Christ is whose Son? Jesus asked, "David says in the Book of Psalms, “‘The Lord said to my Lord.”’ David thus calls him Lord, so how is he his son?” (Luke 20:41-44; see also Matthew 22:41-46 and Mark 12:35-37). How can David call the Messiah “Lord” if the Messiah is also his Son? How can the Messiah be both David’s Lord and Son?

https://youtu.be/ZFUfdbyV40Y
Christ is whose Son? How can David call the Messiah “Lord” if the Messiah is also his Son? (Luke 20:41-44 and Matthew 22:41-46).

Table of contentsThe Jehovah's Witnesses Deny that Jesus Is GodThe Jews Didn’t Think the Messiah Was GodThe Paradox of the Messiah Being the Root and Offspring of DavidThe Majority Knew the Messiah Is the Son of DavidHow Can Jesus Be David's Son and Lord?Jesus Showed the Messiah Is GodJesus Showed There Is a ResurrectionTruth Brings AccountabilityOur Accountability

When I was an elementary school teacher, an aide in my classroom was a Jehovah’s Witness. She was a sweet old woman, and we enjoyed each other. We had many of the same values. She not only helped me when I taught academics, but she also tried to reinforce the lessons on character that I taught. We would have pleasant conversations about our theological differences. I would share my questions about Jehovah’s Witnesses. Sometimes, she would respond. Other times, she would tell me she had to look into it, and then she would return with a copy of The Watchtower, the Jehovah’s Witnesses magazine.

She must have told her husband about me because he came to my house with another Jehovah’s Witness one day to talk to me. We jumped right to a discussion of who Jesus is. It resembled this morning’s passage. In the parallel account in Matthew 22:42, Jesus asked the religious leaders, “What do you think about the Christ?”

In answer to the question of who Jesus is, the man opened his New World Translation, the Jehovah’s Witness translation of the Bible, pointed to a verse in Matthew and said, “Jesus is the Son of God. See right here?”I said, “But you don’t think He’s God, do you?He said, “No. It says right here he’s the Son of God.”

The Jehovah's Witnesses Deny that Jesus Is God

The Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that when Jesus said He was the of God, He wasn’t claiming to BE God. But the Jews in Jesus’s day understood that when Jesus claimed to be the Son of God or to have God as his father, He was claiming equality with God:

John 5:17 Jesus [said], “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” 18 This was why the Jews were SEEKING ALL THE MORE TO KILL HIM, because…he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

They wanted to kill Him because they thought He was committing blasphemy, and this was the punishment for blasphemy:

Leviticus 24:16 Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him.

Here’s another example:

John 10:30 I and the Father are one.” 31 The Jews PICKED UP STONES AGAIN TO STONE HIM. 32 Jesus [said], “For which [good work] are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

Think about when Jesus healed the paralytic’s sins:

Luke 5:20 [Jesus] said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 The scribes and the Pharisees [said], “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Because only God can forgive sins, to claim to forgive sins was to claim to be God, and that was blasphemous.

John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him.

Pastor Nathan has made fun of me for years for correcting people’s grammar. He even got me one of my favorite sweatshirts, identifying me as part of the grammar police. I correct my kids’ grammar all day, which they love. They always say to me, “Daddy,