The tables have turned! After facing challenging questions from various groups – Pharisees, Herodians, Sadducees, chief priests, scribes – Jesus now poses a tough question of his own. This took place in a ‘teaching’ context (v 35), suggesting that Jesus’ aim was not to trap his hearers but to provoke thought.

Jesus’ question challenges the conventional understanding of the Messiah as just ‘the son of David’ (v 35) – a title packed with expectations of a warrior-king like David, who will restore Israel’s glory and usher in another golden age. But ‘this view of messiahship lent itself to a revolutionary view of the kingdom’,* as evident in the crowd’s welcome of Jesus to Jerusalem: ‘Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!’ (Mark 11:10). Citing a Messianic psalm, Jesus challenges them to consider how this Messiah is not merely David’s descendant but also David’s ‘Lord’ (vs 36,37; Psalm 110:1) – thus outranking David – who would usher in a different kind of kingdom.

Previously, Jesus refused to answer questions about the source of his authority (Mark 11:33). Yet, had the religious leaders honestly pondered his question, they could have uncovered clues to Jesus’ divine identity and authority. But they are closed-minded and hard‑hearted. Although Mark makes no comment, Matthew notes, ‘No one could say a word in reply’ (Matthew 22:46).

*C Keener, IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, IVP: 1993 (printed by New Life Literature,  Sri Lanka, 2000), p169