2004-12-12 Communion Dedication - Baldwin Christian Church

Mark 12:35-37

35. And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the Son of David?
36. For David himself said by the Holy Ghost (Psalm 110), The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
37. David therefore himself calleth him (the Messiah, Christ) Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly.

On this day in Jerusalem, just days before His crucifixion, a large crowd had listened to Jesus answer trick questions from the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Scribes. Every time, Jesus gave answers that were impossible to argue with; answers that threw all their tricks aside and exposed the truth. And now, it does the hearts in this crowd good to hear Him turn the tables on His critics when He finally asks them a question.

I can't begin to tell you how many times the Bible has turned the tables on my conventional wisdom. It happens so many times, that the things I've always been taught and the things that I've always thought... suddenly get turned upside-down and scattered by the Truth in these pages. How do I respond to the Truth? Well, my pride wishes that I'd throw away my faith whenever the Bible's message becomes difficult to swallow. My pride wants me to give up on studying the Bible, because after all, the words in here keep beating me up. My pride hopes that I'll be content with being a lukewarm Christian, that I'll believe I'm a good person because I attend church, give offerings, and give the pastor a smile on the way out. My pride doesn't want Jesus to turn the tables on me.

The conventional line of thinking in Jesus' day was that the Messiah would be the Son of David, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Jesus was asking how the Christ could be the Son of David if David called Him his Lord? The LORD (YHVH - the sacred name) said to my Lord (the Christ), Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. How could Christ be less than David (a son), and at the same time greater than David (his Lord)? They stopped asking Jesus questions after that.

Today, as you sit here, everything in your life hinges on your view of Jesus. He's asking us a question today. He's asking, "Who do you say that I am?" Like Peter (Mark 8:29), I would say, "Thou art the Christ," but I can hear His painful reply even now, "Why don't you act like I am?"