Wrap Your Head around This!


Mark 12:35–40
35 And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ 37 David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” And the great throng heard him gladly. 38 And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces 39 and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 40 who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

Jesus’ time of public teaching is drawing to a close. His remaining instructions will be for the ears of His disciples. The scribes and Pharisees are slapped again as He describes their attitudes and demeanor. They are looking for the praise and admiration of the people, not the pleasure of God. At the same time, He discusses the belief that “David’s Son” would come and create yet another earthly kingdom where the Jews would rise and take power. This was not what the Lord God had in mind and Jesus openly denies that this is why He has come.

Jesus disabuses the scribes of this opinion by revealing a small glimpse into the Kingdom of Heaven where Jesus and David met before Jesus’ incarnation as an Infant who came to save the world. David calls Jesus “Lord”. That could only happen if Jesus is indeed our eternally present God. King David bowed at the feet of the Savior long before any of these people were born. We get a similar conversation in John 8 between Jesus and the Pharisees regarding Abraham and that fact that “before Abraham, I AM.” All of the Old Testament patriarchs had already met Jesus – beyond the grave, when this conversation took place between Jesus and the scribes. It’s as if Jesus is saying to the scribes, “wrap your head around that one, gentlemen.” They cannot.

For me, it deepens the mystery and majesty that surrounds God. He is eternal and that is indeed difficult to comprehend, for we know nothing except our own finite existence. But just because we haven’t experienced these things doesn’t mean they don’t exist, for in God’s Kingdom, this is reality.

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