17
identity of the Messiah. Reflecting the pattern of rabbinical "forensic interrogation,"
59
Jesus concludes his public debate with his adversaries by thrusting them into a haggadic
questions expected in the testing of a rabbi. (Haggadaic questions concerned antinomies
in the non-halachic /non-legal parts of Scripture.)
60
Jesus raises the topic of the nature of
the Messiah, "
tiv Jmi`n dokei` peri; tou` cristou`
?" and asks a seemingly simple question
about Messiah's lineage, "
tivno" uiJov" ejstin
?"
Just as Jesus had given the simple answer in 22:37 about the greatest
commandment, so they do here about the identity of the Messiah curtly with two words,
"
tou` Dauivd
." Then, in the style of an haggadic riddle, Jesus asks, "
pw`" ou\n Daui;d ejn
pneuvmati kalei` aujto;n kuvrion
" citing Psalm 110:1, "
ei\pen kuvrio" tw`/ kurivw/ mou: kavqou ejk
dexiw`n mou, e{w" a]n qw` tou;" ejcqrouv" sou uJpokavtw tw`n podw`n sou
."
61
Going further he
inquires, "
eij ou\n Daui;d kalei` aujto;n kuvrion, pw`" uiJo;" aujtou` ejstin
?" They have no riposte
to the paradox that he presented them. How can the one sitting at YHWH's right hand
who is addressed as
kuvrio"
be David's son? This was indeed confounding since fathers
never addressed their sons as "lord" or much less as "the Lord." Davies and Allison
rightly observed, "Perhaps we are to surmise that the Pharisees' Messianic expectation (v.
42) is, like the Sadducees' idea of resurrection, feeble and unimaginative."
62
At the
beginning of the Temple debates the chief priests and elders would not answer Jesus'
question; here at the end of the ad hoc trial the Pharisees simply cannot answer Jesus.
The only possible harmony of Jesus' enthymematic logic is that David's son is
David's Lord. Carson noted, "What Jesus does is synthesize the concept of a human
Messiah in David's line with the concept of a divine Messiah which transcends human
59
Owen-Ball, "Rabbinic Rhetoric, 4.
60
Keener, 532.
61
Davies and Allison noted, 3:253, that most commentators hold that this is a preexilic, royal psalm. It
foresees a Jerusalem monarch that he will reign in Yahweh's power and authority, overwhelm enemies, and
fulfill priestly functions. It was even applied to Hasmoneans.
62
Ibid.