Read Matthew 22:41–46
Questions from the Scripture text: Who were still gathered together (v41, cf. v34b)? What did Jesus do? About Whom did He ask them (v42)? What, specifically, did He ask about the Christ? What did they answer? But, then, about whose words does Jesus ask them (v43)? What point does He make about the conditions in which Jesus asked them this? What does it imply about the quality of David’s words that he spoke “in the Spirit”? What did David call the Christ, when he spoke this way? To Whom does David say that YHWH spoke (v44a, cf. Ps 110:1)? What did He tell David’s Lord, to do (v44b)? Where? What did He say that He would do for David (v44c)? What does Jesus then ask about the Christ (v45)? Who could answer (v46)? What did they no longer do?
For what should we come to Jesus? Matthew 22:41–46 looks forward to the evening sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these six verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that we should come to Jesus to, among other things, learn from Jesus about Jesus.
These Pharisees hated hearing Jesus called “Son of David” (cf. 12:23–24; 21:15–16), but He had been called that by many (cf. 9:27ff; 15:22; 20:30–31).
So, while it is obvious that Jesus is asking about Himself (v42), He asks it in a way that invites them to act like the experts that they thought that they were—and which expertise, they thought, precluded the idea that Jesus is the Son of David.
But they don’t know as much about the Christ as they thought. Isn’t it often the case with us that, in some familiar Scripture, the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see some glory of Christ that we had never before seen? Here, Jesus is making a point about Himself that they have never noticed about the Christ. He’s not just David’s son; He’s David’s Lord. To put it in Jesus’s words from Rev 22:16, He is not only the Offspring of David; He’s also the Root of David.
The rhetorical question “How?” (v43, 45) has a marvelous answer: although He became the Son of David according to the flesh by becoming a man and being born of Mary, from all eternity He has been the Son of God (as He demonstrated, by His Spirit, in His resurrection from the dead, cf. Rom 1:3–4). Ps 110:1 teaches not only the divine nature and personhood of the Son but the multi-personhood of God. The doctrines of Christ and of the Trinity are full of the riches of God that we learn in the gospel of Christ.
This “how” question can led us into other glories about Christ. How does He make us the righteousness of God (2Cor 5:21)? By taking on our nature, then uniting us to Himself by faith. How can He do this justifying, even though we are sinners? By being a propitiation (wrath-bearer-and-eliminator) for us (cf. Rom 3:21–26).
They should have been coming to Christ to learn from Him, rather than to test Him to see if they would accept Him (or even with the purpose of rejecting Him). If they had come to Him to learn from Him, what glories they might have discovered! And what a glorious salvation they might have obtained. And perhaps some did. For their mouths were shut (v46), and this is, in one way, the beginning of coming to faith (cf. Rom 3:19).
Dear reader, come to Jesus to be a learner about Jesus, that you may be a believer in Jesus and a worshiper of Jesus.
What are some of the most precious truths you know about Jesus? Why? Where/how do you expect to learn more wonderful truth about Jesus? With what attitude should you be coming to Scripture in order to learn these truths? What difference does it make for you that Jesus is God?
Sample prayer: Lord Jesus, we praise You as our Lord and our God. We hope in You, Who are almighty to save us. We are glad to learn from You. Please keep teaching us about Yourself, we ask in Your own divine Name, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP110B “The LORD Has Spoken to My Lord” or TPH268 “Of the Father’s Love Begotten”