Mark 12:35 –40 – The truth about the Messiah

So far we have seen, whatever the opponents of Jesus brought up to trap Him, were debunked. Be it theological, religious or the source of His authority, Jesus dealt with them all superbly. So verse 34 tells us that from then on, nobody dared to ask Him any question. Realize that Jesus had changed His strategy. He became the aggressor and targeted the scribes. Why? They were supposedly the Biblical scholars and were teaching the Law.    

In verses 35-37, He began with a question for the scribes, saying, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?” This question was aimed at getting them to think through the Old Testament passages that clearly taught that the Christ, the Messiah, must be a physical descendant of David. Some of the passages that alluded to this fact are: 2 Samuel 7:12, Isaiah 9:7 and Jeremiah 23:5 and so on. The Lord even quoted Psalm 110:1 which the scribes knew was a Messianic prophecy. The Lord’s clincher is this: if David addressed the Messiah as Lord, then how can the Messiah be his son and Lord? It is difficult to conceive that the Messiah is Lord if He is just merely human. The point of Jesus is this: this scripture tells us the Messiah have a dual nature – He is both divine and human. The scribes were left speechless. The crowd obviously enjoyed seeing the scribes brought down a pack or two. So thrilled were they that we read in verse 37 that the crowd enjoyed listening to Him.  

   

The scribes, while teaching Psalm 110:1, had never truly come to grips with the implication of this verse. They grossed over the spiritual implication of this verse. So in verses 38-40 we see the Lord increasing the tempo of His attack against the scribes. He said, “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honour at banquets, who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.”

Their motive, conduct and behaviours were aimed at promoting and highlighting themselves. He described them as proud and their focus was the praises of men. They would strut around like a peacock putting on pious demeanour, as a façade. They would say their long impressive prayers with their volume of meaningless words, devoid of faith and genuine connection with God. Jesus pointed out that widows were unwittingly taken in and would give up their houses and wealth to support them.

This passage underscores for us how to be effective for the Lord. Three things of importance: we need to know the Word of God, we need to know how to serve with humility and we need also to personally know our Christ more and more.  Remember we are God’s strategic signposts in the world today. We are the Lord’s co-laborers, engaging with Him in the project of making right the world that had gone drastically wrong.