If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Luke chapter 20. Luke chapter 20, and we'll take as our sermon text this morning, verses 39 through 44. Luke chapter 20, starting in verse 39. Hear the word of the Lord. Then some of the scribes answered, Teacher, you have spoken well. But they no longer dared to ask him any questions. But he said to them, how can they say that the Christ is David's son? For David himself says in the book of Psalms, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Thus, David thus calls him Lord. So how is he his son? Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father God, we thank you for your Word and we thank you for revealing your Son to us. God, just by virtue of the things that you've made and the internal witness of our own conscience, we can know that there is a God and that we can know something of our own sin and feel the guilt and the fear of having to give an account to you because of sin. But there's no hope apart from your word which reveals Christ to us. And we pray this morning that you would, by your spirit, that you would illumine this text, help us to understand its truth, and help us to see Christ more clearly, and to see important aspects of who he is that we might more fully trust in the things that he has done for us and for our salvation. And so we pray that you would exalt Christ in our midst this morning, and that you would bless our time in the word, and make it fruitful. God, fruitful for eternity. Help us to grow. We pray that you would be glorified in us, and we pray all of this in Christ's name, amen. In the Old Testament scriptures, one designation that we have of God that is central and very important is God's self-designation as Lord. God declares Himself to be the Lord. In fact, this is so common that we alternate, even in our prayers and in our conversations about God, of referring to God as the Lord or God, alternatively. And we have examples in Scripture where God reveals himself to Moses in Exodus chapter 3 verse 15. He says, In the Hebrew, in the original tongue in which these words were uttered to Moses and the people of God, God is revealing his own name, Yahweh. We used to refer to him more commonly as Jehovah. This is almost a personal name for God that is distinctly given and revealed to Israel. But in our translations of the Bible, this name Jehovah is closely associated with Lord. Whenever you see the word Lord in all capitals in the Old Testament, It is an English translation of that Hebrew word for Jehovah or Yahweh. But this is a tradition that goes back before even the time of Christ. As the Hebrew scriptures were translated into other languages, into Greek, that word for Jehovah or Yahweh is translated as Lord, and so there's a close association. Lord, it draws to mind for Jesus and his disciples and for his first hearers, those who would have first read the book of Luke, the word Lord has these rich Old Testament associations. This is the God who revealed himself to Moses at Sinai, at the burning bush and at Sinai. This is the covenant Lord who rescued his people from slavery into Egypt and gave them good laws and brought them into a land that was abundantly fertile and blessed them in all kinds of ways. This is the God of the patriarchs who is the Lord. In Deuteronomy 6, verse 4, the most basic confession of faith for the Old Testament people of God and for the Jewish people is given and it is, Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And so we see again the importance of this idea. In the New Testament, one of the basic confessions of New Testament Christianity for the people of God who are the New Testament church comprised of both Jews and Gentiles is to associate Jesus with this Lord who is the Lord of creation and the Lord, the covenant Lord of His people. And in Romans 10 verse 9, Paul says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. So right at the heart of what it means to have faith in Jesus and to make the good confession that results in salvation, that it goes along with our salvation, is to call Jesus Lord, to confess that he is the Lord. 1 Corinthians 12.3 Paul says, again, no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says Jesus is accursed and no one can say Jesus is a Lord except in the Holy Spirit. So this is again this teaching that before we can ever confess with the mouth and with the heart that Jesus is Lord and make a credible profession of faith, God has to do a prior work of His Spirit within our hearts so that we are born again. And so that's what Paul's referring to here is that in the Holy Spirit we're able, we're enabled to confess that Jesus is Lord. But once we have the Holy Spirit, we're unable to say anything that contradicts that. because now we're firmly convinced that Jesus is Lord. In Philippians 2, verses 9 through 11, listen to the way that Jesus Christ, in particular, although the New Testament does reveal God to be one God in three persons, and so we confess that the Lord is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we see that in Philippians 2, it is in particular the Son, it is Jesus, who is called Lord. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess. So what is the name that has been given to Christ and that is that which is bestowed on him that is highly exalted. Paul's referring to these things. Well, we confess it with our tongues that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. So the Father is mentioned here, and yet it's Jesus Christ in particular who is called Lord. And so this is really at the heart of Christianity is a recognition that the divine Lord, the Lord our God, that has revealed himself throughout the Old Testament that this is who Jesus is. And making this connection is very important for us. It's a question that's been asked ever since the very beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry. Jesus himself posed this question famously in the middle of Mark's Gospel. He asked his disciples, who do people say that I am? And then he asked them, but who do you say that I am? And this is Peter's response is to say that Jesus is the Christ. And so that is another important confession that Jesus is the Christ, which is to say that Jesus is David's son. He is the one that's been promised long ago that's going to come as a part of the Davidic dynasty. He's going to be a natural descendant of King David whom God is going to make to be a king forever, to rule over all of the enemies of the people of God. and is going to be established on an everlasting throne. So, Peter and the disciples confess that Jesus is Christ. Jesus himself, he raises this important question though here in Luke chapter 20. That the one who is the Christ is also the Lord. And that he is both, Jesus himself. But you need to ask yourself this morning, who do you say that Jesus is? Is he merely an influential and historically significant religious figure? Do you merely learn important lessons about how to get along with your fellow man and how to think about God rightly or how to worship Him? Or is He both the Savior of mankind, the Christ, who was long ago prophesied, the Messiah? Is He the Lord God Himself? Important questions that Jesus asks and answers, I think, by implication in our passage. And the first thing that I want for us to consider is There are two things that really Jesus explicitly draws our attention to from his quotation of Psalm 110 and that is that the Christ is David's son and the Christ is David's Lord. So let's begin with the Christ as David's son. Jesus says here, how can they say the Christ is David's son? Now Jesus isn't denying that the Christ is going to be David's son. It's not something that you can deny. It's something that's very explicit in the Old Testament revelation and is a part of the hope of God's people as they think about all of their problems. Their earthly oppressors, their earthly problems, and their spiritual oppression that they're under and their spiritual problem of sin. They're looking for salvation, for deliverance from everything that is wrong. And all of that hope is invested by God. It's invested in one central personal figure. It's this king who is to come and he is David's son. And he is the Christ. This is the Savior. The Savior is David's son. That much is assumed here in our text. And it's rightly assumed by both Jesus and his hearers. But maybe that's not something that you have assumed. So we need to lay the foundation for this in the Old Testament. And all of this begins really, it begins much further back in Genesis 3.15. It begins with the blessings that are given to the twelve sons where we have Judah having a prophecy proclaimed in the context of his blessing. that from his descendants will come a ruler who will deceptor and who will rule over the people of God and over his brothers, the other tribes of Israel. But I just want to begin in 2 Samuel 7. And if you read 2 Samuel 7 verses 12 and 13, you see the promise that's first made explicitly to David. And there the Lord says to David that when your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you who shall come from your body. And so when we say the son of David, you have to understand that we're not talking about one who is exclusively his biological son, but one who is going to be a descendant of David. The language in scripture can refer to, the son of David can refer to His immediate son, we could refer to Solomon, but I think that when we take a look at Solomon's life and we have his life in view in his own kingdom, it's clear that Solomon is not the Christ. And so after that, God's people are expecting a descendant or a son of David to come. And from the very beginning, when God made this promise in 2 Samuel chapter 7, He said that He will raise up this offspring who will come after you. It will come from your own body. And God promises this, I will establish his kingdom. It will be a kingdom that God himself establishes. He, the son of David, shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. So from that point forward throughout the Old Testament era and on into the historical context surrounding Jesus earthly ministry, God's people are looking for a Davidic king. Now the last of the kings to rule over Judah was killed. His sons were killed before his very eyes and then his eyes were gouged out and he was led away into exile. And then there were no more kings. And yet God's people continued to hope and the prophets who prophesied during the time of exile, spoke of David. They would use David's name, but they would speak of David in the future tense and make it clear they were referring to this descendant of David. And I'll just give you one example for the sake of time. Jeremiah 23 verses 5 and 6. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch and he shall reign as king. and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called. The Lord is our righteousness." And so even here you see this connection between David's son and the Lord. He will be called the Lord, is our righteousness. There's some kind of connection here. Even as the Lord is the one to make this promise, there's a connection between the one to come and the Lord himself. But in any case, God's people are right to expect the Savior to come in the line of David. And if you look back, and we'll come to this in a moment, but we look back in the genealogies, that are given. This is the reason why genealogies are so significant in the Old Testament. It's because they're keeping careful track of who is a son of David. It's one of the main functions of genealogy. They want to know what are the possibilities here? Who are the people who might be Messiah? Who might be the Savior? Well, so the Christ is David's son, and that much is established in the Old Testament. It's assumed by both Jesus and the scribes that he's speaking to, but where he challenges their understanding is in verse 42. David goes on to say, in verse 41, how can they say that the Christ is David's son? Why is this a problem? 4, verse 42 says, Four, David himself says in the book of Psalms, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. And so there are three things I want you to see here and notice from Psalm 110. The first is that the Christ is called Lord. David, and you have to think about what's being said here, David is the one who has written Psalm 110. We read this at the beginning of our service this morning. Psalm 10, verse one, David, David himself, the author of the psalm, says, the Lord, who is, you know, obviously he's referring to the Lord, who is God, as we've established. God himself has revealed himself as the Lord. But he says, the Lord said to my Lord. And then follows, it's a messianic song. It's a psalm that points to the Christ. To the one who's going to reign forever and be a savior to his people. And David is simply pointing out here that the one who is to come, the one who is to be his own descendant, to be made king over an eternal kingdom, David is willing to extend that title of Lord to this figure. And this is striking. And Jesus himself says, how can this be? How can any righteous king, and David symbolizes the high point, in the kingdom of Israel to that time. He was the prototypical king, the great king who expanded Israel's holdings and had victories and was the one who was considered to be the exemplary king among God's people. And yet he says, how can any righteous king call a mere man Lord in this way? This is strange, and it's clear, I think, that David is extending to the Christ, is extending a kind of reverence that is really only properly to be given to God alone. There is a mystery here in the Old Testament that is fully revealed in the New Testament, and that is that the one who is going to be born a man in the line of David is God in the flesh. And so he is himself the Lord. But you imagine just what a bombshell this would have been when Jesus dropped this on the scribes to say, the one that you're looking after to be an earthly king is going to be worshiped as God. So he is David's son. The Christ is David's son, but he's also David's Lord. Notice the second thing. Not only is the Christ called Lord here by David in Psalm 110, but the Christ is said to rule and to save with the power and authority of God himself. And I take that from the words here, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. And as you continue reading in context, this this work of the Christ to save and to rule over the nations and to save the people from among the nations that he's going to do this from this position of sitting at the right hand of God. What does that What does that language symbolize or what does it imply, God's right hand? Well, let me read to you several references from elsewhere in the Old Testament that help us to understand the significance of that language, right hand. In Isaiah 48, 13, the Lord says, My right hand laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens. When I call to them, they stand forth together. And so, the creative power of God, when He first made everything that is, that was said to be something accomplished by His right hand. Also in Psalm 74, verses 10 and 11. How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name forever? Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the fold of your garment and destroy them. So it's by God's right hand that His divine power is leveraged against the enemy and destroys those who stand opposed to God and His purposes. Psalm 44, 3. For not by their own sword did they win the land, speaking of the people of God's conquest of the promised land, nor did their own arms save them, but your right hand and your arm and the light of your face, for you delighted in them. So it's very clear, I think, that when the Christ sits at the right hand of the Father, he is exercising this divine power and authority the power and authority of God to rule and to save. Third, we notice in these verses that the Christ will rule until all his enemies are defeated. It's interesting here, and I'd have you notice how his enemies are still active even when the Christ is given divine authority and is exercising this divine power over all. He's sitting at the right hand of the Father or the Lord, and yet he is doing this as, what's implied here is the enemies are still active. And it's going to be a process by which Christ comes to rule over them in such a way to have the victory over them so completely that he's made them his footstool. Now this kind of language is striking. If you can think about this in the terms of warfare and of conflict and we see I think all the way back in Genesis 315 where God promised that a seed of the woman would crush the head of the seed of the serpent and the imagery of of God's saviors, of his kings, or the Christ, not just having victory, but having such a victory where he will stand upon the head of his enemy, where he will crush the head of the serpent. And here, the Lord will make the enemies of this son of David into a footstool, so his foot will be upon them. as it were. And so you see the rich biblical imagery that reminds us that Christ will rule until all his enemies are defeated and will be finally victorious. So we have here this teaching that Christ is David's son, that Christ is also David's Lord. And this ought to be, this is one of those passages and this is one of those lines of thoughts that for us as God's people, contemplate who Jesus is, in one sense, it's totally impractical. You know, if you're the kind of person who's always like, give me something to do, give me something to do, pastor. If I'm reading my scripture, I'm just skipping over things until I see this is my responsibility as a Christian believer. Then we miss over so much of what God would have us not to do, but to believe. and not to set our will to, but to set our heart upon, to understand with our mind who Jesus is so that our love for him would be deepened, that we would stand in awe of his power and his glory and his majesty. And that is the practical impact of a passage like this to increase not only our understanding of Christ, but our confidence in him, that he is no mere religious teacher, that the one that we confess to be Christ. He's our Savior. We confess that He is the Lord. That He exercises all of the power and authority of God and sits at God's right hand because He Himself is God. And He is God come in the flesh. And of course, the final point to be made here is that Jesus is the Christ. And we see this, I'll just limit to a few references to Luke in conclusion, but we see this throughout the New Testament teaching, connecting Jesus to all of these promises that are spoken of in the Old Testament. And so, for example, in Luke chapter 1, when the angel Gabriel came to Mary, he said to her, it mentions here in verse 27, that she was that the angel came to a virgin, betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David." It's the significance of Jesus being the son of David. And again and again you see this in the words that come in Luke's gospel. In Zechariah's prophecy we see this in verse 69. In verse 68, blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David. And of course this is in reference to Jesus. In chapter 2 verse 4, Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David. We have to consider these references and if we go forward to chapter 18 verse 35, Jesus passes beside a blind man who was sitting by the roadside begging. And what did he cry out? He cried out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Because only in connection with his identity as the son of David can Jesus give mercy. Can he save his people from their sins? And so Jesus is the son of David. In chapter 2, going back to chapter 2 in verse 11, For unto you is born this day in the city of David, and notice this, a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And so this is really, as a Christian people, this is an important confession that we make, that Jesus is both the Christ, he is the one who has come in the flesh, a son of David, to save his people, to defeat his enemies, to reign forever. We have a great deal of hope and confidence in him, but the only way that he could accomplish his purposes, is if he does these things by the power of God and if he himself is the Lord our God. And so we confess that Jesus, our Savior, is Christ the Lord. Let us pray together. Father God, we thank you that you have sent Jesus, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And we pray that you would, God, that you would incline our hearts to sing his praise. We pray that you would help us to give all glory, laud, and honor to this one who is great David's greater son, and who is the eternal son of God, the second person of the Godhead come in the flesh. It's a profound mystery, the person of Christ. But God, we gladly confess it to be true, and all of our hope is in this. This is who Jesus is. Because he is who you tell us that he is, God, we have great hope. We pray that as your people that we would not only embrace this truth in our own hearts, that we would commend it gladly to others, encouraging them to believe in Jesus, a Savior who is Christ the Lord, and believing in him that they would have life in his name. We pray all of this in Christ's name. Amen.