The Inescapable Question Part Two – What Do You Think About Jesus?
What do you think about Jesus? Enjoy the second in this three part series about Christ from Dennis Purcell taken from the gospels.
The Second Question – What Do You Think About Jesus?
The second question is based on a question from Psalm 110.
In Matthew 22:41-46 we read,
While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” They said to Him, “The Son of David.”
He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying:
‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool” ’?
If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?” And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.
Matthew 22: 41-46
Confrontations With the Pharisees
The Lord Jesus is confronted by the Pharisees; a religious sect, “the gatekeepers of Judaism”, the religious leaders and scholars of the day who held tremendous political and societal influence. They were the forerunners of the modern day, Rabbinical system who took counsel how they might entangle him in His talk (Matt 22:15 -Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk.)
They pepper Him with questions designed and intended to discredit Him, disprove Him and make a fool of Him. These were questions to trap Him on the tax issue, the marriage and divorce issue, the greatest commandment.
Masterfully Handling Questions
The Lord masterfully handles all their questions, astonishing all His hearers and while they were still in awe of the answers He gave, the Lord turns the tables on them and confronts them with a provocative problem – “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”
The Pharisees would not accept Jesus as the Christ. They were still looking for the Messiah who they believed would come as a conquering military hero to destroy the Roman oppression.
Jesus was not asking them “What do you think of Me?” (although there was an element of involvement of course), He was asking a general question whose Son the Messiah would be when He appeared. The Lord would demonstrate His superior knowledge of the scriptures over them.
They answered correctly – a descendant of David. The Lord then quotes Psalm 110:1 to them. The first use of the term “Lord” in that verse refers to God the Father, the second to the Son, the Messiah. David spoke of Messiah as his Lord.
Jesus drills down further on the question by asking “If David then call Him Lord how is He his son?”
The answer – Messiah is both David’s Lord and David’s Son, both God and man. As God He is David’s Lord, as Man, He is David’s Son. This is a clear declaration of His DEITY.
Blind and Stubborn Pharisees
The Pharisees were blind and stubborn and refused to acknowledge that Jesus was the long awaited and long hoped for, and promised Messiah, the Son of David, through the line of Mary and the Son of God as revealed by His words, works and ways. They refused to see and hear.
They were completely confounded by His wisdom they ended their attempts to discredit Him with their questions and in their pride and arrogance they escalated their attempts to silence Him by violence.
What Other Leaders Have Said
We see the same scenario repeated even to this day – when man is confronted with the claims of Christ there comes back wave after wave of objection and varied attempts to silence and eradicate those claims. What some respected leaders and academics have stated concerning Christ are as follows:
- Bertrand Russell, a famous author/philosopher/academic/agnostic wrote in his famous book, Why I Am Not a Christian, “Historically its quite doubtful whether Christ even existed at all and if He did, we know nothing about Him.”
- Dr. Albert Schweitzer was a famous author/scholar/humanitarian. He held 3 doctorates from the University of Strasburg in France, one in music, one in medicine and one in theology. Before going to Africa on his famous humanitarian mission, he was known as the greatest and foremost expert and interpreter of Bach and as an influential theologian. His best known, written work is titled, “the Quest for the Historical Jesus”. The book shows Schweitzer as less than a Christian theologian as he sadly concludes that Jesus had a messiah complex, who died as a martyr in belief of that and did not rise from the dead. His becoming a Unitarian made plain further that Schweitzer did not believe in the deity of Jesus Christ.
- Thomas Jefferson was the revered 3rd president of the United States and one of the founding fathers, whose influence is felt to this very day. He championed the separation of church and state and individual rights. An American renaissance man, he was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson is quoted as saying that Jesus’ “morality was the most benevolent and sublime probably that has been ever taught” – he had a devotion to the ethics of Jesus that led him to spend many pain staking hours to cutting multiple passages from the Bible he believed corrupted those ethics -eventually became the “Jefferson Bible” and led him to write pamphlets entitled “The Philosophy of Jesus”, which became a more detailed book titled “The Life and Morals of Jesus”. Jefferson rejected the divinity of Christ, the Trinity, the virgin birth, Jesus’ miracles and the resurrection. He rejected atonement, original sin and actively objected to the idea of salvation through faith and grace alone. Jefferson believed in a benevolent, creator God but insisted He was found through reason alone.
Your Relationship With Jesus
In Mark 8:36 we read,
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
Mark 8:36
The question concerns a person, the risen glorified Christ and your relationship with Him. What do you think of Christ? Not your parents, not your friends, not the academics, not the politicians – YOU. Only you can answer that question.
Do you think enough of Him to abandon your sins and accept Him as your Lord and Saviour?
John 6:37 states,
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
John 6:37
Do you think enough of Him to give Him 1st place in your heart and life? In Matthew 6:33 Jesus says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Matthew 6:33
Does He have first, last, or any place in your heart?
Who do you think about Jesus? Who do you think He is? We would love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.
Dennis Purcell
Dennis Purcell is a long serving elder at Bethel Chapel in Waterloo, Ontario. Dennis ministers regularly at numerous assemblies and has served, or is serving, on boards and committees of various Christian ministries.
Dennis recently retired from his secular career as a Chief Building Official in the municipal government sector, enabling a wider sphere of itinerant ministry.
Dennis resides with his wife, Yvonne, in Cambridge, Ontario. They have one adult daughter and one married son.
More Podcasts Below:
More Blogs:
The Inescapable Question About Christ
How to Read and Study the Bible: and Pray
Images courtesy of:
Christ – James Tissot
Jesus – James Tissot
_-_James_Tissot.jpg){kind=link}
Leave a Reply