How Is He His Son?

In Nomine Iesu!

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Sermon Text: St. Matthew 22:34-46

“‘If David then calleth Him Lord, how is He his son?’ And no one was able to answer Him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask Him any more questions.”

Prayer in Pulpit before Sermon:

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, Who hast given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the glorious revelation of the Gospel, cause Thy Word to dwell in us richly, we beseech Thee, and fill us with the knowledge of Thy will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that we may know our sin, and Thy Son as the Savior from sin, and may walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; through + Jesus Christ, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior + Jesus Christ. Amen. 

My dear friends, in today’s Gospel reading from the Apostle and Evangelist St. Matthew our Lord silences both the Sadducees and the Pharisees. We are told at the beginning of the Gospel that our Lord had silenced the Sadducees. How did He silence them? He silenced them with the Word of the Lord God. Like the Pharisees in today’s pericope, the Sadducees had asked the Lord + Jesus a question trying to test Him. Why are the Sadducees and the Pharisees trying to test the Lord? Because they do not believe Him to be the Messiah. They only view Him as a man. They see a man called Jesus from Nazareth, and say to themselves, “Nothing good can come from Nazareth.” The Messiah was to come from the city of David, from Bethlehem. This man was from Nazareth; therefore, He could not be the Messiah. He was merely a man. So, despite all of the miraculous works that our Lord + Jesus did, the Pharisees and the Sadducees come to Him with questions, testing Him.

The Sadducees had questioned Him regarding the resurrection of the dead. Like all liberal preachers and teachers, this is something that they did not actually believe in. They rejected the biblical teaching of the resurrection of the dead. They rejected several important doctrines because they rejected all the Old Testaments’ writings of the prophets. They only accepted in their canon the five books of Moses, the Pentateuch. In those first five books of our Bible, they could not see proof of a resurrection of the dead. Nevermind that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac because he believed that the Lord God could raise him from the dead. Or, that Jacob on his deathbed talks about the resurrection of the dead when he is handing out blessings to his sons. Howbeit, our Lord + Jesus gives them another example.

They had asked the Lord about a woman who according to the Law of Moses had seven brothers for husbands in order that she might raise up an inheritance by giving birth to an heir from one of the brothers. They all died without an heir being born. Whose wife was she to be in the resurrection of the dead? There is no marrying or being married in heaven. The time for procreation is in this life. Heaven is the place to enjoy eternal rest from the works of this life. But this is not really the Sadducees concern. The question was asked to test the Lord, to get Him to deny a resurrection of the dead. How does the Lord + Jesus silence the Sadducees, with the Word of God. He uses the narrative of the calling of Moses to be prophet. The Triune Lord God from the burning bush called Himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Three individuals who in the time of Moses had been in the grave for over four hundred years. These men were still alive in heaven. These men were alive and still had the Lord God for their God because there is a resurrection from death. Those who die believing on the Lord rest secure in the loving arms of the heavenly Father. With this the Lord + Jesus silences the Sadducees.

St. Matthew records that the Pharisees having witnessed this, also thought they could test the Lord. They come as a crowd, as the whole assembly of Pharisees, but they appoint one lawyer to ask the question about the Law. What is their question? Which is the greatest commandment? Now, my dear friends, remember that both the question of the Sadducees, and the question of the Pharisees is not about finding out the truth. It is about proving that the man + Jesus of Nazareth is a mere man. That He is not the Messiah. Even though He had done such wonderful signs and wonders, they still refused to believe that He was the Messiah. The greatest Commandment is to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, and mind. In other words, there is no greater command than to believe on the Lord God as one’s only God.

What our Lord + Jesus is getting at in His answer is that if He is the Son of God, the Messiah, and they do not believe on Him, they are breaking the Commandment. For the Law demands that we love the Lord God with our whole being. By rejecting Him as the Christ, they are rejecting the Lord God. Further, the second Commandment is that we love our neighbors as ourselves. If the Lord + Jesus is only a mere man, as the Pharisees contended, by hating Him they are breaking the second greatest Commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves. Therefore, our Lord points out that they are breaking both the greatest Commandment and the second greatest Commandment by their unbelief. And to drive the point home even further, our Lord takes the opportunity to ask them a question.

The Lord + Jesus asks the Pharisees a question. Like with the Sadducees, the Lord + Jesus silences them with the Word of the Lord God. He uses the means and resources that they themselves accept. This is how one in our day goes about debating with someone who disagrees with them, he is to use their own sources against them; pointing out how they have either denied the truths in the work, or have misapplied it. Our Lord uses Psalm 110 with the Pharisees; this is the Psalm of the week for Vespers this week. The question that our Lord asks is Whose Son is the Christ? They answer rightly, “the Son of David.” Our Lord in His answer establishes Himself as the Messiah. For that Psalm declares the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One of the Lord God to be the High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek. That is, a high priesthood that is an eternal, unending priesthood.

If the Son of David is the Messiah, how can David call Him Lord also? Because the Messiah is not just a mere man, but He is the Lord God as well. For only the Lord God is eternal. Only the Lord God has been before the foundation of the world. Therefore, the Messiah is both God and man. He is not a mere man. He is not just the Son of David, but He is also the Son of God.

The Pharisees and the Sadducees wanted to deny that the man + Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ of the Lord God. They could deny that He was the Messiah because they only viewed Him as a mere man. They ignored the signs and wonders that He did. They only saw a man from Nazareth. But not only did His signs and wonders declare Him to be the Christ, but so did His teachings and instructions. It was His Word that established Him as the Christ, but they refused to hear it. The Word of the Lord God, which is the Word of the Christ, the Word of the Lord + Jesus, establishes Him to be the Christ. It establishes Him the High Priest after the order of Melchizedek.

He is the One Who is from eternity. He is the One Who is the Lord of King David. He is the One to Whom all glory, honor, and worship is to be given, the One Who is to be loved with all one’s heart, soul, and mind. For He is the Lord God Who was from before the foundation of the world. Moreover, He is also the Son of David. He is the One Who is born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of the seed of King David. He was born in Bethlehem, and laid in a manger. The Lord + Jesus is both the Lord God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, and He is truly Man, born of the Virgin Mary. This is what our Lord + Jesus is confessing about Himself to the Pharisees in today’s Gospel reading from the Apostle and Evangelist St. Matthew. He is confessing that He is both true God and true Man. He is the Lord God incarnate in our flesh.

What has He come to do? He has come to be the true High Priest, the One Who is after the order of Melchizedek, the eternal High Priest, who intercedes from the right hand of God the Father for us poor, miserable sinners. He can intercede for us to the heavenly Father, because He has offered up His innocent life, as a ransom for us poor sinners. He is both the Priest and the Victim. He makes the perfect and eternal sacrifice for us on the tree of the holy cross. Therefore, all those who cling to Him in faith will receive the crown of eternal life. We will be with Him in Heaven for all eternity enjoying our eternal rest. For we who have received Him as both God and man, have also made Him to be our only true God. We, by faith, love Him with our whole hearts, souls and minds. For He is the One True God Who became a man for us, so that He might perfectly fulfill the Law of the Lord God, and win salvation for us by His sacrificial death upon the tree of the holy cross. This is what our Lord + Jesus establishes by His Word to the Pharisees today.

This is why St. Matthew records that from that day forward no one durst ask Him any more questions. He had silenced both the Sadducees and the Pharisees with the Word of the Lord God. And the Word of the Lord established the Lord + Jesus, as the Christ, as the eternal Christ, Who shall raise up all the dead on the Last Day, and give eternal life with Him to all who believe on Him.

Therefore, my dear friends, let us daily confess our sins, and believe on Him as the only true God. For He is both God and man, Who has sacrificed Himself for our sins, so that by faith in Him we may receive the crown of eternal life. In the Name of our Lord + Jesus, the Christ. Amen.

Prayer in Pulpit after Sermon:

Almighty God, be pleased to accompany Thy Word with Thy Holy Spirit and grant that Thy Word would increase faith in us; bring into the Way of Truth all such as have erred; turn the hearts of the unrepentant; and for sake of Thy Name grant succor to all heavy hearts and those who are heavy-laden, that they may through the mercy of the Lord + Jesus Christ be relieved and preserved so that they succumb not to the temptation of despair but rather that they gain the victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil; through the same + Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with the Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.

The Votum:

The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus. Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria!