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Gospel: Mark 12: 35-37
As Jesus was teaching in the temple area he said,
“How do the scribes claim that the Christ is the son of David?
David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said:
The Lord said to my lord,
‘Sit at my right hand
until I place your enemies under your feet.’
David himself calls him ‘lord’;
so how is he his son?”
The great crowd heard this with delight.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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For the last several days, we’ve been reading through chapter 12 of Mark’s Gospel. In each passage, the religious authorities question Jesus:
“Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?”
“A woman married seven brothers, but was left with no children. At the resurrection, whose wife will she be?”
“Teacher, which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus answers every question with flying colors, so much so that Mark says, “No one dared to ask him any more questions.”
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Now Jesus goes on the offensive.
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Pushing the scribes and Pharisees’ understanding of the Old Testament, he says, “How do the scribes claim that the Christ is the Son of David?”
It’s a strange, dense question to us today.
But the point of it is this: Jesus is claiming equality with God. No other religious figure in history has ever made that claim.
This is what sets Christ apart from all the others. He’s isn’t an intermediary or a prophet; he’s God in the flesh.
Every prophecy and promise in the Old Testament points to him – from the place of his birth, to the miracles he performed, even the method of his death. Everything points to Christ as the promised presence of God.
What a marvelous claim!
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While we may not know everything there is to know about God or the scriptures, what Jesus says is enough: if we know him, then we know God.
May we study his teachings of love and forgiveness, and put them into practice. Doing so leads to a life filled with blessings.
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Image credits: (1) Inspired Walk (2) Winds of War, by Marc Chagall (3) Wilbert Funeral Services