The Deity of Christ - His Names (2)

You know the Bible says a lot more about teaching than it does preaching as far as the work of the church and the ministry of the church and the ministry of the pastor. I did a study one time years ago back in the 80s on the different words in the New Testament used for the ministry of the Word. And there are about 12 or 14 of them that are used and the emphasis of the epistles is on teaching the Bible. And so that's what we really focus on on Wednesday nights. It's our time to really teach the Word of God because the Bible says that we're to be well grounded in the truth so that we're not blown about by every wind of doctrine. And the last days are days that are characterized by people who have itching years turning away from sound teaching. And so we're supposed to be well grounded in what we believe and understand what the Bible teaches so that we can stand true to God's Word. So that's our pattern on Wednesday nights is to teach and basically we just teach Bible doctrine on Wednesday nights. If you've been with us for a while, you know that we're talking about the doctrine of Christ or what the Bible teaches about Christ. And after talking about his pre-existence, the fact that he existed before, in eternity past, before he came to this earth, last couple of weeks we've been talking about his deity. The deity of Christ is one of the most important doctrines of all and it will be the subject of our study for some time actually. And I just remind you of what we talked about last week in introducing this topic by the deity of Christ. We're not talking about that Jesus has a spark of divinity, you know, liberal, liberal theologians believe that everybody has a spark of divinity in him. And Jesus spark was a little higher and a little better, a little bigger, but he was just like the rest of us. And that's not what we're saying. We're saying that he had the full nature of God. And that's equal to God the Father in every way. That's what we mean by the deity of Christ. And then we also saw that it was one of the most crucial topics in Bible doctrine. It is really at the very foundation of our faith, at the heart of our faith, and that's the reason why we're going to take some time on this. And another reason why we're going to take some time on this is because we saw last week there are many proofs of his deity in the New Testament. They're not just a couple of three verses that kind of make it sound like he's God. It is woven throughout the fabric of the New Testament. It is all over the place. It is just bleeding out of every page. And so we're going to see a number of different ways. We're taking it from a number of different angles. And then we will also see as we go along just even indirectly many ways in which his deity is seen. We start with the fact that his names indicate his deity. And there are several, all about eight names that we're going to be looking at. We looked at the first one last week. He is called God. And we looked at seven verses where that is very clear that he's called God. Very directly, clearly called God in the New Testament. So that is obviously a name that expresses deity. And then we talked about the issue last week a little bit too of a couple of passages where men or angels are also called God's little G. And what that means, totally different meaning between those passages and the passages that refer to Jesus as God. So we pick up tonight with the second name that Jesus is identified by in the New Testament. And that is he is called the Son of God. He's not only called God. He's called the Son of God. Now what we're going to lose, look at three verses that show that that title, Son of God, was understood in Jesus' day to mean that he had a special relationship with God. He was not just A Son, he was the Son of God. He was not A Son of God like we are sons of God or children of God. He was the Son of God in a unique way. Had a unique position, a unique relationship with God which meant that he was equal with God. And one of the best passages to see that is in John chapter 5 and verse 18. So that's where we begin tonight. John 5, 18. This is a verse that we just saw a couple of weeks ago in our journey through the Gospel of John on Sunday morning. So I won't take a lot of time here. But you remember Jesus is defending himself for what he has done on the Sabbath day in healing the man of the pool of Bethesda. He was severely criticized by the Pharisees for doing it on the Sabbath. So verse 17 says in his defense, Jesus said to them, My father is always at his work to this very day and I too am working. For this reason, here it is, verse 18. For this reason they tried all the more to kill him. Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father and notice how they interpret that, making himself equal with God. So to call God my father, not our father like he taught his disciples to pray or even Jews would pray in the first century, our father. He didn't say that. He said, my father, there's a uniqueness between me and my father, a unique relationship, and the Jews understood what he was talking about. They're ready to put him to death because that's blasphemy and they're thinking he is making himself equal with God by using that title. My father, he's making himself equal with God. Now you say, well, wait a second. That's not the son of God. That title doesn't appear here. But if you read the next few verses, he refers to himself as the son eight times. And then in verse 25, he uses the full title. Very truly, I tell you, time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the son of God and those who here will live. So in the context, it's very clear that this this title, my father indicates that he has a special relationship, a unique relationship as the son and even the son of God. So the title is used there. Jesus is claiming equality with God. The Jews recognize that. They don't miss that. They realize what he's doing. Any questions about that passage before we move on to John 10? Any question or comment there? All right, John chapter 10, verse 30. Jesus is still sparring with the Pharisees, verse 24, the Jews who were gathered around him saying, how long would you keep us in suspense if you're the Messiah? Tell us plainly. They're trying to go to him into making claims that they can then accuse him over. And he does in verse 30, he says, I and the father are one, a very clear claim to being equal with the father. We are one in nature. In essence, we we are the same in that way. Verse 31, again, his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him. They realized that was a claim to deity. But Jesus said to them, I've shown you many good works from the father for which of these do you stone me? We are not stoning you for any good work. They replied, but for blasphemy because you, a mere man, claim to be God. Now I want you to tie a few verses together here. Verse 30, Jesus makes the claim that he is, he and his father are one. Okay, that's the claim that he's made. They understand that what he is saying is blasphemous because they understand that saying in verse 33, to mean you are claiming to be God. Okay, now let's follow on with what happens. Verse 34, Jesus answered them, is it not written in your law? I have said you are gods. And he quotes that passage from Psalm 82 that we talked about before. If he called them gods to whom the word of God came in scripture cannot be set aside. What about the one whom the father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, I am God's son? Okay, that's the third verse I want you to tie together. Jesus claim is I and the father are one. The same essence, same nature were both God. They understand that's blasphemy and they are accusing him of making the claim to be God. And Jesus says the claim I'm making is to be the son of God. So all three of those are the same to be the son of God means that he is claiming to be God and that he has the same essence and same nature as God. So three verses all tie together, they are all three referring to the same thing. So to make a claim to be the son of God is the same thing as saying I'm God or I and the father are one. He's saying the same thing three different ways. So it's a clear claim to deity to say I am the son of God. All right, comments, questions there. All right, one other that we'll look at is John chapter 19 and verse seven. This is it Jesus trial before pilot. You know pilot on at least three occasions said I don't find anything wrong with him. He hasn't broken into laws. I don't find anything worthy of condemning him and he has just said that to them. In the first few verses of the chapter and in verse six as soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him they shouted crucify, crucify but pilot answered you take him and crucify him. I find no basis for a charge against him. And so they're going to up the ante a little bit the Jewish leaders are to make sure they have a stickable charge. So they say in verse seven the Jewish leaders insisted we have a law and according to that law he must die because he claimed to be the son of God. And what is the law that they're talking about? What law do you think they're talking about? We're all asleep tonight. Are we? Blast for me. I heard it. The law blast for me. Yes. The Old Testament law said that a person was worthy of death and really the only the only offense that they could possibly have on Jesus. He hasn't committed any crimes. He hadn't killed anybody. Obviously. The only capital offense they could have lodged against him was blasphemy. That's the only offense they could have charged him with that would have been a capital offense. And so that's obviously the law they're talking about. The law that the only one that would refer to Christ would be the law of blasphemy. And so if they're charging him with the law of blasphemy that he's claiming to be God the way they phrase it is. He claims to be the son of God. So it's clear that that title is a claim to deity. Christ's enemies knew that it's their claim here. They're lodging the charge that his claim to deity is guilty is blasphemy which is guilty of is claiming to be the son of God. And Jesus himself used that title to refer to deity. Okay. So those are three passages in John's Gospel that make it very clear that that is a divine title. It's a title of deity, the son of God. What? Did the Jews now have a call for the Christ that they call for the works? If they don't believe in the Holy Mother of Christ, why would they not believe in the Word? That's one of the great mysteries of the New Testament because if they had understood their Old Testament clearly, they would have understood that Isaiah 35 for instance tells what the Messianic Age will be like and it describes the works of them. It says he will heal the wounded, the lame, he will cause the eyes of the blind will be opened. You know, let's solve these miracles. And Jesus was doing those exact things. In fact, remember when John the Baptist questioned and sent his disciples, questioned Jesus as to who he was. Jesus didn't answer them at first. He just turned around and started doing all these miracles. And then he said, go tell John what you've seen because he knew John would put it together. John would say, okay, this is what he's doing. This is what the Old Testament said the Messiah would do. Boom, they match up. Every Jewish teacher should have seen that. And so one of the great mysteries and the only way I think you can explain it is that their hearts were so hardened by their religious system. All of their rules and do's and don'ts and their legalism and the fact that they were in control of the people religiously, they were so blinded by all that they didn't see it. They didn't see Christ. That's the only way I can explain that. They should have known it. Should have known better. Okay, that's a great question. Any others? Okay, one of the things that reinforces this idea of the Son of God being a title of deity because when you hear the term Son, Son of, you think of someone who's born from that family and you might think, well, that's not a title of deity. It sounds like someone is actually born from someone else and not equal to them. So the very word used for Son reinforces the idea that this is a divine title. There is a particular word that's always used when this word Son of God is used and it's the word, cuyos. And I'm going to show you these words on the screen. This word because there are three different words that John or the other writers of the New Testament could use for Son or child, three different words they could have used. But they all have little shades of meaning. And John always uses, and this term Son of God always uses the term cuyos which does not refer to origin. It refers to position. Okay, that's very important because the term that's used here is not referring to where Jesus came from that he was born the Son of God. It's not talking about that. It's talking about the position that he has. He has the position of being an exalted Son, the Son of God, a unique relationship with the Father. Okay, there is another word that is used for someone who is born the child of someone else and it's this word's Tecnon. It's totally different word. Whenever that word is used, it means child, someone who is born from a Father. So you are a son or a child in the sense that you were begotten by that person. It refers to origin. It does refer to natural descent. Christ is never called the child of God. He is called the Son of God cuyos. Now, if you have a King James version, you may be thinking of a verse. All of you, a Bible students will be thinking of a verse. I wouldn't have thought of it unless I looked it up, but some of you might be thinking of it in Acts chapter 4 and verse 30. Acts 4, 30 and I'm reading now out of the NIV. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders. This is the prayer of the apostles after they've been arrested and let go. So, signs and wonders through the name of your Holy Servant Jesus. Who has the King James here? And I'd like you to read that verse in the King James. Okay, Burton, you got it. Ephesians 4, Acts 4, 30. The name of the Holy Child Jesus. And so there have been some people that say in some cults, use that verse. Oh, okay, so he is a child. He was generated from. He was born from someone else, but aha. Here's the beauty of the Greek language. It is so precise. Luke does not use, can we go back to that other slide? Luke does not use techno. He uses an entirely other word, pideon. Okay, let's go back beyond Acts and get to pideon. Okay, the next one. Just just keep going. Just yeah, just keep going. I've got you going in wrong direction, Greg. I'm sorry. There it is. That's the word he uses in Acts 4. It's not the word for a child that refers to origin. It is not the word that refers to descendant of or descended from. It is the word pideon, which literally means the legal position of a child or of a servant. It can be used in both ways. And that's why about every other translation you pick up today has translated this servant and not child because it can go either way, both are appropriate of Christ and translate it child really gives the wrong idea. And so the NIV, the new American standard, the ESV all translate it with the word servant. That's why we saw Acts 4.30 in the NIV with the word servant. And that's probably most appropriate in that passage. So my point is this. The Son of God, it's clear in the gospels. That's titled a deity, but even to get a little more detailed and specific, the very word that's used also reinforces that idea because he does not use the word for a child that would be born from a father descended from someone else. He doesn't even use the word pideon of a position of a servant. He uses the word that is that is descriptive of the position of a son. The position in the family and the fact that Jesus is called the son indicates he has a unique position that is unlike anyone else. Okay, comments or questions there before we deal with a couple of questions that follow from that. Can I use it in a context about but use in another situation? Okay, a fuyos would would basically describe the position of a son as an heir in other words, not the fact it wouldn't focus on the fact that he's been born from me. He's my descendant, but he's my heir. He has that position. He's unlike a servant. He has the position of being an heir. So I could say if I'm introducing my son, which I didn't have any. But I could say this is my fuyos and by that I'm saying he's my legal heir. He is the one who will inherit everything I have. He has a special relationship to me. I'm not saying I'm not emphasizing the fact that he was generated from me, born as my son. And I'm not even emphasizing position of a servant. Obviously, I'm emphasizing the legal status of a son. This is my fuyos. That's how that would be used in that day. Say that again, Jim. I'm sorry. Yes. I am. That's a great question. And I really can't answer it. I don't know without looking at the Greek. Anybody have your Greek text here with you tonight? I'm not sure which word he uses. It would be interesting though to see because that would really carry a flavor of meaning there. The interesting to see which word that is used. Jim was asking about the prodigal son when he comes back. He says, this is my son. You know, it would be interesting to see which word he uses. The older brother. Yeah. It would be interesting to see. That's worth following up on. Okay. Any other question? Okay. There are a couple of questions that are raised by this whole idea of Christ being the son of God. There are a couple of problems that are raised sometimes by people. And one of them is this. What about the title Son of Man? What about the title Son of Man? If Son of God indicates his status, his position, a unique relationship with God. Then why is he also called Son of Man? Doesn't that seem to negate? Doesn't that seem to be the opposite? And refer to the fact that he's not God? What do you think? Why would the title Son of Man be used? Because of his birth to Mary that you, okay, you're head of the right direction. You're going down the right path there, Don. That's exactly the right direction. His humanity. Yeah. Because Son of Man indicates his position as human. Just like Son of God indicates his position as God. Son of Man indicates the fact that he did have a fully human nature, born of a woman, made under the law as Paul said in Galatians 4.4. So he did have a human nature as well. So there's certainly no problem with that title because it refers to his humanity. He was fully human, fully man, just like he was fully God. And so that's the title that would typically be used there. But again, this title Son of Man does not refer necessarily or even primarily to origin. It refers to position or sameness of nature. So Jesus not only holds the position of God, he holds the position of man, which means he has the same nature as man. He has a human nature. Okay, so nothing wrong with the use of the title. It just stresses his humanity. But clear thinking Jews would see a little bit more, a lot more actually in that title Son of Man. We've also dealt with this recently on Sunday morning. Do you remember what that you remember what what would a Jew think of if they were really familiar with their Old Testament? What would they think of when they heard that title Son of Man? A Messianic title, yes, they would especially the Old Testament scholars, the scribes and the Pharisees, the teachers of the law, they would have heard Son of Man and they would have picked up real quick. Their ears would have perked up, should have at least. To a passage in the Old Testament. Do you remember what book it's found in? Daniel, you're right. It's Daniel. Daniel 7 verses 13 and 14. Let's see it on the screen. Daniel, the great prophet is talking about the end of times and he says in my vision at night, I looked in there before me was one like a Son of Man. There's that title. Coming with the clouds of heaven, he approached the ancient of days, another title and we looked at this verse two or three weeks ago, I guess. Ancient of days, who is the father and was led into his presence. Now here's what happens. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power, all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. This is not an angel, obviously, because angels do not accept worship. Whoever this Son of Man is is higher than an angel. Because everybody worships him, he's given him the kingdom. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away. His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. And that terminology immediately leads you to believe because if you know the other Old Testament prophets, they all refer to this everlasting kingdom as being the kingdom of the Messiah. The Son of God, the one whom God will send to be his king on earth. That's obviously Jesus. But the Son of Man is a royal figure in heaven who receives an everlasting kingdom and is worshiped as God. Because only God is to be worshiped. So really astute Jews, when they heard that title, they would think of more than humanity. They would think of Daniel's prophecy. And they would think this is a title which indicates the sovereign ruler who has given all the kingdoms of the earth and is to be worshiped as God. They would see that. It's interesting that in that light, Jesus' favorite title for himself, one who uses over and over again, especially in Luke's Gospel as it's recorded, is Son of Man. That's his favorite title for himself. Because maybe like no other title, it combines both humanity and deity. It does refer to his position as a true full human, but it also has those overtones of deity because of that Daniel 7 passage. So the title Son of Man, not a problem, it doesn't go against the title Son of God. It complements it and even reinforces it when you understand Daniel 7. But here's one that's maybe a little tougher. And that is the phrase, and again, it's a phrase from the old King James language. Nothing wrong with the King James version, but just the language that was used is sometimes a little confusing with the way we use words today. And so here's the difficult question. Does not only be gotten Son referred to some point of origin. You get the point here, the fact that the Bible does sometimes call Jesus the only begotten Son of God. John 118, for instance, no man has seen God at any time, but the only begotten Son who was in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him. John 316, very clear use of that title. For God's love the world that he gave his only begotten Son, and that's the way that that term is translated several times in the New Testament. Begotten, you know there are lots of genealogies in the Bible, so and so begotten Son of God, so and so and so. It means they were born. It means they had children. And those children were begotten of their fathers. They came into existence at a point in time and were born after they came into existence in their mother's womb. So the term begotten literally means to birth, to conceive and give birth to. And again this is a phrase that the cults jump on. And the cults say the Bible says Jesus was the only begotten Son of God, which means he had a point of origin. He had a beginning as a human, and that was where he started. And so they say all this stuff about him being deity and being pre-existent is not true. The Bible calls him the only begotten Son of God. Does that term only begotten mean that he had a point of origin or as some cults teach that he was at least created? He had a beginning and was created by God. That's what some cults will teach. Is that what that term means? And I want to answer with an emphatic no, that is not what that term means. I should have put this term on the screen too. The term is monogonase and if you're interested in writing it down to be mono like the disease, mono and then guineas, G-E-N-E-S. Monogonase is the term translated only begotten. And the term literally means the unique one of a kind, Son of God. The only begotten Son of God. That's what it's translated in the King James. But the word literally means a unique or one of a kind. God has many sons. We are his sons, his children, his sons and daughters. We are sons of God, children of God. But God only has one unique Son. The only begotten, if you want to call him that, although the term begotten is confusing. The unique one and only. Christ is the monogonase. He is a unique Son, one and only. He has an absolutely unique relationship with God. That's what that means. That's what that means. And that's why, again, in most modern translations, they translate the word in English the way we would use it today. To use the word begotten today communicates the wrong message. And it really fuels the fire of the cults to say that Jesus had a point of origin or was created. So to really understand what the word meant in terms that we use today, it means one and only or one of a kind or unique. And that's why you'll find the NIV translates that word in passages like John 118 or John 316 as the one and only. It is true to the meaning of the word in a way that communicates in our language today really what it meant, it meant a unique relationship with God. Now there's something else that really helps to reinforce because this word is used in another passage in the New Testament that really helps clearly see the point that I'm making. It's in Hebrews 1117. I think it's on the screen for you. By faith Abraham when God tested him offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son or only begotten son. Now I ask you was Isaac Abraham's only son? No. What other son did Abraham have? I'm hearing a lot of ishmael. Yes, ishmael. If you read on to the end of Abraham's life after Sarah dies, he marries Cattura and has six more sons by her. When he's 120 years old. Quite a guy. Six more sons. So he had at least seven more sons. Isaac was not his only son. But Isaac was his one and only son in what way? Air sacrifice. Air sacrifice. Yeah, that was unique. The promise. Yeah, he was the air of the promise. Right. God had made a promised Abraham that from your seed will come a great nation. And from that great nation, all nations of the earth will be blessed in terms of you'll produce the Messiah, which will bring spiritual blessing. So Isaac is the son of promise. And in that way he is a unique son. He has a unique relationship with Abraham. And in that sense he's a monogonace. He is a one and only one of a kind unique son doesn't mean he was the only son. But he was one of a kind. He was unique in the fact that he was the son of promise. So the term itself does not mean to be born from because Isaac was not the only son born from Abraham. That's not what the term means. It means he has a unique relationship with Abraham. And it really reinforces the meaning of the term when it's used of Christ. The term does not mean that he was begotten in the sense that he had a point of origin from a father. It means that he had a unique relationship with God, the father. He was the one and only son in that sense. No other son is equal to God in nature. Now there is one other passage that has troubled some people. And again, I'm kind of taking a little time on these because these are the very verses that you hope is witness as we'll use with you. If they come to your door and you give them a chance, they'll use these verses to try to prove that Jesus is not God. They'll use Psalm 27. This is another passage that's been confusing to people in a very clear messianic Psalm that's talking about God and his son says, I will proclaim the Lord's decree. He said to me, you are my son. Today I have become your father. That's the NIV. I think the King James says today have I begotten thee. Oh, today have I begotten thee. So you mean Jesus was birthed from the father? No, no, that's not what that means. The blessing here and the benefit here and if you take good notes, you'll be able to show these to that Jehovah's Witness for individuals. You can take them to where this verse is used in the New Testament. We have a New Testament commentary on the meaning of this verse. A couple of them, in fact, first is in Acts chapter 13. Acts 13 verses 33 and 34. I forgot to put verse 32 up there. It reads better if we start with verse 32. I'm just going to read verse 32 and then we'll look at the screen. Verse 32 says, we tell you the good news. Paul is preaching in Pesidian anti-Akken. What God promised our ancestors, now we begin in verse 33, he has fulfilled for us their children by raising up Jesus. Now hang on to that concept. That's the key concept by raising up Jesus as it is written in the second Psalm. You are my son. Today I have become your father. God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay. As God has said, I will give you the Holy and Sure blessings promised to David. How did Paul in his preaching understand Psalm 27? When the Bible says, today you are my son. I've begotten you. How did Paul interpret that? What event did Paul assign that to? Exactly. The resurrection. Paul says, what Psalm 2 was talking about was the resurrection. And we know Paul was convinced of that because he also says that in another passage in Romans 1, look at this verse in Romans 1, who threw the spirit of holiness talking about Jesus in the context of verse 3, who threw the spirit of holiness was appointed the son of God in the Bible. This is the plan of statement of all as to what is meant by Jesus being begotten of the father. He was appointed. That's being appointed to a position. He was appointed to the position of the weas, the son of God in power by the resurrection. Whatever this I have begottened today, I have become your father. What that means is on the day of Jesus' resurrection, Jesus was appointed to the place of ultimate power. And the resurrection proved that he was indeed the one and only unique monogamous son of God, God himself and the resurrection places him for everybody to see in that position. So that's what Psalm 2 7 is talking about. Not talking about Jesus being born of a father, it's talking about the resurrection was the powerful act which proved once and for all and actually appointed him to the position of being the one and only. The resurrection proves it and of course following hard on the heels of the resurrection, he was exalted, ascended back to heaven, was exalted to the right hand of the father. Every knee will worship, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he's the Lord to the glory of God the father. See it was the resurrection that appointed him to that position clearly for everybody to see that he is the son of God. So this title, the son of God is a very powerful statement of Christ's deity. Don't let those other statements about son of man or only begotten confuse you. They actually reinforce the idea that he is God. They don't take away from it at all. Okay. Comments, questions there about that title, the son of God or even as it relates to those other issues. Okay. We're good. We're clear on that. All right. We're going to start the next title. We'll not be able to get through it, but I want to start this one. He is called the Lord. There are what have I got seven different titles names that Jesus has in the Bible which prove that he's God and we're just on the third one. Okay. He is called the Lord. Well, at least try to take this first one. Matthew 22, Matthew chapter 22 verses 41 to 46. I love this passage. One of my favorite passages in Matthew 22. It's the last week of Jesus life. It's Tuesday of the day. He will the week he will die on Friday. And he's in the temple teaching and remember this is where by gangs up on him. The Pharisees come with a question about should we pay taxes to Caesar trying to trapping in his words so that they can have something to nail him on and accuse him of a crime or a rebellion against Rome or something that's worthy of death. And so the Pharisees ask that Jesus answers that masterfully. And then the Sadducees come and the Sadducees come with that question about the resurrection. And I just love this story. You know, they weave this crazy tale about a man who dies without having any children and the Old Testament law said a brother should marry his widow and try to raise up seed and keep the family name going. But this woman goes through seven brothers. Have you ever I love this story and I just remind you so many things. How many of you have seen the movie seven brides for seven brothers. Do you remember that old movie? Seven brides for seven brothers. It's a classic. It's classic. It's kind of loony. But it's a classic about seven seven old country guys in the northwest up in timber country that want to get married. And so they go down into the town and just grab seven women. Those are going to be their wives. Seven brides for seven brothers. Well, the Sadducees actually wrote the original script. But they called it one bride for seven brothers. They got twisted around through the years. But one bride for seven brothers. So she goes through seven brothers. All of them die and they raise this question. Then whose wife will she be in the resurrection? Now, why did they why did they raise that question? If you know anything about the Sadducees, why would they raise that question? I think I heard it. Yeah, they don't believe in the resurrection. The Sadducees are the liberal group in in Jesus day. They didn't believe in angels. They don't believe in anything supernatural. They don't believe in the resurrection or the afterlife. Anything like that. And so they're trying to make a mockery of the resurrection and paint Jesus into a corner with this crazy question about the resurrection. And I've told you what I think about that question. Haven't I? You know what I think about that? It's the wrong question. If this woman had gone through seven brothers, the question, I'd be asking, what's in the beef stew? That's the question I'd be asking not who's going to marry after the resurrection. I'd be wondering about the beef stew. But Jesus answers that one masterfully and then he comes back. The Pharisees come back. They ask him a question about what's the greatest commandment? Again, trying to paint you in a corner and trapping, you know, 613 laws. Which one are you going to choose? Cause we'll have a better one than that. And he summarizes the whole law and two. That's a great statement about love, God and love people. And then Jesus says, hey guys, just quiet down. It's my turn to ask a question. And this is masterful. Verse 41, when the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, what do you think about the Messiah? Who's son is he? The son of David, they replied. And that's true. The Old Testament made it clear time and time and time again that David's son would rule on his throne forever. I mean, that was the promise made to David by God and second Samuel 7. And so they knew that they knew it would be the son of David. He said to them, verse 43, how is it then that David speaking by the spirit calls him Lord? For he says and then Jesus quotes Psalm 110, verse 1, the Lord, if you go back to the Old Testament, it's all capital letters. That means Jehovah. Jehovah God, the one who has saved Israel, Jehovah said to my Lord, the Messiah is my Lord. David is saying, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet, clear, misceanic Psalm about the Messiah conquering all of his enemies. But Jehovah calls him in David's language, my Lord. If then Jesus says, if then David calls him Lord, how can he be his son? Did he ever twist their minds with that one? They could not figure that one out. So verse 46, no one could say a word and reply from that day on. No one dared asking me any more questions. But what's the answer to that question? How can Jesus be both son of David and Lord of David? There really isn't easy answer if you understand Bible doctrine. How can he be both? Son of David indicates what about him, his humanity, Lord indicates what? Deity. He can only be son of David and Lord of David because he is both God and man. And son of David indicates his humanity, but Lord indicates his deity. And that was the point Jesus was making. And I think probably they understood what he had painted them into a corner. I think they probably understood what the right answer was, but they didn't want to admit it because to answer the question would have pushed them into admitting that you are not only man, but you are also God, or at least into admitting the Messiah is both man and God, which would have proven Jesus point all along about who he was. So they just backed away wouldn't answer. Would not dare answer. Okay, next week we'll look at, not next week, couple of weeks. We'll look at a couple three or four more passages that use the title Lord. It's a strong statement of Christ's deity. And it's clear here in this passage that's what he's referring to. Son of David, yes, I'm man, but David called me my Lord. And that means I'm higher than him. I'm also deity. I'm God. Well, it's not wonderful to know the Savior who is God who is the son of God who is the Lord and to know him as our Savior. Isn't that great? Okay, let's bow in prayer. Father, we thank you for our wonderful Savior, the one whose name is above all names, the only name whereby we must be saved. There is something about that name. There is something unique. There is something powerful. There is something majestic and glorious. And there is something divine about that name. In the true sense of the word is very names. Your son and our Savior revealed that he is also our God. We thank you that we are in a personal relationship with the one who came and died for us, but who is also our Lord. We pray to night in his name. Amen.