Matthew 22:34-46 (NRSV)
Read Matthew 22:34-46 on biblegateway.com
Verse 34When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, Verse 35and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. Verse 36"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" Verse 37He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' Verse 38This is the greatest and first commandment. Verse 39And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Verse 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
Verse 41Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: Verse 42"What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?" They said to him, "The son of David." Verse 43He said to them, "How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying, Verse 44'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet"'? Verse 45If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?" Verse 46No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
Devotion
We all have them: family members who have more than a passing interest in our genealogy. These are the people whose heads are filled with the names, dates and locations of relatives gone by.
Through these people and their interest, God gives us the gift of knowing from where and from whom we’ve come. This knowledge gives us a sense of how we have developed into who we are now. But as much as we know about our past and present, we have no way of knowing what our future will look like.
In response to Jesus’ question – “Whose son is the Messiah?” – the Pharisees rightly answer that the Messiah comes from the line of David. But there’s more to him than that. Jesus Christ will show who he is by dying on a cross and being raised for our sake. Jesus Christ is God’s Son, our Lord. We are his inheritors.
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, we give you thanks that you have made known to us who you are through your death and resurrection for us. Amen.