AS Jesus was teaching in the temple area He said, "How do the scribes claim that the Messiah is the son of David? David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said:

‘The Lord said to My lord,

"Sit at My right hand until I place your enemies under your feet."’

David himself calls Him ‘lord’; so how is He his son?" [The] great crowd heard this with delight.

In ancient Greek mythology, a sphinx was a composite creature made of a lion’s body and a human head. It was an omniscient being who posed difficult riddles, riddles which no one could answer – no one except the legendary figure Oedipus. During his travels, Oedipus found that the Greek city of Thebes was plagued by a sphinx, which put a riddle to all passersby and killed them all for not being able to answer its riddle. Oedipus solved the riddle and the sphinx killed itself in a fit of pique.

At least on one occasion, Jesus played the role of the legendary Sphinx – to the utter delight of the crowds. The point that Jesus is trying to make is this one: To be a descendant of David is not a totally adequate and exhaustive definition of the Messiah since David (who is here presumed to be the author of the psalm quoted) calls this descendant of his "my lord," viewing him therefore as his superior. Hence something more elevated than merely "son of David" is needed to describe the future Messiah. On this occasion, Jesus argues in the rabbinic manner on a fine point of exegesis.

At every turn Jesus tried to hint at who He really was: Not an earthly king who would play the game played by politicians, but a Man of God whose mission was to bring humanity to God and God to humanity. Here He is hinting that His real title is "Lord," the title reserved for God throughout the Old Testament.

SOURCE: "365 Days with the Lord," ST PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: publishing@stpauls.ph; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.