DAILY MEDITATION: "David himself calls him [the Messiah] Lord"

Liturgical day: Friday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel text (Mk 12,35-37): As Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he said, "The teachers of the Law say that the Messiah is the son of David. How can that be? For David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit declared: ‘The Lord said to my Lord: sit at my right until I put your enemies under your feet’. If David himself calls him Lord, in what way can he be his son?". Many people came to Jesus and listened to him gladly.

"David himself calls him [the Messiah] Lord"

Fr. Josep LAPLANA OSB Monk of Montserrat
(Montserrat, Barcelona, Spain)

Today, Judaism still claims the Messiah has to be the “son of David” that must inaugurate a new age of the kingdom of God. We Christians “know” the Messiah, Son of David, is Jesus Christ and that His kingdom has already started —as a seed that germinates, grows up and bears fruit— and will become a visible and magnificent reality when Jesus comes back at the end of time. But already now Jesus is the Son of David and allows us to live “in hope” by enjoying the benefits of the Messianic Kingdom.

The title of “Son of David” applied to Jesus Christ forms part of the backbone of the Gospel. In the Annunciation, the Virgin received this message: "And the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and He will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end" (Lk 1,32-33). The destitute that begged Jesus to cure them, were saying: "You son of David, have mercy on me!" (Mk 10, 48). When Jesus solemnly entered in Jerusalem He was acclaimed: "Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come! Hosanna in the highest" (Mk 11, 10). The very old book Didache thanks God "for the holy vineyard of David, your servant, that we have come to know through Jesus, your servant".

But Jesus is not only the son of David, but also the Lord. He confirms it solemnly by quoting the Davidic Psalm 110. The Jews cannot understand it: it is impossible that the son of David can also be the “Lord”. St. Peter, witness of Jesus resurrection, clearly saw that Jesus had been constituted “Lord of David”, because "Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day (...), but Jesus God rose up, whereof we all are witnesses" (Acts 2,29-32).

"His Son, descended from David according to the flesh, but established as Son of God in power", as St. Paul names him (cf. Rm 1,3-4), has become forms of the attraction focus of all men's hearts, and thus, softly attracting us towards him, He already exerts now his lordship over all men that address him with Love and in Trust.

Source: evangeli.net