June 04 2025

Wednesday June 04

Luke 20:41-47 – What You Think of Jesus Matters the Most

41 And He said to them, "How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David? 42 Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms: 'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, 43 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool." ' 44 "Therefore David calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?" 45 Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, 46 "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, 47 who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation."

I’m in beautiful Blue Ridge Virginia for the rest of this week for both eye and dental appointments, for a birthday party for our dear grandson Luke, and also to visit some dear friends in Winchester, Va. If you watched the video chat you probably noticed the different background. We hope to be back in our home office in Sneads Ferry NC by this Sunday. Thank you for your prayers as we travel.

Today we're looking at Luke chapter 20:41-47. I think it is interesting that this chapter begins with a question by the priests, the scribes, and the elders. They asked Jesus by what authority did He cleanse the Temple and was teaching the people. Then the chapter ends in these last verses with Jesus asking them a question.

Remember this takes place on Tuesday of Passover Week, just before His crucifixion.

While the priests, scribes, and elders were still gathered together, Jesus asked them a final question: "What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?" (Matt. 22:41-42, NKJV) This is the key question for every generation and each individual, for our salvation and eternal destiny are dependent on what we think about Christ and how we answer this question. (1 John 2:21-25; 4:1-6; 5:1).

Of course, these religious leaders knew the expected reply: The Christ, the Messiah is "The Son of David." They based this on such verses as 2 Samuel 7:13-14; Isaiah 11:1; and Jeremiah 23:5. God had ordained that the Messiah should come from the family of David and be born in David's city, Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). The fact that the Jewish people identified Jesus with Nazareth, not Bethlehem, indicates that they had not really looked into the facts connected with His birth (John 7:40-53).

Jesus then referred them to Psalm 110, which is quoted in the New Testament more than any other psalm. The Jewish religious leaders in that day identified Psalm 110 as a prophetic psalm and said that David was speaking of the Messiah. But if the Messiah is David's Lord, how can He be David's son? The only explanation is that Messiah must be both God and man. As eternal God, Messiah is David's Lord, but as man, He is David's son (Romans 1:3; 9:4-5; Acts 2:32-36; 13:22-23).

On Palm Sunday, the multitudes had acclaimed Jesus as the Son of David, and He had not rebuked them (Matt. 21:9; Mark 11:10). By applying Psalm 110:1 to Himself, Jesus claimed to be Israel's promised Messiah, the Son of God. Then why did the Pharisees not believe in Him? Because their minds were made up, their hearts were hardened, and their eyes were blind (John 12:37-50). They did not have the courage to confess the truth, and they persecuted those who did affirm faith in Jesus Christ. And it was out of envy and jealousy that they delivered Jesus up to Pilate to be crucified (Matthew 27:18; Mark 15:10). Christ's question silenced His enemies (Matthew 22:46) and ended their public challenges, but they would not admit defeat.

In the last verses, 45-47, Jesus warned the people about the hypocrisy and dishonesty of the scribes and Pharisees (see Matthew 23). Men see the outside, but God sees the heart (1 Samuel 16:7; Hebrews 4:12). These religious leaders did not desire personal holiness; they wanted public recognition. Therefore, they wore special garments, expected special titles and greetings, and looked for special seats at public gatherings.

There is a double tragedy here. First of all, their deliberate hypocrisy was only a cover-up that enabled them to fool people and exploit them. Of all rackets, religious rackets are the worst. The religious leaders had turned the temple of God into a den of thieves and religious devotion into playacting. The general public actually thought that their leaders were godly men, when in reality they were defiling and destroying souls (Matt. 23:13-36).

The second tragedy is that they rejected their own Messiah and voted to crucify Him. They led the nation into ruin because they would not admit their sins and confess Jesus Christ. Keep in mind that these men were "experts" in the Bible, yet they did not apply its truths to their own lives. Their religion was a matter of external observance, not internal transformation. How sad it is that we see so much the same in many of our churches and religious institutions today.

At this point, according to Matthew (Matthew 23:37-39), Jesus once again uttered a lamentation over the blind unbelief of the nation and their unwillingness to trust in Him. He had given them many opportunities, but they had wasted them. Now it was too late.

And one day it will be too late for us if we don’t repent!

God bless!