Luke 20:39-44

Some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you speak well.” They didn’t dare to ask him any more questions.

He said to them, “Why do they say that the Christ is David’s son? David himself says in the book of Psalms,

‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.”’

“David therefore calls him Lord, so how is he his son?”

Jesus reminds us here again that in the Bible, details are critical. Jesus reveals an error in what appeared to be common thinking that the Messiah was just a man by asking why David would call his son Lord. We can see this same problem in the world today. Many religions accept the fact that Jesus was a “good teacher” but they disregard the fact that He claimed to be the one-and-only Son of God. Notice that the scribes here thought He was a good teacher when He said something that they agreed with. Most likely those who responded this way believed in the supernatural (see the last lesson for more about this). Unfortunately, people were still disregarding what the Bible said about the Messiah.

Jesus was not saying that He wasn’t born in David’s line. We know from the start of Luke that He was, but He is raising questions of interpretation while there in Jerusalem among those who were apparently teaching harmful things about the Messiah. What He says next follows this same kind of confrontational tone.