret. The Messianic Secret. You know, it's not much of a secret. We all know about it. But then just cast your minds back. You remember the time when Jesus asked the question, I think I cited this not so long ago, Jesus asked the questions of his disciples, who do people say that I am? And they get, some people Jeremiah, some people Ezra, you're a prophet. So yeah, but who do you say that I am? Peter, first to speak. You are the Christ, the Messiah. Well, what is it that Jesus immediately upon hearing that, he commends Peter because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but God has revealed this to you. But having said that, what does he say? Don't tell anyone else. He charged them not to make it known. Now, if you've been in the circle of the disciples at that time, here you are at the very heart of history. God has promised His Messiah for hundreds of years. The Old Testament Scriptures, they point towards the Messiah's coming from the time when Adam and Eve were not even outside of the Garden of Eden. They hadn't been ejected, but God is already making them a promise that the seed of the woman crush the head of the serpent. They're not even. outside of the Garden of Eden, but God is making this promise. And then down through the generations, generation after generation, looking forward to the expectation of the Messiah. And here He is, standing in their midst. And there's a declaration. But the very point at which the revelation is central to the Gospel, here is the Messiah. And the first thing that Jesus says to them is this, don't tell anyone. Don't tell anyone. You've got the Messiah in your midst, and he tells them, don't tell anyone. Well, it's not just at that point. Mark 7, verse 36, Mark 8, 30, Mark 9, 9. On each of these occasions, Jesus gives an explicit instruction to his disciples. Do not tell anyone who I am. Now contrast that with the events that are unfolding in this period of time. This is a condensed period of time at the end of the ministry of Jesus. Jesus has entered in on what we sometimes refer to as Palm Sunday. And what is it that the crowd shout? Hosanna to the Son of David. For there is a declaration that here at last the Messiah has come. That's the shout of the crowd. And the children the next day, as they skip through the temple, they're praised. They're not going to be silenced by the temple authorities. Hosanna to the Son of David. You know, that expression, the Son of David, as it being a description of Jesus, is not uncommon in scriptures. It's used sixteen times in the gospels. Sixteen times Jesus is referred to as the son of David. And ten of them are to be found in Matthew's account. It's a favourite for Matthew. But here we have something else that's worth noting. It's curious here. After having told his disciples and made such a point of it that New Testament scholars want to draw attention to the fact that it is the messianic secret. Here I am, I'm the Messiah, but don't tell anyone about it. It's at this point that Jesus himself draws attention to being the Son of David, the Messiah, come in the flesh. Why does Jesus, after wanting it to be a secret for so long, now himself want to draw attention to this very fact. I think there's something, a clue, in the final verse of this particular chapter. And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions. Have you ever thought of the curious way of putting it? Let me just take an illustration. Perhaps there's a friend of yours who has a particular weakness and all his life he's been prone to whatever it might be. Let's just say he was a short temper. He just would fly off the handle and he would shout at people for no apparent reason. Until one day somebody says something to him And it just shuts him up completely. And from that day, he never lost his temper again. That's great, but then you read further on, you discover that two days later he was dead. It's not really saying so much, is it? All his life he's been doing this, and then from that time he never lost his temper again, but he died two days later. We're in what we sometimes refer to as Holy Week. It's Tuesday, Wednesday. He's got a couple of days before Jesus is going to be nailed to the cross. So why is it significant to say, well, from that time on, nobody dared ask him a question? Well, there really wasn't that much opportunity, but it's not the length of time that's important, is it? It's the fact that Jesus now has declared, I'm reaching the point at which I'm going to undertake the very purpose for which I have come. So Jesus is asking publicly this question, right? What is the Messiah like? For those who were in the crowd, they no doubt could have given some sort of an answer. They're expecting a liberator. No doubt that was something of what was in the mind of those that cut down the palm fronds and screwed them before the feet of the donkey as Jesus made his way into Jerusalem just the previous Sunday. Perhaps they thought of him as being at the head of a mighty army, he'd be a mighty general that not even the power of Rome could withstand as God would give victory to the armies of his people. a princely politician, a great leader who would establish David's throne once more. All sorts of expectations placed upon Jesus. They all have something in common. They all ultimately resolve themselves into making God in our own image. Reducing God down to this world, so that he gives us the blessings of this world that we desire most. And whether that's peace and stability in a nation, or prosperity, or freedom from those that would oppress us. Well, you know, in one sense we might say that such expectations were not entirely wrong. It's just that they set their sights far too low. When we think about the way in which others had viewed Jesus, they wanted to make him a king, because they wanted to make him a king in this world, because they wanted to be free from the yoke of Rome. Well, there is a liberty which this world can give, and a liberty which this world can take away. And we have been pondering that, as we bring the inmates in held in correctional centers before the throne of grace. How they yearn, and you and I may not have had their experience, but we can at least empathize with them and say, if we were incarcerated, we would not desire our liberty. Of course we would. We don't remain unmoved by the pressures which they face day by day. But what the world can give, the world can take away. but there is one who is truly a liberator. And when we think of Jesus as being the Messiah, it is a liberty that the world cannot give, and it is a liberty that the world cannot take away. That's what God in Christ bestows upon us. You want a mighty victor. Well, they did, but they saw it in this worldly terms. But God, who is always better than we can imagine, gives us a victory which is infinite and eternal. Well, Jesus' question about the Messiah is actually prompted by the question that has just been brought to Jesus. What's the chief commandment? The chief commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind. And there's another one that is like it, and that is to love your neighbor as yourself. You're to love God. How are you to love God? With everything that is in you. Is that how you love God? Honestly? Is it how you love God? Or do you so often find yourself neglectful of the things of God? If we're being honest, we don't love God with all of his in us. In our better moments, we may desire it, but desiring is not the same as having. Boys and girls, you don't need to be terribly old to know that the things that you desire And just because you desire it does not mean to say that you actually have it. We might desire to love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind, but that doesn't mean to say that we do it. Indeed, is it even possible? Is it possible for you to love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind? Perhaps that's where Psalm 110 comes in. We sang it together. is the psalm that Jesus now refers his questioners to. It is laying the groundwork of what is it that the Messiah has come to do, so that God should vanquish his enemies. Now, that doesn't really come to us as a huge surprise. If we have any theology at all, we surely understand that God is by definition the Almighty God. and if he's almighty, his power is infinite, then there is no enemy that can possibly resist his power. It is utterly unthinkable for us to pose the suggestion that any power could resist God's power. So, when God declares in Psalm 110 that he's going to make his enemies a footstool for the Messiah, we say, well, this is an irresistible inevitability. Of course God is going to put his enemies under his feet. But there's another element in that psalm which Jesus is bringing out. We see the divinity, God's power in action. But it is linked to the humanity. And that's what Jesus is drawing attention to. It's drawing attention to the fact that it is not just that we can say that the Almighty God will do this, but he will do it through the agency of David's Son, linking humanity with divinity. Now, we don't blame, as it were, those that are coming to you. Jesus has put in us questions before, how is it possible for the son to be older than the father, and in the flesh we have no answer for that. It is beyond our capacity to find a logical answer to that in the flesh. But of course, when I state that how is it possible for the son to be older than the father, when we're looking at it from within the realm of Christian theology and seeing what God has done for us in Christ, we do have an answer. that God the Son came in the flesh. We heard that as part of our vows of membership when Lily came forward and was asked a question regarding the nature of God Himself, and that Jesus Christ is God the Son come in the flesh. And now we have an answer to the question that Jesus is posing to His hearers, His questioners. when David, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, sets that before his questioners. How is the law to be fulfilled? Here's the summing up of the law. To love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, mind. You look into your own heart, look into mine. I don't find that there. And my Bible gives me insights into what's going into your heart as well, that you'll be just the same as me. You're not able to say, the pastor doesn't do this, but I do it. Do you love your neighbor as yourself? We don't, do we? Very easy to think of ourselves. Not so easy to think of our neighbors. Sometimes we manage to think a little bit about them. Well, what is it that Jesus is ultimately saying to us? You see, the world really doesn't have an answer to the questions that Jesus is posing. It isn't able to give a clear and coherent answer to the question, how is it possible for a man's son to be older than the father? How is it possible for us to keep the law? to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind? The answer is, we don't have an answer in the flesh. But I do have an answer in Christ Jesus. What think ye of Christ? Tell ye what I think of Christ. I find in him the only one who loves the Lord his God with all his heart, soul, strength, and mind. so that when I come to this table, I'm not saying I'm here because I love God more than most other folk, more than anybody else I know, or more than those who are outside of the church of Jesus Christ. I'm not making that my boast. I'm making this my boast, that I come because I am in Christ. And being in Christ, I am able to say, He loves my Father in Heaven with all His heart, and with all His soul, and with all His strength, and with all His mind. And being in Him, I receive all that He has done for me. That's my boast as I come to the table. I have nothing after the flesh. And to love your neighbour as yourself, Jesus gives us something of an answer. What does it mean to love your neighbor as yourself? Jesus gives us something of an answer to that. He says, greater love has no man than this, that he laid down his life for a friend. What is he actually saying at that point? He's saying that you're actually loving your neighbor more than yourself. Here's what I have, I have my life, and ultimately that's all I have, but I'm willing to part with that for a friend. God is always better than we can imagine, isn't he? He requires of us, you love your neighbor as yourself, and then he demonstrates, greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for a friend. And we explore the Word of God. We say, I want to apply it. I want to understand it. I want to rejoice in it. The God that we love and adore has sent his Son into the world because greater love has no man than this to lay down his life for a friend. But at the very point we think, I have grasped something of God's love towards me. Then we press it still further. Recognizing that God is always better than we can imagine, the scriptures press upon our hearts. In this, God commends his love towards us. That while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. You take the bread, you say, this is the symbol of Christ's broken body. You take the cup, you say, this is the blood of Christ which is shed for me. When I was his friend, while I was still a sinner, what think ye of Christ? Let's pray together. and our gracious God and Heavenly Father, as we would come to the table of our Lord, we thank Thee that we do so not in our own strength, but because Thou hast invited us, hast prepared the way, hast prepared the table itself. We would eat and drink nourishment to our souls, rejoicing that that which is unfathomable to men is revealed to babes and sucklings. That which is beyond the wisest of this world is spoken in our hearts by the work of Thy Spirit. We thank Thee for sending Thy Son into this world, and we pray, Father, that as we reflect upon this question, what think ye of Christ, that we may in our hearts make response that in all things He might have the preeminence. So bless thy word and bless the communion table to our souls. Forgive us our sins for these things you'd ask in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen.