Matthew 22:41-46

I remember vividly my first days in seminary. Sitting in class with colleagues, fellow pastors, and a whole lot of strangers from around the country and world, we were all anxious and prepared (or so I thought) for what we were to encounter. Then the professor began to speak. Using language (I’m sure it was English?) that was definitely new to me, he talked about biblical themes, church theology, and theories of atonement and sanctification that made my head spin. It was like he was trying to sort us out on the very first day.

I’m sure the Pharisees felt similar when they discussed things with Jesus; when they asked him difficult questions and he provided even more challenging responses. And then when Jesus asks a question of them (this is not the first one), they simply go quiet. “Nobody was able to answer him. And from that day forward nobody dared to ask him anything.” (Mt 22:46)

Yet what Jesus asked here was important. He quoted Psalm 110:1 (The most quoted Old Testament passage in the New Testament; 37 times). It’s one of the first psalms in Part V of the book of Psalms. Scholars have long recognized a pattern in the psalms that corresponds with Israel’s faith journey from exodus to exile and beyond with Book V focusing on a time after the exile when Israel would be restored and their king would simply be God.

Jesus was pointing the Pharisees to their own theology and their own hope. What is critical about this question is that it equates the anointed One (Christos in Greek and Messiach in Hebrew) as a part of Kingdom plan of God. “Sit right beside me…”

While we may be just as confused at times by Jesus’ words just like the Pharisees, we can be assured that His words will always bring us to a deeper understanding of who He truly is; the One sitting at the right hand of the Father. There is no confusion in that!